Where the Wild Is. Mapping. the Full Wilderness Potential of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Bill Ingersoll

Transcription

1 Where the Wild Is Mapping the Full Wilderness Potential of the Adirondack Forest Preserve Bill Ingersoll

2 Get Out. Seek Out. FIND OUT. Published March 2015 WILD RIVER Press 7123 Trenton Road Barneveld, NY All photos & maps by Bill Ingersoll unless otherwise noted Front cover: Cascade Pond, Blue Ridge Wilderness Back Cover: Hiking to Peaked Mountain, Siamese Ponds Wilderness

3 View of Wolf Pond from Moose Mountain, proposed Two Moose Mountains Wilderness Contents Introduction 1 What Is Wilderness? 2 Differences between Adirondack and Federal Wildernesses 5 Differences between Wilderness and Wild Forest 6 About the Maps 8 Maps Conclusion 33

4 Portaging between Sand and Rock Lakes, Five Ponds Wilderness

5 This document represents a personal vision for expanding the wilderness designation throughout the Adirondack Park. Specifically, it lists numerous boundary adjustments that would enhance the wilderness character of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and corrects certain existing wilderness areas that have been overextended. This report looks at the Adirondack Park Agency s current state land use map, frames it within the context of historical efforts to zone the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and suggests ways that the wilderness designation could be greatly expanded without necessarily blocking snowmobile trail connections. The underlying assumption behind this report is that the Forest Preserve is first and foremost a wild resource, and that the wilderness designation is the best existing tool for protecting the primitive qualities of the larger, remoter tracts of state land. There are currently 21 designated wilderness areas in the Adirondack Park today. Not only are they a tremendous conservation achievement for the entire state, they are also a valuable quality-of-life asset for New York s upstate residents, since many of these areas are within a reasonable drive of several key population centers. These wilderness areas include everything from high alpine summits to remote lakes and Introduction valleys. They offer opportunities for primitive recreation that are unparalleled in the eastern United States. However, the existing Adirondack wilderness areas do not represent the full potential of the Forest Preserve. In my explorations of the park, I have identified several other areas that exhibit wilderness characteristics, but which are not designated as such in the State Land Master Plan. Most of these potential wilderness additions are found in areas that are currently designated wild forest. In this report, I suggest that there could be as many as 24 wilderness areas a number that is reached after merging several contiguous wild areas, eliminating one substandard wilderness, and creating 6 new wilderness areas. To be clear, these recommendations are the views of the author, and are not proposals being advanced for public action. My intent is to call attention to all of the places where wilderness values can be found in the Forest Preserve the places that are already well known, as well as the places that may deserve stronger oversight among wilderness advocates. There would undoubtedly be a vigorous public debate if this entire slate of recommendations were advanced en masse, even strong objections from certain counter-advocacy groups. Therefore all readers are 1 encouraged to interpret the following recommendations within their proper context: that is, as the opinions of one opinionated individual. Anyone who would take exception to the expression of these views flatter the author by fearing that these proposals could someday become a reality. Further, these recommendations do not touch on the subject of wilderness management, such as the creation (or closure) of trails and lean-tos within the wilderness boundaries. The only exceptions are the implied closures of certain non-conforming facilities. Otherwise, this report deals strictly with wilderness boundaries, and how they could be redrawn to better protect the Forest Preserve s remotest regions. Finally, this report does not knowingly include any private lands within the proposed wilderness expansions, nor does it make any suggestions for land acquisition. Only The Nature Conservancy s holdings in the Boreas River watershed, which are pending acquisition, as well as other recent Forest Preserve purchases, have been added to the maps. The presence of private inholdings was taken into consideration for all potential state land reclassifications; existing rights of way would not be impacted.

