Theresa Sayward is a respected member of the NYS Assembly and Adirondack community. Therefore, we are obliged to respond to her recent In My Opinion (P-R No. 7) that the "Adirondack Park experiment has failed."
She focuses on the fact that our organization is not yet convinced that the Constitution should be amended to permit NYCO to mine underneath a state-owned Wilderness area. She implies that Article XIV of the State Constitution is not working well for our "families, friends and neighbors," in contrast with "those" people who support the "park."
More than one-half of the members of Protect the Adirondacks are full-time residents of the park. Many of those are her constituents. They live in the Adirondacks because Article XIV, the Forever Wild provision, is relevant to their lives and protects the Forest Preserve from exploitation.
Study after study has shown there is no factual basis to the opinion that the Forest Preserve is an economic drag on communities. Instead, there has been steady advancement in the growth, recreational use and understanding of the positive ecological and economic roles that the Forest Preserve plays.
Our members know that the economic present and future of the region is inextricably tied to the park and a protected Forest Preserve. Our members live, work or visit often because of those qualities, and our organization is contributing to them. For instance, PROTECT's Forest Sustainability Project certifies businesses such as Old Adirondack Furniture in Willsboro, ensuring that all their wood products come from sustainably harvested private forests in the park.
PROTECT has FSC-certified nearly 23,000 acres of working forests and a dozen businesses. We work with 70 lakeshore associations to monitor their water quality, and with local residents who want to protect the rural character of their Adirondack roads from proposals by the state or utilities to clear-cut trees.
PROTECT helped to found the Energy Smart Park Initiative to keep energy dollars in the park by becoming smarter and efficient in the use and generation of energy. We are also insistent that development in the park is designed to be more in harmony with the Adirondack environment and small-community way of life.
Finally, paying taxes in full on what the public owns is a critical part of the park experiment. We will join Theresa Sayward, as we did this year, to strongly oppose any future efforts by our state government to cap taxes paid by all New Yorkers to Adirondack and Catskill towns and schools.
NYCO, a mining company based in Willsboro, asked our organization to support a concept whereby NYCO would be allowed to mine underneath the Jay Mountain Wilderness area in exchange for money to buy Forest Preserve land elsewhere. PROTECT will support Article XIV land exchanges for specific community improvements where the overall land swap is in the public interest.
For instance, our predecessor groups AFPA and RCPA supported the successful 2005 land exchange to provide Raquette Lake with a new community water system, and just a few weeks ago we supported the successful land exchange to authorize a new 46 kV power line to cross the Forest Preserve near Colton.
In the case of NYCO's concept, we concluded that there was insufficient basis to amend Article XIV to authorize short-term exploitation of a Wilderness area. According to the company, it owns unexploited Adirondack reserves of wollastonite that will last about 20 years. The Wilderness tract might last just five years. Thus far, the company failed to convince us that this land exchange would be substantially in the public interest.
NYCO is, of course, free to find legislative sponsors and gain passage in two separately elected legislatures. PROTECT would be open to further arguments as that process unfolds.
David H. Gibson is executive director of Protect the Adirondacks! in Saranac Lake.
Opinion
November 14, 2009
Group unconvinced on NYCO land swap
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