"New York State sued over snowmobile expansion plan for central Adirondacks"

     

Essex Chain Lakes

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/91888.html

New York was recently sued by two conservation groups known as Protect the Adirondacks, and Adirondack Wild, over plans to create a 22-mile-long snowmobile trail in the Adirondacks. The plans were approved in November by the Adirondack Park Agency and Department of Environmental Conservation. The plans included a snowmobile trail that would split about "10,000 acres of former Finch-Pruyn lands roughly between the lakes and the western side of the Hudson River at the Hudson Gorge Wilderness." According to Peter Bauer, from Protect the Adirondacks, this plan would be the largest expansion of motor vehicle use in the history of the state Forest Preserve. It also allows former logging roads and bridges to open again for snowmobiles despite being in areas protected from motor vehicles. 

The two conservation groups are claiming the state violated the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System Act. The act was adopted in 1972 and protects rivers that possess "outstanding scenic, ecological, recreational, historic, and scientific values." State policy must preserve the free flowing condition of the specific rivers and protect them from development and use. The snowmobile trail would result in a new bridge over the Cedar River, snowmobile use of Polaris Bridge on the upper Hudson River, and a new snowmobile corridor through a road-less and trail-less part of the Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest.

The sign indicates when a river is a "Wild, & Scenic River"

Rivers.gov 

In 2012, the state purchased the former timber land from the Nature Conservancy. They developed a plan to boost the economy of the surrounding towns by increasing tourism. The towns advocated for motorized access and environmental groups advocated for more restrictions. This situation is pretty similar to what the Be Wild New York campaign is dealing with in terms of the economical benefits. The local towns want the Boreas Ponds Tract to be a wild forest so they can benefit economically while conservation groups want the land to be classified as wilderness to protect the lands.

Sources: 

• http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/State-sued-over-snowmobile-expansion-plan-for-6752113.php
• http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2016/01/8587465/adirondack-groups-sue-state-over-park-management-plan
• http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6033.html
• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/11/adirondack-groups-sue-state-over-essex-chain-recre/