6 2 This report utilizes the term wilderness very frequently, almost to the point of fetishism. In all cases it refers to the modern legal concept of designated wilderness areas: those sections of public land that have been specifically protected by law to preserve their primeval qualities and natural appearances, as well as to enhance opportunities for primitive recreation. They are typically (but not always) large and remote, and they are managed by government agencies to be places that are as free as possible from direct human influences. New York State is the home of 27 wilderness areas: 21 in the Adirondack Park, 5 in Catskill Park, and 1 in the Fire Island National Seashore. The idea of preserving wilderness as a matter of public policy originated in the 1920s, when foresters in the U.S. Forest Service fretted that active and unbridled public land management would eventually result in the loss of America s last wild places. This was at a time when national forests and national parks were being subjected to road grading, logging, and lodge building, without an overarching policy to govern the appropriate siting of such uses. Although the act of setting aside wilderness areas would produce environmental benefits, the foresters motivations were largely based on recreational concerns. They What Is Wilderness? believed that as modern civilization became more mechanized, entire landscapes needed to be retained as havens for primitive recreation specifically, hiking, camping, mountaineering, canoeing, ski touring, and horse packing. Wilderness became a concrete legal term in 1964 with the passage of the Wilderness Act, which had been drafted by Howard Zahniser of the Wilderness Society. Zahniser owned a camp in Bakers Mills in the Adirondacks, and he cited the constitutional protections afforded the Forest Preserve as a model for the federal law. The Wilderness Act gave Congress the sole authority to designate protected areas on federal lands throughout the country, defining wilderness largely as a place where mechanized (i.e. modern) forms of transportation were banned, and where natural forces would be allowed to proceed unchecked. At the time of the original passage, 54 areas were so designated in 13 states, protecting a total of 9.1 million acres. Subsequent acts of Congress have increased the National Wilderness Preservation System to more than 760 areas, with a sum of nearly 109 million protected acres. These federal wilderness areas can be found in 44 states and Puerto Rico. (New York State, which has very little federal land, boasts of only one federal wilderness area: the 1380-acre Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness, located in the Fire Island National Seashore off Long Island.) The 1964 law was enacted at a time when New York was debating the future of its own Forest Preserve. Article XIV of the state constitution mandated that the state lands in the Adirondacks and Catskills be forever kept as wild forest lands, and it specifically prohibited the destruction of timber, or the sale or exchange of any acre. This so-called forever wild clause was written during an era when the public feared that unregulated and highly destructive logging practices in the late nineteenth century might threaten the state s water supplies. Combined with the creation of the Adirondack Park, the forever wild clause set in motion a land acquisition policy that would eventually grow the Forest Preserve to upwards of 2.5 million acres. While the clause banned logging from the preserve, it otherwise left the rules for its day-to-day management open to interpretation. Beginning circa 1919, when the Conservation Commission (later renamed the Conservation Department) first took an active interest in managing the Forest Preserve for recreation, the public discussion focused on the types of permissible human uses. The strict preservationist view held that no non-wilderness

7 3 development of any kind was permitted, including roads and lodges. The Conservation Department, however, was more lenient in regards to motorized access. During the 1930s numerous fire truck trails were opened throughout the forest. They were intended as a means of quickly suppressing wildfires, although many inevitably became roads for recreational access as well. Later, the department took no action to check floatplane and snowmobile use of the backcountry in the years after World War II. Many people viewed these actions (and inactions) as an erosion of the preserve s wilderness character. In addition to issues of motorized access, there were some who called for a full or partial repeal of Article XIV on the grounds that the ban on timber destruction also prevented the state from managing wildlife. Therefore the earliest discussions for zoning the Forest Preserve in the 1950s focused on dividing the state s Adirondack lands into wilderness and non-wilderness areas. Proponents of this plan hoped that a new constitutional amendment could be passed to allow modern conservation practices i.e. timber and game management in most of the preserve, and that only certain core areas would remain forever wild. In this case, the intent of the wilderness areas would be to maintain the status quo, while the remainder of the preserve would be freed of most constitutional restrictions. No action was taken on this proposal, although in 1961 a joint legislative committee identified twelve potential wilderness areas throughout the Adirondack Park: Big Otter Lake, Dix Mountain, Five Ponds, Eastman Lake, a worthy potential addition to the Silver Lake Wilderness

8 Original SLMP map showing the first 15 Adirondack wilderness areas (dark green) Giant Mountain, High Peaks, McKenzie Mountain, Pharaoh Lake, Pigeon Lake, Sentinel Range, Siamese Ponds, Silver Lake, and West Canada Lake. Each of these areas was greater than 10,000 acres in size, and together they accounted for 36% of the Forest Preserve. This list was carried forward to 1968, when Governor Nelson Rockefeller created the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks. The governor tasked the commission with providing a set of detailed recommendations on a variety of park-related issues, including Forest Preserve zoning and management. The idea of repealing Article XIV was abandoned in favor of a new zoning plan modeled after the

