The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)  is preparing a unit management plan (UMP) which will include six state forests, 21 detached parcels of Forest Preserve and one Office of General Services (OGS) parcel located close to but outside the southwest boundary of the Adirondack Park in northern Oneida and Herkimer counties. The public is invited to submit comments for a draft Adirondack Foothills UMP that will guide management of these unique state lands well into the future.

The state forests included in the unit are Hogsback, Popple Pond, Punkeyville, and Woodhull in Oneida County and Black Creek and Hinckley in Herkimer County. These state forest lands total 7,252 acres. The Detached Forest Preserve Parcels total 2,025 acres and the OGS parcel is 25 acres in size. The Adirondack Foothills Management Unit lands are located in the Oneida County towns of Boonville and Forestport and Herkimer County towns of Norway, Russia and Salisbury.

Public input, data collected during forest inventories, and other sources of data and information will be used to develop the draft Adirondack Foothills UMP. The draft UMP will be available this fall for public review and comment and a public meeting will be scheduled. Under the UMP, DEC would manage these state forest lands to promote a healthy ecosystem, enhance landscape biodiversity, protect soil productivity and water quality, and provide additional recreational opportunities in the region.

Any person or group who would like to mail input or comments on the future management of this unit can contact Senior Forester Mary Kay Allen at NYSDEC, 225 North Main Street, Herkimer, NY, 13350, or send an e-mail to r6ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us. For additional information call (315) 866-6330. A web page on the unit can be seen at  http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/97049.html.

Public comments must be received June 30 to be incorporated into the draft UMP.