The newest item on the agenda for the Adirondack Park Association (APA) is the proposal to turn the railroad between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid into a trail. The job for the APA is not to necessarily change the proposal but to decide if it follows the rules of the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (SLMP). As we discussed in class week, there are different types of land in the Park that determine what can and cannot be done on and/or to the land. The plan for the rail trail is to turn 34 miles of track into a path for "snowmobiling and skiing in winter, and for biking, hiking, roller-blading and other pastimes in other seasons."Adirondack Scenic Railroad has been the only company to use the railroads in recent years and has been given until November 2016 to stop services to Lake Placid.
Discontinuing the rail way service has raised concern for some APA members. Lani Ulrich, APA chairwoman, made the point that closing service to Lake Placid will continue to restrict access to the park because there will be less options for people without cars to travel to Adirondacks. She did however acknowledge in her comments to the Adirondack Almanack that the proposal looks like it follows the SLMP. Historic Saranac Lake and other historical societies do not agree. They believe that the trail way will break historic preservation laws because removing the train tracks counts as altering land on state and federal property along the rail corridor that are on the registers of historic places. Robert Davies, who is the director of the DEC's Division of Lands and Forests, says the trail is not going against the SLMP and "has the potential to be truly transformative." He points out the State Historic Preservation Office hasn't complained and the DEC plans to restore historical sites and put up educational signs to make up for the removal of the tracks. Even Ulirch admitted that the scenic train will still run up to Tupper Lake and if there are no violations the APA will probably support the trail way.
The proposed trail way is a good example of how the APA works. They don't want to change the proposal, they just want to make sure it follows the SLMP. The APA doesn't even seem to question the uses for the trail, which is intriguing because if snowmobiles are allowed, I wouldn't be surprised if ATVs would be allowed as another "pastime in other seasons." This point would need further research but it is strange ATVs were not brought up since they are such a hot topic in the park. It seems as far as the APA is concerned, as long as the Historic Land Area rules aren't broken and no problem comes up in the public forums, the trail way will happen.
Sources
Phil, Brown. "APA Seems on Board with Rail Trail" November 12th, 2015.
http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2015/11/apa-seems-board-rail-trail.html
I feel like there is really no clear answer to this situation. As you mentioned, the creation of the trail would cause increased snowmobiling, and probably ATV use. This will probably cause more environmental damage to the area than keeping the railroad as it is. However, an actual trail will encourage tourists to become more active, and will allow them to interact directly with the environment. I'm not sure where I stand on this, so it should be interesting to see what happens with this case.
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