9 Wilderness Act. According to the commission s recommendations, wilderness would become places with increased legal protections, above and beyond the requirements of the state constitution. They would be offset by a new designation called wild forest, in which the facilities and uses allowed by the Conservation Department and which had not been challenged could continue. Every acre of the preserve would remain forever wild, except in places where development was specifically authorized by constitutional amendments. The commission s plan was implemented in 1972, when the new Adirondack Park Agency (APA) issued the first State Land Master Plan (SLMP). The Forest Preserve became officially zoned into wilderness and wild forest areas, along with a handful of other narrow-purpose classifications. Wilderness was defined in a way that strongly mirrored the Wilderness Act: A wilderness area, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. A wilderness area is further defined to mean an area of state land or water having a primeval character, without significant improvement or permanent human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve, enhance and restore, where necessary, its natural conditions, and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least ten thousand acres of contiguous land and water or is of sufficient size and character as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological or other features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical value. The wild forests, by contrast, were expected to be areas that were less remote and less sensitive to recreational usage. The basic idea was that they would meet the baseline requirements of Article XIV, and that future court rulings and attorney general opinions would further refine what was and wasn t compatible with the forever wild concept. Snowmobile trails, truck trails, and floatplane landings could continue in the wild forests until a higher legal authority determined otherwise. For this reason, the SLMP definition for wild forests was left vague and open-ended. There were 15 Adirondack wilderness areas in the original classification action of 1972, with an aggregate size of 997,960 acres. Today there are 21 areas with a total of 1,145,837 acres. This is the largest concentration of protected wilderness in the northeastern United States, and 7 of the Adirondack areas exceed the size of New Hampshire s Pemigewasset Wilderness, the largest federal wilderness in the region. The next nearest federal wilderness areas of comparable size are Minnesota s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (812,941 acres across three separate subunits); Michigan s Isle Royale Wilderness (132,018 acres); Georgia s Okefenokee Wilderness (353,981 acres); and Florida s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness (1,296,500 acres). Beyond these eastern and Midwestern states, one must travel to the Rocky Mountains or to Canada to find wilderness areas that match or surpass the size of those found in the Adirondacks. Differences between Adirondack and Federal Wildernesses A distinctive characteristic about the Adirondack wilderness areas is that they are designated by state agencies, not by Congress. New York State, which has also designated 5 wilderness areas in the Catskill Park, is one of only a handful of U.S. states with its own wilderness program (others include Alaska, California, and Michigan). The Adirondack units are designated by the Adiron-

10 6 dack Park Agency and approved by the governor. Day-to-day management falls within the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Conservation. Although Adirondack wilderness areas are managed in a way that is very similar to the National Wilderness Preservation System, there are subtle differences. In federal wilderness, most wheeled conveyances of any kind including wagons and canoe carts are banned, while these are permitted in the Adirondack units. On the other hand, existing non-conforming uses tend to linger longer in federal areas. For instance, fire towers often remain on site until they deteriorate, ranger stations are more common, and many airstrips and access roads have been specifically exempted. In the Adirondacks, the SLMP provides stricter guidelines about the removal and maintenance of such uses. Federal wilderness areas are designated on lands owned by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Without legal protection, these lands would otherwise be vulnerable to a variety of non-wilderness activities, including logging, mining, road paving, oil leasing, and so forth. Therefore a wilderness designation on federal land is essentially a withdrawal of these places from exploitation and development. By contrast, the Adirondack Forest Preserve is a place where all forms of resource extraction, development, and human habitation are strictly forbidden by Article XIV anyway, regardless of the land classification. As a result, a wilderness designation in the Adirondack Park has a greater impact on recreation than on any other human activity, because this is one of the few topics on which the constitution permits any kind of management discretion. Differences between Wilderness and Wild Forest The distinctions between the wilderness and wild forest classifications in the SLMP are more complex. As their names suggest, both are intended to be wild places because Article Upper Stoner Lake, Silver Lake Wilderness

11 View of Mount Haystack from the Range Trail, High Peaks Wilderness XIV permits no other alternative. Logging, mining, and other exploitative uses are legally impossible except by constitutional amendment. Natural plant and animal communities can be preserved equally well in either classification, since little or no habitat manipulation is allowed in the Forest Preserve. Therefore the key distinction between wilderness and wild forest is the type of visitor experience that each category provides. An Adirondack wilderness, compared to other parts of the Forest Preserve, is defined partly by the absence of roads (at least, those in active service), mechanical forms of transportation, and enclosed structures. The wild forest classification permits the presence of access roads, snowmobile trails, all-terrain biking, fire towers, group campsites, and other limited facilities. A literal reading of the SLMP suggests that the wild forests should be the smaller, less remote sections of the Forest Preserve the accessible places close to towns and highways, where no one expects to find remoteness and solitude, but where the greatest amount of recreational facilities logically should be developed. Wilderness is intended to be much more experience-oriented: these places offer opportunities for a rugged, more primitive form of outdoor recreation that is impossible anywhere else. It is not simply about the scenery; overcoming the physical challenges and the long miles to reach an interior destination (where no other form of access is possible) are part of the attraction. The terms preservation and protection are more commonly associated with wilderness than wild forest, and wilderness is in fact regarded as the highest level of legal protection in the SLMP. But the thing that wilderness is able to preserve and that wild forest cannot is the visitor experience:

