To the editor:

My thoughts, while sitting on a rock, at Isolation Pond: “I wish that I could share this moment with all of my friends.”

Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos has announced, “The proposed management actions in the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest Draft UMP (Unit Management Plan) bolsters Governor Cuomo’s ongoing efforts to increase and improve access to outdoor recreation opportunities while protecting the State’s natural resources,”

I encourage everyone, natives and visitors alike, to read and comment on this draft plan. I am not a “tree hugger,” but I have always valued the natural beauty and solitude that surrounds us. There are changes in the works that you and I may differ on, but the overall concept is a “Mission Impossible.” Increasing and improving access is totally counterproductive to protecting natural resources. Who would have thought, 50 years ago, that increasing and improving public access would damage our mountains?

New York state has acquired millions of Adirondack acres under the guise of protecting and preserving it. It now is evident that the governor is bent on prostituting our precious resources with a knockoff wilderness experience. Admittedly, I have heard people speak in awe of the view of Mirror Lake surrounded by rooftops. I would like to invite them also to Isolation Pond.

You and I realize that, as I share the sunset experience from that rock, neither I nor my friends will enjoy what once was.

Please familiarize yourself with the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest UMP, and comment as you see fit.

Sincerely,

Bob Callaghan

Lake Clear