“We feel vindicated and we are proud that we were able to step up and protect the people’s land.”
In the four to two ruling, the NYS Court of Appeals said that the state’s constitution and legal precedents are clear. If the DEC wants to cut thousands of trees to build a trail system, the state would first need to pass a constitutional amendment.
A Class II connector trail under construction in the Adirondacks. Photo courtesy of Protect the AdirondacksBauer said the ruling is good news for every forest in the park. “Those trees are better protected today than they were yesterday. So this will have some changes on the Forest Preserve, but it should not affect the public’s recreational use of the Forest Preserve at all.”
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve
Paul Schaefer is seen at his Adirondack camp in fall 1995.
(Provided photo â Dave Gibson)
Adirondack wilderness champion, conservationist, author, filmmaker and hunter/fisher Paul Schaefer (1908-1996) was a pied piper for young people in search of a cause, just as John Apperson and Bob Marshall had been for him when Schaefer was in his early 20s. During the 1980s and ’90s, Paul was in his eighth decade of life, and scouts, teens and Earth activists of all ages found a way to Paul’s doorstep in search of wisdom and to gain a sense of Adirondack history and current direction.
Joe Pete Wilson Jr., Keene town supervisor (Provided photo Naj Wikoff)
Joe Pete Wilson Jr., Keene town supervisor (Provided photo Naj Wikoff)
Initial reaction to the recently announced three-year test of a reservation system for the popular High Peaks trailhead at the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (aka Ausable Club) received widespread praise by many environmental leaders and initial shock, dismay and fears by many Keene residents, people living in the hamlet where the club is based. Developed by AMR and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the rollout reservation system caught many by surprise. “This has been needed for a long time,” said David Gibson, a leader of Adirondack Wild, Friends of the Forest Preserve. “This approach was known decades ago, put into the UMP draft, and then taken out. ADK resisted it, just as DEC Region 5 resisted it. I remember commenting in ’94, this is great; it’s important; it’s needed for high-impact places in the
The highest court in New York heard arguments on Wednesday for a case that could redefine what âtimberâ means in state law, and change what size trees can be cut on state Forest Preserve land.
Lawyers for the Protect the Adirondacks environmental group and state Department of Environmental Conservation were arguing an eight-year lawsuit brought by the former against the latter, which led to a DEC tree-cutting moratorium, halting construction on snowmobile trails and other trails around the Adirondack Park.
At the heart of the issue is whether the DECâs cutting of trees under 3 inches in diameter is allowed or banned by the state constitution.
The highest court in New York heard arguments on Wednesday for a case that could redefine what âtimberâ means in state law, and change what size trees can be cut on state Forest Preserve land.
Lawyers for the Protect the Adirondacks environmental group and state Department of Environmental Conservation were arguing an eight-year lawsuit brought by the former against the latter, which led to a DEC tree-cutting moratorium, halting construction on snowmobile trails and other trails around the Adirondack Park.
At the heart of the issue is whether the DECâs cutting of trees under 3 inches in diameter is allowed or banned by the state constitution.