12 8 the somewhat humbling notion of being a small wanderer in a large landscape. Wilderness achieves its resource protection goals by virtue of its size; remoteness and ruggedness are expected to be controlling factors for human usage. A lightly used wilderness is a successful one, whereas a heavily used wilderness is a management challenge. In practical experience, however, there are quite a few wild forests in the Adirondacks that offer better wilderness experiences than several of the more popular wilderness areas: fewer people, more solitary campsites, and less trampled trails. Therefore it is my position that the SLMP land classification is not always an accurate predictor of visitor experience, because some wild forests are just as good at providing outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation as the designated wilderness areas. However and herein lies the point of this report as wild forests there is no guarantee that these wilderness experiences will be perpetuated. The areas worthy of protection exist by accident, not by design. Old, seldom-used snowmobile trails could be reopened or widened; forgotten roads could be hardened with gravel for the benefit of motor vehicle ingress. To the extent such facilities comply with SLMP guidelines, access roads and snowmobile trails are perfectly acceptable in the wild forest setting but their presence in the remoter areas diminishes the ability of those places to provide wilderness experiences. Thus, a wilderness reclassification would provide a tangible layer of protection. When the original 15 wilderness areas were created in 1972, there were many non-conforming uses on these lands that had been created or allowed by the old Conservation Department. These included 34.3 miles of truck trails, 78.1 miles of jeep trails, and 63.7 miles of snowmobile trails all of which needed to be closed or re-designated for foot travel. Numerous other structures, including fire towers, horse barns, tent platforms, and telephone lines, became targeted for removal because all were deemed to be detrimental to the wilderness experience. Today you may visit many of these sites and not be aware that any issues ever existed. However, had special exceptions been made for any of these facilities, or little exclusion zones drawn around them, then the wilderness classification would have been hardly distinguishable from its counterpart, the wild forest category. The boundaries between wilderness and wild forest need to be regular and well-defined to be meaningful; spot zoning and gerrymandering prevent the goals of either category from being achieved. It is incumbent upon state land planners to analyze the character of the land, choose the best high-level management strategy, and then assert that choice by applying one classification or the other not both simultaneously. The maps in this report are modified versions of the APA s 2014 Adirondack Land Use and Development Plan and State Land Map, which anyone can download for free from About the Maps the agency website, ny.gov/. I used this map to illustrate how my suggested boundary changes would appear on official maps, using the established color-coding scheme to delineate my modifications. In all cases, wilderness areas are indicated in blue, and wild forests are shaded pale green. Note that these adjusted maps do not necessarily reflect anyone s views but my own.

13 9 In identifying these suggested changes, I used the following criteria: At-risk areas: For the purposes of this exercise, an area is at risk if redundant/unnecessary motorized facilities exist or have been proposed for construction. Mechanized travel is the antithesis of the wilderness experience, and while these recreational uses may have a place in the Forest Preserve, the remotest areas should be preserved as close to a wilderness state as possible. Access to areas that are far from public highways should be difficult and challenging. In my travels, I have followed existing snowmobile trails that are in poor maintenance and clearly not used or needed, and some that are redundant to other, better trails. Some motorized/mechanized trails lead to wilderness boundaries where no physical barriers against trespass exist. In some cases proposals have been advanced to open roads and trails into remote areas where there is currently little usage. All of these facilities (proposed and existing) are regarded as threats to potential wilderness areas because they intrude upon remote regions of the preserve. De facto wilderness: Although the existing wilderness areas preserve most of the largest Forest Preserve tracts, there are nevertheless a few roadless and trailless wild forest regions that currently meet wilderness guidelines. No non-conforming facilities exist, and recreation levels are light. Such de facto wilderness areas merit official recognition purely on aesthetic grounds. One wonders why they have not already been classified. Natural plant & animal communities: One of the goals of wilderness preservation is to ensure that natural plant and animal communities are protected as much as possible against human influences. Sites that deserve wilderness consideration on this basis include virgin forest tracts in the southern Adirondacks, and timber rattlesnake habitat in the Lake George basin. Spot-zone removal and wilderness overreach: Not all of the suggestions in this report call for increased wilderness designations. Several areas have been identified where existing wilderness should be reclassified to primitive or wild forest because of the existence of non-conforming facilities. There has been a recent trend to expand wilderness boundaries despite the presence of access roads, snowmobile trails, or fire towers. In some cases, these facilities cannot yet be removed, and in other cases the facilities are not likely to ever be removed. The boundaries between wilderness and wild forest areas need to be regular and well-defined to be meaningful; spot zoning and gerrymandering prevent the goals of either category from being achieved. Community connection corridors & non-remote areas: If all of the suggestions of the report were adopted, the resulting Forest Preserve management boundaries would place most of the large, remote, and roadless regions within the wilderness designation, and most frontcountry regions within the wild forest category. This reflects the author s interpretation of how the State Land Master Plan was ideally intended to be applied. Recreation of a non-wilderness nature would have ample space for development in those sections of the Forest Preserve within easy reach of highways and communities, where wilderness conditions are unlikely to ever be achieved. Existing inter-community snowmobile trails are respected to the extent they do not threaten or intrude upon remote areas.

