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Entries Tagged as 'paddle'

Governor Cuomo Hiked, Canoed, and Fished

September 26th, 2012 · No Comments · News

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ADK Trail Workers Heading to Southern Adirondacks for National Trails Day

May 15th, 2012 · No Comments · Adirondack News

CAROGA LAKE, NY – Dozens of Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) volunteers will be heading to the southern Adirondacks for National Trails Day on Saturday, June 2.

Adirondack Mountain ClubUnder the leadership of ADK’s trail professionals, volunteers will work on trail maintenance projects in the Ferris Lake and Shaker Mountain wild forests near Caroga Lake. Workers will clear drainage ditches, trim brush, remove blown-down trees and perform other maintenance work on six hiking trails.

In conjunction with the trail maintenance projects, ADK Foothills Chapter is hosting three days (June 1-3) of hikes and paddles in the area, a golf tournament, information booths and other events. The Foothills Chapter, established in 2010, has more than 100 members in the Gloversville/Johnstown area.

“We hope this event will focus attention on the great hiking opportunities in the southern Adirondacks,” said Foothills Chapter Chair Jody Rothmeyer. “This beautiful and easily accessible region is often overlooked by hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts who flock to more popular areas like the High Peaks.”

National Trails Day is a nationwide celebration of trails that was founded by the American Hiking Society in 1993. ADK and its chapters have been involved in National Trails Day since its inception.

ADK’s sponsors and partners for NTD 2012 include Nathan Littauer Hospital, Home Buyers Best Realty, Adirondack Backpacking Supply, RMG Enterprises, Livingston’s Furniture, The Shults Agency, ADK Onondaga Chapter, Cooperstown Brewing Co., Butternuts Beer & Ale, the town of Caroga Lake, Fulton County Chamber of Commerce, Finger Lakes Trail Conference, North Country Trail Association, Duncraven Farms Dairy, Granny’s Ice Cream, Wild River Press, REI, SEALS and DEC Region 5.

A full list of ADK’s National Trails Day trail projects and events is available on the Club’s website at www.carogalake.com.

The Adirondack Mountain Club, founded in 1922, is the oldest and largest organization dedicated to the protection of the New York State Forest Preserve. ADK is a nonprofit, membership organization that protects the Forest Preserve, state parks and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.

More: National Trails Day Events – New York and FAQs

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State Court Rules Lows Lake is Wilderness

August 17th, 2011 · No Comments · Adirondack News

ALBANY, NY – A state court ruled this week that the bed and waters of Lows Lake in the heart of the Adirondacks are Wilderness.

Supreme Court Justice Michael C. Lynch of Albany County, in a lawsuit brought by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) and Protect the Adirondacks! (PROTECT), ruled Monday (Aug. 15) that the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) erred when it approved a resolution in November 2009 that left the popular canoe route unclassified. Justice Lynch also noted that Lows Lake was included in a 1987 Wilderness classification of about 9,100 acres, a classification that was signed by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo.


“Justice Lynch not only confirmed that Lows Lake is Wilderness, he confirmed that it has been legally defined as Wilderness for nearly a quarter century,” ADK Executive Director Neil Woodworth said. “He also upheld the principle that the APA has a legal obligation to classify water bodies that are part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. That part of the decision has important implications for the future management of the waters of the Forest Preserve under the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.”

“This decision underscores the fact that the lakes and water bodies of the Adirondacks need protection as much as the land and forests do,” PROTECT Director Dale Jeffers said. “In fact, the need to protect Adirondack waters was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Forest Preserve in 1885.”

The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (pdf), which is part of state Executive Law, requires APA to classify all lands and waters in the Adirondack Forest Preserve according to “their characteristics and ability to withstand use.” In the past, the agency has left some water bodies unclassified. In September 2009, the APA voted 6-4 to classify a portion of Lows Lake as Wilderness and a portion as Primitive. Both classifications prohibit motorized public uses. But then-Gov. David Paterson’s representatives on the APA board changed their position and supported a November 2009 resolution that left the lake unclassified.

Opponents of the Wilderness classification argued that the APA did not have the authority to classify the lake as Wilderness because New York State does not own the entire shoreline of Lows Lake. But Justice Lynch found that “the APA Act and the APSLMP require the APA to classify State owned bodies of water even if the water is contiguous to a private land holding.” The decision affirmed that state-owned lakes and other water bodies in the Adirondack Park are part of the constitutionally protected Forest Preserve and must be managed in accordance with the APSLMP.

Justice Lynch also annulled the November 2009 APA resolution and affirmed the 1987 Wilderness classification. The attorney for ADK and PROTECT, John Caffry of Caffry & Flower in Glens Falls, noted that the court reaffirmed a 1977 court ruling that the APSLMP has the force of law. The court then found that APA’s failure to follow the APSLMP was “arbitrary and capricious.”

Following an earlier lawsuit brought by PROTECT and ADK, the APA approved a resolution in April 2009 banning floatplanes from Lows Lake after the end of 2011. Even with the Lows Lake decision, only about 5 percent of the lake and pond surface area in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park is classified as Wilderness. Public use of motorized vehicles and vessels is prohibited in Wilderness areas.

Protect the Adirondacks!Protect the Adirondacks! is a nonprofit, grassroots membership organization dedicated to the protection and stewardship of the public and private lands of the Adirondack Park. PROTECT is a consolidation of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks and the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.

Adirondack Mountain Club LogoThe Adirondack Mountain Club, founded in 1922, is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the New York Forest Preserve and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.

Read: Justice Lynch’s decision (pdf)

Read: the ADK/PROTECT petition (pdf)

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