By MIKE LYNCH, Enterprise Outdoors, link to original post
The state Adirondack Park Agency approved new guidelines for snowmobile trails Friday, Nov. 13, 2009.
The rules are intended to improve the safety of snowmobilers while lessening the environmental impact on the Forest Preserve during the process of constructing, maintaining and locating trails.
The guidelines were approved 10-1. Commissioner Richard Booth cast the dissenting vote, saying the State Land Master Plan should be amended before these guidelines were approved.
The guidelines will move snowmobile trails from the interior of wild forest areas to the outskirts while also creating community connector trails. They would also allow tracked groomers on community connector trails. Snowmobile trails would also be required to have the same character as foot trails.
For the most part, the snowmobile guidelines were hailed by those involved as a major accomplishment and an example of how the state Department of Environmental Conservation, APA, snowmobile groups, local government leaders and environmental organizations could work together to achieve rules that would satisfy everyone.
“It think that the theme of balance is something we have to look for in setting public policy, and to that end I think that what you passed today represents that balance,” said Mike Fischer, president of the New York State Snowmobile Association.
Fischer did acknowledge that the plan wasn’t perfect but that it was best to pass this compromise and move forward.
“There are environmental concerns that remain on the table,” Fischer said. “There are logistical and safety concerns that remain on the table from the snowmobilers’ perspective, but I do think that what you’ve done does give us a way to move forward.”
Those who have been critical of the plan this week include Lake Placid Snowmobile Club President Jim McCulley and the three major Adirondack environmental advocacy organizations, which have said they generally support the guidelines.
One major reason the environmental groups objected is the process by which the guidelines were adopted. Representatives from all three have said there should have been an amendment to the State Land Master Plan prior to the adoption of the guidelines because they are inconsistent with those rules.
One major bone of contention is the use of tracked groomers on the Forest Preserve.
Dan Plumley of Protect the Adirondacks! said that his group would consider suing the state “when a unit management plan comes before this agency that attempts to actually implement the use of tracked groomers.”
McCulley, on the other hand, has fought against the assertion that snowmobiles cause environmental damage to the Forest Preserve or wildlife. He also opposed moving snowmobile trails away from the interior of wild forests, asserting that snowmobilers enjoy being in the wilderness.
“The reality with this situation is that wild forest areas were meant to be for types of activities like snowmobiling,” McCulley said. “What they are saying by wanting to remove the trails from those interiors is that they are making now de-facto wilderness areas. … We enjoy being in the woods.”