14 Current Adirondack Park Agency Map Wilderness Areas Depicted in Blue

15 Full Wilderness Potential of the Forest Preserve Map by Bill Ingersoll

16 Northern Overview Map by Bill Ingersoll

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18 Proposed Reclassification: Wild Forest to Wilderness Proposed Reclassification: Wilderness to Wild Forest

19 Proposed Reclassification: Wild Forest to Wilderness Proposed Reclassification: Wilderness to Primitive OSWEGATCHIE WILDERNESS, WHITNEY WILDERNESS, & ROUND LAKE WILDERNESS The region labeled as the Oswegatchie Wilderness on this map is the combination of the existing Five Ponds and Pepperbox wildernesses. In 1972, both of the heritage areas were relatively small and separated by extensive private inholdings. Since then, a successful land acquisition effort has reversed that pattern, creating a significant stretch of wild lands interrupted by smaller tracts of private lands. Today s Five Ponds Wilderness is now the third-largest protected area in the Adirondack Park. The William C. Whitney and Round Lake areas consist almost entirely of post-1972 purchases. Many of these lands were heavily lumbered prior to state acquisition, resulting in a non-wilderness visual impression in some cases. Rather than a description of past stewardship, these wilderness designations reflect a desired end-state. This wilderness complex is in several ways a work in progress. Many miles of private access roads must be retained to service the inholdings, preventing the area from being completely motor-free. As a result, the wilderness boundaries are very irregular and hardly ideal. Some of the roads result in detached, non-contiguous parcels that do not yet meet SLMP wilderness guidelines, despite their classification. This map corrects such instances of overextension, and suggests alternate Forest Preserve parcels with better wilderness qualifications.

20 SENTINEL RANGE WILDERNESS The section of state land east of Bartlett Road should be reclassified as wild forest. It is unlikely that this residential road will be closed to meet wilderness guidelines, and the non-contiguous arm extending toward the Ausable River serves no wilderness preservation purpose. Additionally, DEC and APA should assert the state s jurisdiction to the so-called Old Mountain Road trail. Otherwise, this corridor separates the wilderness into two non-contiguous units. HURRICANE MOUNTAIN WILD FOREST The Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area was originally intended to be reclassified as wilderness upon removal of the summit fire tower, which was deemed by the SLMP to be a non-conforming use. However, in 2010 the APA resolved the issue by spot-zoning the fire tower footprint as a mini historic area, thus removing it from the surrounding area and permitting the wilderness reclassification. There appears to be strong public support for retaining the tower, although decisions on whether to remove it or restore have hinged around sentimental and aesthetic reasoning. It does no apparent environmental harm, but it physically remains a non-wilderness facility within a designated wilderness, in violation of the SLMP s intent. This instance of spot-zoning needs to be rectified. The existing SLMP category that best describes Hurricane Mountain s management objectives is wild forest. Therefore I recommend reclassifying the entire area as the Hurricane Mountain Wild Forest.

21 JAY MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS Since the commencement of industrial mining and prospecting activities in the tract known as Lot 8, the wilderness character of this land has been permanently forfeited. Lot 8 must be reclassified.

22 HIGH PEAKS WILDERNESS This map shows the recommended High Peaks Wilderness boundary configuration once the Finch Pruyn land acquisition is complete, and once all private leases have ended in Specifically, the MacIntyre West and Bradley Pond parcels should be classified wilderness in their entirety. However, wild forest buffers are suggested for MacIntyre East near the Opalescent River, since this area lies within close proximity to the industrial Tahawus mine site. Also, the southwestern slopes of Mount Adams should be reclassified from wilderness to wild forest, removing the restored fire tower on the mountain s summit from the High Peaks Wilderness. This non-remote acreage faces the Tahawus mine and is not required for the goals of wilderness preservation. I also recommend a full wilderness classification for the Boreas Ponds region, extending all the way south to Blue Ridge Road. Once acquired by the state, this watershed will become a remote area with wilderness qualities that should be preserved. A former power line has been removed from this area, making a larger section of state land eligible for a wilderness classification than previously believed. An exception has been made at Ragged Mountain, where former logging roads near Gulf Brook and The Branch could offer opportunities for mechanized access in a non-remote area. The combined High Peaks and Dix Mountain units which would now share a common boundary at Casey Brook would form a vast wilderness of western proportions, approximately 260, ,000 acres in size.

23 Mount Adams Boreas Ponds Ragged Mountain

24 HUDSON GORGE WILDERNESS This is the Hudson Gorge Wilderness that I would have created, with a protected central core and mechanized travel only on the peripheries. Strategically-located roads in the adjacent conservation easement lands would provide reasonable motorized access to the area, minimizing the amount of walking required to reach interior destinations. The area is crisscrossed by four protected rivers, including two wild river corridors where the state is statutorily required to maintain wilderness conditions. Because of this, I think the authors of the SLMP must have envisioned that this would someday become a signature wilderness area upon acquisition. However, non-wilderness recreational concerns prevailed at the time of designation in 2013, so that the actual wilderness designated by the state is only a fraction of its potential size. I added my version to this map in a moment of wistfulness, but I have no expectation of seeing these adjustments realized in the near future.

