The Adirondack Council has reviewed the agenda for the upcoming May Adirondack Park Agency Board meeting and has made the following comments to the Park Agency:

1. Approval of Zip Line Construction and Other Modifications at the Olympic Regional Development Authority Olympic Jumping Complex: (Do Not Object) The proposed modifications to ORDA’s original order (2018-0025) are appropriate uses of Hamlet lands within the Town of North Elba and represent appropriate upgrades to an important economic attraction to the region. In reviewing the permit and its stated conditions, the Council does not object to the proposed changes.

2. Telecommunications Review and Permitting Presentation: (Do Not Object) The Council has monitored and provided input on a number of telecommunications projects in the past and we continue to support consistency between projects and the “substantially invisible” standard of the APA’s policy on Telecommunications Towers and other tall structures. We look forward to the Agency’s presentation on this topic.

3. Travel Corridor UMP, Board Adoption of Resolution on APSLMP Conformance: (Support) The Council supports the proposed final Unit Management Plan (UMP) and believes it meets Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (SLMP) requirements. Consistent with our August 10, 2018 comment letter, we continue to recommend, “Route 73 be given immediate priority for the development of its individual travel corridor UMP” to address important safety and traffic concerns along the high-use corridor.

4. Hammond Pond Wild Forest UMP, Board Adoption of Resolution on APSLMP Conformance: (Support with Modifications). The finalized UMP represents a strong step towards addressing critical public lands management in the Adirondack Park. As
expressed in our April 15, 2019 letter, the Council supports the Dept. of Environmental Conservation and Adirondack Park Agency’s commitment to implementing a wildlands monitoring framework that will be crucial to protecting this unit’s natural resources, particularly at high-use sites like Baxter Mountain and Split Rock Falls gorge. While the Council largely supports this UMP, we believe there are important SLMP conformance issues that need to be addressed. These issues include the UMP’s lack of carrying capacity studies for the unit. Eagle Lake stands as one example where carrying capacity studies are needed to determine appropriate and legal types of use and classification.

5. Presentations on Invasive Species: With invasive species posing some of the greatest threats to our land and waters, we look forward to stakeholders’ presentations on the movement, containment and/or eradication of both terrestrial and aquatic invasivespecies. This issue is particularly timely given that New York State’s law requiring that boaters take “reasonable precautions” to clean, drain and dry their boats before introducing them into New York waters is scheduled to “sunset” (i.e. expire) on June 1st, 2019. Without that law, there will be no statutory protections from the transport of invasive species by boaters. The Adirondack Council is calling for the reauthorization of the statewide invasive species transport law and further safeguarding of our waterways by making boat washing mandatory in the Adirondacks. A statutory mandate on boat washing in the Adirondacks would require that boaters must clean, drain, and dry their boats before entering Adirondack waterbodies. Boaters must also clean, drain, and dry their boats when transporting their watercraft from infected Adirondack waterbodies to uninfected Adirondack waterbodies.