This is a SUPER interesting article, Caroline. Thanks for posting it. And the timing couldn't be more perfect.
Here's one gem from it: The locations of the Wilderness areas had not been chosen because they were places that lacked non-conformities. Quite the opposite. At the time of its adoption, the SLMP identified an extensive list of facilities that needed to be removed from the designated Wildernesses: 34.3 miles of state truck trails, 78.1 miles of jeep trails, 63.7 miles of snowmobile trails, 9 fire towers, 8 ranger cabins, 10 tent platforms, 1 helicopter platform, 5 horse barns, 45.3 miles of telephone lines, 10 lean-tos above 3,500 feet in elevation, and 2 lean-to clusters. All of these (except for a few of the ranger stations) needed to be removed within three years. The SLMP authorized DEC to use motor vehicles within this “phase out period” on a minimal basis for the removal of the non-conforming uses, but that otherwise everything had to go “as rapidly as possible and in all cases by the December 31, 1975 deadline.”
This is a SUPER interesting article, Caroline. Thanks for posting it. And the timing couldn't be more perfect.
ReplyDeleteHere's one gem from it:
The locations of the Wilderness areas had not been chosen because they were places that lacked non-conformities. Quite the opposite. At the time of its adoption, the SLMP identified an extensive list of facilities that needed to be removed from the designated Wildernesses: 34.3 miles of state truck trails, 78.1 miles of jeep trails, 63.7 miles of snowmobile trails, 9 fire towers, 8 ranger cabins, 10 tent platforms, 1 helicopter platform, 5 horse barns, 45.3 miles of telephone lines, 10 lean-tos above 3,500 feet in elevation, and 2 lean-to clusters. All of these (except for a few of the ranger stations) needed to be removed within three years. The SLMP authorized DEC to use motor vehicles within this “phase out period” on a minimal basis for the removal of the non-conforming uses, but that otherwise everything had to go “as rapidly as possible and in all cases by the December 31, 1975 deadline.”