25 TIMBER RATTLESNAKE WILDERNESS Timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) are a threatened species in New York, and their Adirondack habitat is limited to a few locations near Lake George and Lake Champlain. Of these sites, only the Tongue Mountain Range is large enough to form a credible wilderness area. The range is quite small perhaps less than 10,000 acres and its proximity to Lake George s heavy motorboat traffic impairs its sense of remoteness. Therefore this designation is proposed primarily for the benefit of the unique habitat that it contains. There are several private inholdings along the shoreline near Montcalm Point. Water-based access to these sites would not be impaired, and most of the lots appear to be too small for further development. Therefore this designation is expected to have no impact on private landowner access. Also, the rugged nature of the terrain means that the area is only used for foot travel today. Recreational usage would remain essentially the same with the wilderness designation.

26 SOUthern Overview Map by Bill Ingersoll

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28 TWO MOOSE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS The Wilcox Lake Wild Forest is one of the largest portions of the Adirondack Forest Preserve not protected by a wilderness designation but it is by no means ineligible for such consideration, in my opinion. Although it is crisscrossed by snowmobile trails, there are substantial trailless areas between these trails that exist as de facto wilderness already. The proposed Two Moose Mountains Wilderness shown on this map unifies these trailless segments into a continuous protected area roughly 50,000-60,000 acres in size, including most of the northern half of the wild forest from Wells to Stony Creek. In addition to the two Moose Mountains that give the area its name one near NY 8 in Griffin, the other in Stony Creek landmarks include Pine Orchard, Lizard Pond, and Mount Blue. Human use of this area appears to be quite light. The most popular destinations within the proposed wilderness boundaries are Lizard Pond (site of the area s only lean-to), Kibby Pond, Cod Pond, and Pine Orchard. All of these are somewhat peripheral in nature. Unmarked trails lead to or toward Eagle Pond, Little Joe Pond, Shiras Pond, and New Lake. There are also several snowmobile trails in the area that seem to attract no attention of any kind. To create a wilderness of this size, several of these snowmobile trails would need to be reclassified for foot travel, including the Oregon Trail, Bartman Trail, and Girard Trail. In my explorations of the area I have observed very little machine use of these trails, particularly those that connect with the town of Johnsburg. The Bartman and Lizard Pond trails are in poor condition and are clearly not valued as snowmobile connections, despite plans to revive one or the other as such. On the other hand, the Arrow Trail and the road to Baldwin Spring are not affected by the wilderness designation, and these could be retained as part of a viable snowmobile connector between Warren and Hamilton counties. The Two Moose Mountains region includes a variety of forest types, with areas that exhibit old growth conditions in the southern stretches, and with stands that are recovering from past forest fires in the north. Several mountains offer outstanding vistas, although none have trails. The interior ponds are small, but they all feature productive fisheries. Stewart Creek, which traces a V-shaped course through the wilderness, can be canoed by anyone willing to make the long carry to Fish Ponds. Although the motivation for designating this potential wilderness is to preserve and enhance the primitive character of its central core, there is nevertheless room for recreational development. For instance, realignments of the existing trail system could result in more desirable point-to-point traverses of the area, and new trails to Mount Blue and the eastern Moose Mountain would entice more people to seek out the superlative vistas found on those peaks. The interior of the wilderness may be remote, but there is no reason why certain selected destinations cannot be managed as recreational assets. Some portions of the wilderness were farmed in the nineteenth century, but overall the area is remarkably wild today. However, its wilderness qualities are threatened by the state s allowance of four-wheel-drive motor vehicle use on roads north and west of Baldwin Spring, which are so rough that they are impassable to ordinary automobiles, and therefore possibly non-conforming under the SLMP. Vehicles must ford East Stony Creek to reach these routes, where there is a risk of damage to the surrounding wetlands. This is a harmful and inappropriate use of a remote section of the Forest Preserve, and the wilderness reclassification would require DEC to bring it to an end.

29 Baldwin Spring Wilcox Lake CRANE MOUNTAIN PRIMITIVE AREA The state lands on Crane Mountain are far too small to qualify for wilderness consideration, but nevertheless its rugged nature and high-elevation terrain make it worthy of attention. A primitive classification would be appropriate for this area, which has no non-conforming uses although there is illegal ATV traffic between Crystal Brook and Crane Mountain Pond.

