Possibility of air quality alerts due to Canadian wildfires. Hiker information stations up this weekend at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Lodge and the Garden Trailhead. Hiker shuttles not yet running.
Enterprise Staff
Chad Dawson Chad Dawson, an environmental advocate who has served as a member of the state Adirondack Park Agency board since 2016, resigned from the board on Thursday. Dawson resigned citing frustration with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. He said the department isn’t sufficiently studying the impact of supporting more recreational amenities in the Park. “I am leaving not because I don’t care,” Dawson said. “Rather, because I’m passionate about the Park, particularly protection of the Park for future generations.” A spokeswoman for DEC called Dawson’s comments “disappointing.” “While Chad Dawson’s comments are disappointing and contrary to the facts, we’d like to thank him for his service to the board and his dedication to the Adirondack Park Agency,” DEC spokeswoman Erica Ringewald said Friday. “DEC subjects every proposal and plan to a painstaking review and conducts extensive public outreach to solicit
Debar Pond is seen in April 2017.
(Enterprise photo â Justin A. Levine) The state Adirondack Park Agency board on Thursday voted 9-2 to advance a draft unit management plan for the Debar Mountain Complex, opening a 60-day joint public comment period that ends Feb. 12, 2021. Board members Chad Dawson and Zoe Smith cast the no votes. John Ernst, Mark Hall, Andrea Hogan, Art Lussi, Kenneth Lynch and Daniel Wilt voted yes, as did state agency designees Bradley Austin (Department of Economic Development), Lynne Mahoney (Department of State) and Joe Zalewski (Department of Environmental Conservation). The plan, written by the DEC, would demolish the Debar Lodge and its outbuildings, and create a day-use and picnic area at Debar Pond. For the day-use area, it would reclassify about 41 acres of state Forest Preserve from wild forest, a moderately restrictive category, to intensive use, the least restrictive option.