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The Adirondack Park Agency is weaker today than at any time in its 48-year history. That the fault rests with the office of Governor Andrew Cuomo is both unfortunate and surprising: unfortunate because the APA was created to protect the Adirondack Park from damaging use and development but is now falling down on the job; surprising because, at the national level, the Governor has become a leader in combating climate change, the greatest environmental threat to our planet in human history. Yet in a critically important way the Governor has neglected the world-class park in his own backyard. » Continue Reading.
Almanack Contributor Dick Beamish
Dick Beamish was a staff member of the Adirondack Park Agency from 1972-78 and the founder of Adirondack Explorer. He now lives in Middlebury, VT; he was a founding member of Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates (ARTA).
Viewpoint: Save the Adirondack Park Agency
Viewpoint: Kudos to Governor Cuomo
Thanks to Governor Cuomo and his environmental agencies (APA and DEC), the long-awaited Adirondack Rail Trail has overcome legal roadblocks and is back on track.
This means that Tri-Lakes residents and visitors should soon reap multiple benefits from the scenic travel corridor (the publicly owned rail bed) connecting Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. » Continue Reading.
Dick Beamish: Adirondack Rail Trail For All
As the Adirondack Park Agency once again ponders the fate of the Tri-Lakes rail corridor, the return of a temporary, for-profit rail-bike business is being considered for the stretch of track between Saranac Lake and Lake Clear.
The popularity of these machines gives a hint of the potential benefits that will accrue from a bike path on this state-owned right-of-way once the tracks are removed. This much-discussed Adirondack Rail Trail now awaits a final okay from the APA and perhaps (here we go again!) a final round of hearings on the state’s Unit Management Plan governing use of the rail corridor. » Continue Reading.
Beamish: Vanquishing Rural Sprawl in the Adirondack Park
How best to protect the private backcountry of the Adirondacks while allowing for suitable development? How can we prevent future monstrosities like the resort project approved for Tupper Lake?
Here’s one way. A bill before the state legislature will help to preserve the biological integrity, wildlife and wildlife corridors, and the wonderful open-space character, of the Adirondack Park. It would require the state’s Adirondack Park Agency (APA) to mandate “conservation design” for future subdivisions over a certain size, starting with an ecological and forest stewardship plan for the entire property. The developer would then concentrate building lots for minimum impact, ensuring that at least 75 percent of the tract remains in contiguous and intact open space. » Continue Reading.
Dick Beamish: A Rosy Future for Saranac Lake
It is easy to get discouraged when our village leaders lead us in the wrong direction, as they have by allowing a grotesquely oversized hotel to take over Lake Flower. But despite their inability to appreciate what makes Saranac Lake unique, they cannot alter an irreversible trend.
The fact is, Saranac Lake probably has more going for it than any other community of similar size anywhere else. On what is this optimistic observation based, you may ask? It’s based on the driving and biking trips my wife and I have taken in recent years through much of rural America. It’s also based on walking around Saranac Lake Village, our home for the past two decades. “Unique” is an overused word, but it clearly applies in this case. » Continue Reading.
Dick Beamish: Preservationists Have A Point
There’s no question that the much-debated resort and second-home development around Mount Morris could be a good thing for Tupper Lake—if it’s done right. The proposed Adirondack Club and Resort (ACR) is a 700-unit project spread over more than 6,000 acres. The question is whether this largest development ever to come before the Adirondack Park Agency will be done in a way that respects the natural environment and benefits the local community, and whether it will set a good or bad precedent for other projects, large and small, far into the future. » Continue Reading.
Dick Beamish Commentary On Rail-Trail Debate
Words of wisdom can be found in the latest issue of the Conservationist magazine, published bimonthly by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. In his introductory letter to readers, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens makes the following comments that have special application to the proposed Adirondack Rail Trail that would run 90 miles between Old Forge and Lake Placid. Following the Commissioner’s comments are observations of our own. » Continue Reading.
Latest News Headlines
- Thick smoke hangs over the Adirondacks
- Death of an Adirondack relic
- Ranger rescues: More than 4,500 served in 10 years
- Learning from the lake
- Revitalizing Adirondack communities, one building at a time
- Essex Co. woman to appear on History Channel survival show
- Second fox tests positive for rabies in Ticonderoga
- State aid offer for new Boquet Valley school building falls short
- Adirondack teens hear a message of hope at a climate change gathering in Ontario
- Travels with Joe, the caricature artist
Latest News Headlines
- Thick smoke hangs over the Adirondacks
- Death of an Adirondack relic
- Ranger rescues: More than 4,500 served in 10 years
- Learning from the lake
- Revitalizing Adirondack communities, one building at a time
- Essex Co. woman to appear on History Channel survival show
- Second fox tests positive for rabies in Ticonderoga
- State aid offer for new Boquet Valley school building falls short
- Adirondack teens hear a message of hope at a climate change gathering in Ontario
- Travels with Joe, the caricature artist
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
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ARTA to NYS: Let’s speed up the rail trail construction
“Use and misuse of the travel corridor through the Adirondacks.” That’s the subject of a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo from Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates, the nonprofit that’s been working for many years to establish a 90-mile recreational trail through the Adirondack Park from Lake Placid to Old Forge. ARTA achieved partial success when the state announced its grand compromise back in 2015 — 34 miles of the old railroad line would be converted to a year-round recreational trail linking Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. The rest of the state-owned “travel corridor” would be devoted to creating the longest tourist train ride in the country.
» Continue Reading.