30 JERSEYFIELD-TEFFT WILDERNESS The name of this proposed wilderness reflects the two main tracts that comprise it: the Jerseyfield Patent to the south, and the Tefft Tract to the north. Jerseyfield was logged in the early twentieth century, although WWI triggered a labor and supply shortage that put that operation out of business. The Tefft Tract was never logged and contains a virgin forest the primary motivation for designating this wilderness area. The privately-owned Brayhouse Gore nearly bisects the area, and several inholdings are accessed by motor vehicles, but the area is otherwise large enough to justify reclassification. RICHARDS VLY WILDERNESS Although surrounded by snowmobile trails, the interior state lands are essentially trailless and contain no non-conforming uses. It is characterized by extensive streams and wetlands. Whitehouse

31 SILVER LAKE WILDERNESS 27 Although the SLMP anticipates the closure of West River Road to Whitehouse at some future date, it seems unlikely that such a closure could ever be effected without engendering much local ire. DEC s unit management plan proposed that only the final 0.7 mile be closed to motor vehicles too little to impress wilderness advocates, but enough to rouse opposition. While the heart of the Silver Lake Wilderness would undoubtedly become remoter (and the wilderness experience therefore enhanced) if West River Road didn t exist, I must concede that the Whitehouse parking area does make a practical trailhead. The proposed 0.7-mile closure would be a mere incremental gain for the wilderness core at best not necessarily worth the effort of closing one parking area and clearing a new one. However, the goal of enhancing the core of the Silver Lake Wilderness could be achieved by other methods. This map proposes a minor wild forest reclassification in the strip of land between West River Road and the West Branch Sacandaga River, and a much larger wilderness reclassification in adjacent state lands in Fulton County. Roughly 12,000-15,000 acres of the Shaker Mountain Wild Forest exist in a primitive state and could be managed in accordance with wilderness guidelines. This addition includes Chase Lake, County Line Lake, and Eastman Lake, but stops short of the snowmobile trail connecting Bleecker and Caroga. WEST STONY CREEK WILDERNESS This small wilderness can be designated by combining part of a recently-acquired Finch Pruyn parcel with part of the existing Shaker Mountain Wild Forest. The unit features one pond, several miles of West Stony Creek, and at least three mountains with noteworthy views. There are no non-conforming uses. Chase Lake

32 BLUE RIDGE WILDERNESS Although of moderate size, the Blue Ridge Wilderness does include an outstanding core area that is admirably difficult to access. However, the southern corner of the wilderness is delineated by a rather arbitrary boundary that does not follow any natural landmarks or connote any ecological changes. Therefore this map proposes a significant expansion of the wilderness to the southwest, placing Cellar Mountain and Sumner Stream under protection. Although old logging roads may be found in this region, the only existing trail is the route to Cellar Pond. A primitive corridor would need to be added for private access to two inholdings between Mohegan Lake and Bear Pond. Additionally, this map suggests a wild forest reclassification for portions of Wakely Mountain, where there appears to be no public interest in removing a non-conforming fire tower. A practical boundary should be established along ridge lines or watershed lines, replacing the Wakely Mountain Primitive Area designation. WEST CANADA LAKE WILDERNESS This is one of the Adirondacks most superlative areas, protecting a plateau of high-elevation lakes that have no parallel. This is a cool, damp region rich in balsam fir, red maple, and spruce. Mountain-ash occurs as a forest species, but white pine and hemlock are restricted to the lower, more peripheral valleys and slopes. The West Canada region has long been prized as a haven for remoteness and solitude, and there are real opportunities to enhance these qualities by making numerous boundary adjustments: removing the non-conforming Otter Brook corridor and merging the Little Moose Wilderness; adding Little Indian Lake, where road access has already been curtailed; adding acreage near the Miami River and Lewey Lake; and adding acreage near G Lake and Pine Lake. Minor rollbacks are required in two places, including Snowy Mountain and Falls Brook, where a portion of the Lewey Lake Campground appears to fall within wilderness boundaries. With all of these adjustments made, the West Canada Lake Wilderness would cover an impressive 190,000 acres making it the premier wilderness for the southern Adirondacks, and an outstanding resource with few peers. All management actions should regard this area as a sensitive resource where human impacts need to be minimized.

