The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) is proposing amendments to the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (Master Plan) that will for the first time open Wilderness, Primitive and Canoe areas to cars, trucks, ATVs, golf carts, Segways and other motorized vehicles for persons with disabilities. According to Adirondack Park preservation advocates Protect the Adirondacks, “the Americans With Disabilities Act does not require such drastic actions.”
APA is accepting public comments on the proposed changes until December 2, 2024.
APA, which has become increasingly anti-wilderness and pro-motorized access and development, is again opening the forever wild Forest Preserve to increased motor vehicle. The proposed amendments would change the existing definition of “motor vehicle” to exclude “Other Power-Driven Mobility Devices” (OPDMDs).
OPDMDs include cars, trucks, ATVs, golf carts, tractors and Segways that are used by people with disabilities to traverse lands and trails.
Protect the Adirondacks says it “strongly supports the goal of increasing access to Forest Preserve recreational opportunities for persons with disabilities,” however, they oppose the exclusion of OPDMDs from the definition of “motor vehicle.”
Such a change would allow motorized vehicles of nearly every description to be used by persons with disabilities to access remote areas where motor vehicle use has always been prohibited.
Excluding OPDMDs from the definition of motor vehicles would violate Article 14 of the New York State Constitution (the “Forever Wild” clause) and the existing Guidelines for Management and Use in the Master Plan, Protect and other adovcates say.
“Allowing public use of motor vehicles in wilderness, primitive and canoe areas where such use is currently prohibited by Article 14 of the New York State Constitution and the Master Plan would be a fundamental alteration of the very program that provides people of all abilities with a challenging primitive experience and protects natural resources,” said Claudia Braymer, Deputy Director of Protect the Adirondacks.
Fundamentally altering the forever wild Forest Preserve is not required by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) or the implementing regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Justice, Braymer said.
The proposed amendments would delegate to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) unfettered discretion to permit the use of OPDMDs in every Forest Preserve classification, even though DEC has no written policy concerning use of OPDMDs on Forest Preserve lands.
“Granting DEC this authority, without any guidelines or restrictions to govern its exercise, would eliminate APA oversight of motor vehicle use on Forest Preserve lands in violation of both the Master Plan and the APA Act and would be a complete abrogation of APA’s duties to protect the natural resources of the Adirondack Park” said Christopher Amato, Conservation Director and Counsel of Protect the Adirondacks.
Protect praised APA for incorporating climate change impacts, planning, adaptation and resiliency into the Master Plan’s management prescriptions for Forest Preserve lands and waters.
However, APA has thus far failed to incorporate climate change consideration in its review of projects on private lands pursuant to the Adirondack Park land use and development plan, they said, and it does not appear to be considering potential climate change impacts in its proposals to expand motor vehicle use in the Forest Preserve.
“We support adding climate change considerations to the Master Plan, but we believe that the APA has not complied with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) because it has yet to add climate change impacts to its review of major private land projects and Forest Preserve management. It needs to adopt climate change policies,” said Peter Bauer, Executive Director of Protect the Adirondacks.
The Adirondack Park Agency will be accepting written public comments from through December 2, 2024. Comments may be submitted via email to SLMP_UMP_Comments@apa.ny.gov or sent to:
Megan Phillips, Deputy Director of Planning
Adirondack Park Agency
PO Box 99
Ray Brook, NY 12977
Illustration: Map of paved roads (not including unpaved access roads) in the Adirondack Park (courtesy the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force Final Report).
Source link
