RAY BROOK — State agencies won a legal challenge brought against the long-wrought Adirondack Park Snowmobile Trail Maintenance Guidelines.
The decision limits legal contention to trail-by-trail battles through individual Unit Management Plans (UMP).
The Snowmobile Trail Guidelines were approved by the Adirondack Park Agency in November 2009 after nearly 10 years of work in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Conservation; the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and stakeholders including green groups and snowmobile clubs.
But the Adirondack Council sued, contending that the overall plan to widen some snowmobile trails and maintain them with motorized groomers violates the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.
"This new, state snowmobile trail management plan will allow the widening of foot trails by up to 50 percent to accommodate snowmobiles. It authorizes the illegal use of tracked grooming vehicles. It allows the construction of new trails almost anywhere on public Wild Forest lands," Brian Houseal, executive director of the Adirondack Council, said in a statement released when the lawsuit was lodged Jan. 11.
"None of these changes can be made without amending the (Master Plan), which these agencies didn't bother to do."
But Supreme Court Justice Gerald W. Connolly said the council's claims are not ripe for legal review.
Specific decisions about trail width and location will be worked out in Unit Management Plans, he said, and the council can sue accordingly.
"To the extent (Adirondack Council) is unsatisfied with the UMP approval process, they may litigate their claims. While petitioner argues that they will experience harm by potentially having to litigate their claims as against each UMP or amendment thereto, such claim is too speculative at this point to constitute sufficient harm."
In filing the lawsuit, the Adirondack Council called the new Snowmobile Trail Guidelines "an illicit attempt by snowmobile enthusiasts to keep existing trails deep inside the Forest Preserve rather than moving them closer to the edge of public lands," suggesting protection of the interior of the Forest Preserve is "vital to protect the solitude that remote areas of the (Adirondack) Park provide to the non-snowmobiling public."
The New York State Snowmobile Association said they see the guidelines as a way to improve safety with wider curves and more-specific trail placement.
Class II trails were created "to establish and improve community connections," while Class I trails are "intended to preserve a more traditional type of Adirondack snowmobiling experience," according to the guidelines.
The goal is to establish "a parkwide community-connection snowmobile trail system to provide north-to-south and east-to-west routes that will link many Adirondack communities together."
Houseal said they support community connector routes as important to the winter economy of the park.
"The whole idea was to move the hamlet-to-hamlet traffic away from remote interior trails so the people using them would be safer," Houseal said last winter.
The issue is fast approaching a litmus test with the first connector snowmobile trail already under fire in the Jessup River Wild Forest Unit Management Plans.
A proposed new 12-mile trail would be cut 9 feet wide connecting the Village of Speculator to Oxbow Lake through lands classified as Wild Forest, which — by Master Plan definition — allows for "a somewhat higher degree of human use than in wilderness, primitive or canoe areas, while retaining an essentially wild character."
According to the Master Plan, "a wild forest area is further defined as an area that frequently lacks the sense of remoteness of wilderness, primitive or canoe areas and that permits a wide variety of outdoor recreation."
APA spokesman Keith McKeever said the Snowmobile Trail Guidelines were designed to help ensure the sustainability of the Adirondack Park.
APA is satisfied with the court's decision, he said.
"The snowmobile trail guidance represented a significant milestone for APA and DEC regarding this long-debated State Land Master Plan issue. We believe the trail guidance embodies a new way forward to help ensure the sustainability of the Adirondack Park. We look forward to implementing the trail guidance with DEC through the unit management planning process."
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