33 Wakely Mtn Snowy Mtn Little Moose Mtn Miami River G Lake

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35 HA-DE-RON-DAH WILDERNESS As originally envisioned in the 1960s, the Big Otter Lake Wilderness would have included 28,100 acres, with its namesake lake forming the centerpiece. However, when the wilderness was actually designated in 1972 much of the western area was omitted for the benefit of motorized recreation, and Big Otter Lake became a portion of the boundary, not the protected core. Unfortunately, the western boundary of Ha-de-ron-dah is not practically located, and motorized trespass is very common especially at Pine Lake and the outlet of Big Otter Lake, where there are no physical barriers to prevent snowmobiles from venturing into the protected area. This is not so much the fault of the riders, but more an indication that an arbitrary boundary line near an active riding area deep in the woods was an ineffective choice. Additionally, ATV trespass at Big Otter Lake has been a perennial issue; such use is intolerable even in the wild forest designation. However, the state has never taken measures to assert its management authority over the area and to prevent resource degradation. Meanwhile, the Forest Preserve suffers. In this case, the wilderness designation can be a tool to compel corrective action. As drawn on this map, the western Ha-de-ron-dah boundary is moved to a frontcountry location where there can be better oversight, and Big Otter is placed squarely within the expanded wilderness. The routes to Pine and Big Otter would become foot and ski trails; the Centennial Ski Trails to the west, which are infrequently used, could be converted into snowmobile trails to offset this loss. Additionally, the Browns Tract Road Primitive Area (named for an historic wagon route) should also be designated to the south of Ha-de-ron-dah. The access trail to Copper Lake divides it from the wilderness. COTTON LAKE WILDERNESS Currently part of the Black River Wild Forest, this 25,000-acre area is encircled by roads and snowmobile trails, but despite these uses it remains a wild resource. Its distinguishing features are the many miles of streams that flow through the forest like arteries, many of them flowing into Little Black Creek. Ponds include Cotton Lake, Twin Lakes, North Branch Lake, and Burp Lake all of them quite small. The area has only one marked trail, which leads from Farr Road to an old dam at the outlet of Twin Lakes. For a few years this dam created a shallow reservoir used as part of a network of Canal Lakes that supplied water to the Erie and Black River canals, but the masonry structure has long since been breached. The Twin Lakes trail is officially designated for snowmobile use, but it has been years since a snowmobile has tried to reach the lakes. Even foot traffic is very low. Much of this forest was impacted by the 1950 hurricane, and the logging roads that crisscross the wilderness near North Wilmurt appear to date from the post-storm salvage operations. Some of these routes make excellent hiking paths today, particularly the ones leading to Twin Lakes Marsh and Cotton Lake. Near Black Creek Lake, local hunters maintain a network of footpaths leading to Burp Lake and Crosby Vly. This area is proposed for a wilderness classification because the extent of motorized use in the Nobleboro area has created a misperception for the entire region. There are two relatively large private inholdings at Black Creek and Mill Creek lakes, and smaller lots elsewhere (including two within the proposed wilderness area). The owners access all of these properties by ATV and snowmobile, and sometimes this motor vehicle use strays off the approved corridors. Furthermore, a DEC proposal to open a road from Nobleboro to South Lake would permit automobile access into the deep interior, increasing the human presence in places that are now miles from the nearest highway. The wilderness designation would not necessarily reduce motorized use of the region, but it would preserve the remaining wild core against these threats, while calling attention to an oft misunderstood part of the Forest Preserve.

36 Inter-Community Snowmobile Corridors This map is a partial listing of inter-community snowmobile trails in the Adirondacks, particularly those that are adjacent to the wilderness expansions proposed in this report. Its intent is to show that even if all of the recommendations were realized, there would not necessarily be an impact on these corridors. Map by Bill Ingersoll

37 33 The intent of this report has been to illustrate how a substantial amount of potential wilderness exists in the Adirondacks, beyond what has already been designated by state agencies. Our wild forests harbor numerous tracts that exhibit wilderness qualities, although because they are not recognized as wilderness there is little obligation to maintain them as such. It is my hope that this report leads to a new understanding about the Forest Preserve among members of the public, the wilderness advocacy community, and state employees and perhaps also to a strategy to ensure the preservation of Conclusion these places. The conventional thought is that new wilderness areas cannot be designated without further land acquisition. While the state should continue to work toward completing the Forest Preserve by purchasing certain key tracts and access points, this effort should never overshadow our stewardship of existing public lands. If these additional areas were designated (and certain substandard areas reclassified) then the outstanding network of Adirondack wilderness areas could become truly superlative. Wilderness is important not just for preserving remote forests, but for the quality of life of those who live near it. It is a species of public land classification that is impossible to recreate in more developed regions. For instance, there are no wilderness-quality lands in Albany County or Monroe County or Onondaga County. Wilderness (as defined by federal law and state policy) cannot be experienced in a suburban park or state reforestation area, which lack the requirements of size and remoteness. The experience of camping in a state park in no way compares to a primitive tent site miles from the nearest road. Wilderness is, however, abundant in the Adirondack Park, and every last acre that qualifies for protection deserves consideration. This report identifies where these places are. About the Author Bill Ingersoll has hiked and backpacked in the wildernesses of Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and California, but feels most at home in the grand forests of the Adirondacks. He became a co-author for the Discover series in 2000 and has now become the series publisher. He is the author of Snowshoe Routes: Adirondacks and Catskills, and his articles and photos have appeared in Adirondack Explorer, Adirondack Sports & Fitness, and Adirondack Life magazines. Ingersoll has served on the conservation committees for several organizations, and in 2014 he established the Adirondack Wilderness Explorers group on Meetup. You will find him exploring the North Country with his dog Lexie in all four seasons, by trail, snowshoe, and canoe. Photo by Jessica Fitzgerald

38 Get Out. Seek Out. FIND OUT.