Newcomb, Long Lake, Indian Lake, Planning Finch Purchases
by Editorial Staff
The towns of Newcomb, Long Lake, and Indian Lake are all developing plans to purchase parts of the Nature Conservancy's Finch Pruyn lands according to the just-released annual report of the conservation organization's Adirondack Chapter & Adirondack Land Trust.
Newcomb plans to purchase about 970 acres of the Finch Pruyn lands within its hamlet to expand the High Peaks Golf Course and provide housing for student teachers. Long Lake is planning the purchase of about 50 acres for a municipal well and Indian Lake is looking at the purchase of approximately 75 acres near its downtown for "community purposes," according to the Conservancy's annual report.
The report also updates the status of the Conservancy's "Heart of the Adirondacks
Campaign," considered the largest conservation fundraising effort in the
history of the Adirondack Park. With $16.2 million raised toward the overall goal of $35 million, the fund is about 46 percent complete. There are currently two opportunities to have your major gift to the Heart of the Adirondacks Campaign doubled. Those interested should contact Nancy Van Wie, Director of Philanthropy, at nvanwie@tnc.org or 1.800.266.2082 ext. 139.
The full annual report is available as a pdf here; this year's report is also augmented by a online component with several short videos including The Adirondack Paper Chase, a video that features a scientist, a forester and a logger talking about sustainable forestry practices and the chain-of-custody component of certification.
Further reading about the Finch lands:
I asked TNC's Connie Prickett several questions about the sale of 90,000 acres of the 161,000 acre Finch lands back in the fall of 2008here
There was analysis of the sales by the Adirondack Council's John Sheehan posted in April of this year here.
Mary Thill asked Northern Logger magazine editor Eric Johnson of Old Forge about the state of the local logging industry back in March here.
The Almanack posted a map of the Finch purchase here.
9 Comments:
Too bad Betty "chicken" Little is trying to obstruct the whole deal.
Is this type of subdivision allowed under the terms of the conservation easement?
Or is this land unencumbered?
I assume this is allowed under the terms of the initial 161,000 acre purchase.
I added several links to the bottom of this post that help explain the different aspects of the original purchase and the subsequent sell off of some of those lands under easements.
These sales would be a part of that second process.
I'm surprised that Betty Little would try and obstruct this - please tell us more.
I thought she was a "do with your land what you want" advocate.
The notion that Little is a "do with your land what you want" advocate is false. She wouldn't advocate for my right to sell my land to the State if I wanted.
The Nature Conservancy is not in the business of buying land to sell for a golf course expansion or community housing. TNC, DEC and local governments worked hard to negotiate the Finch deal, the DEC was getting more forest preserve, local government were getting continued working forests, land for their pet projects and some snowmobile trails and TNC was protecting habitats. Little is trying to sink the deal by stopping the State from buying the land.
Betty Little is one of the few voices of reason concerning the former Finch property. If those remaining 70,000 acres go to the state the economic impact will be irreversible....the forestry industry will suffer, the local communities will lose the revenues from the lease hold clubs and the Adirondacks will move one step closer to total government control. Can't you folks see that a whole way of life is disappearing before your eyes..??
More state land is not the answer...a balanced economy where the children have a chance to stay and live and work, is what we need. There can be a viable balance between the environment and people...but someone has to lead the charge...Betty is one of those leaders.
Anonymous -
I'm afraid you couldn't be more wrong.
Here are a few facts you are apparently unaware of:
DEC Region 5 contains more potential commercial forest land (about 3 million acres) than forest preserve land.
The Finch lands are and have not been considered profitable, nor do they contribute in any meaningful way to the local economy.
Every single large forest products company in Region 5 has sold their land including Champion, International Paper, Domtar, and Finch Pruyn.
Those lands not bought outright by the state (or a third party like the Nature Conservancy) have been purchased by timber management investment companies which have much shorter term financial goals (and shorter tenure) than the original owners - in other words, they are in danger of simply being developed for rich folks.
By the way, DEC has paid full taxes on land the state owns in the park since the 1880s. The companies that have sold their land all enjoyed 480a tax breaks that reduced their assessments by 80% (that includes state, county and school taxes).
So that means selling the lands to the sate RETURNS THEM TO THE TAX ROLLS!
There are three significant mills left in the Adirondack region (only one inside the blue line) - that doesn't have anything to with the state buying land and the TNC applying easements that, by the way, allow for continued working forests.
It has a lot to do with the free market Republican policies of people like Betty Little that have provided incentives for lumber and paper companies to move to places like China.
Well John that is quite a strong rebuttal on the above reader of your story. Much of your facts listed are incorrect. For example most parcels under 480a do not receive anything close to an 80% reduction in taxes. You must be getting your information from a DEC brochure or some other not so accurate source. Look a little deeper you will find the real answer. You will also find that many large tract landowners don’t even use 480a. Some because they don’t want to be required to cut the timber according to the 480 schedule.
So the amount of tax revenue from a piece of state owned land must be equivalent or higher than we see for a developed parcel? Is that the case? Of course not. Just because the state is paying a minimal amount of taxes on state owned land does not mean that the local communities are doing as well as they could be from a tax revenue perspective. A small parcel of development that has something like the Whiteface Lodge or the like, produces far more tax revenue than hundreds (maybe even thousands) of acres of forest preserve land. Just look at the tax rolls in Essex County. And remember you need to break it down to a per acre basis.
What is the 3 million acres of “potential commercial” forest? Is that every acres of non-forest preserve land in the region? Please, give us a break! Since when is it commercially viable to log your quarter acre village lot? Again this is totally ridiculous. It would be nice if it was true but it just isn’t.
The nature conservancy has more plans for “development” on their Finch land than is planned on all the other tracts you describe as being in “imminent danger” of being developed by “rich folks”. Just look at the terms of the easements. Those tracts are in no danger of development.
The fact that you are blaming Betty Little for companies moving overseas may make you feel better. But that one isn’t true either.
There are over 3 million acres of private land in the park, less than 2% are "hamlet", less than that are 1/4 village lots. I am sure there is nearly 3 million acres for potential forest management.
The amount of taxes paid on state land may not be equal to having Whiteface lodges everywhere but I thought we were talking about whether the land should be forest preserve or working forests. I'll be they are close to equal in taxes.
The fact is the large timber/paper companies are selling their land to organizations who are known for selling land to the state. These lands are identified in the NY open space plan, which is written by a diverse group, including local representatives. The Finch deal was supported by local governments and hailed as a ground breaking deal that set a new standard on how large conservation deals were going to be done in the Adirondacks.
Seems like everyone liked it except Bitty Little and loggers.
Old Bitty is just stuck in her ways. The timber industry is tough. The pay is mediocre, its dangerous and the markets are volatile. When its slow up here loggers often blame the forest preserve. Its not any better outside of the park. Its hard for anyone to compete with the southern pine and northwestern doug-fir forests where they practically farm trees. And other places in NY and PA like the Allegheny plateau has the hardwoods we have in the Adirondacks but higher quality. Its because of the lack in timber markets that the much of the 3 million acres of private lands aren't actively managed. The forest preserve issue is an easy scapegoat for an industry that is struggling all over the country.
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