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Why we like SLMP Alternative 6

To Kathy Regan

Deputy Director for Planning

NYS Adirondack Park Agency

Dear Ms. Regan:

To the editor:

We are writing today in support of Alternative 6 as the amendment to the State Land Master Plan. My wife and I believe this is the best alternative mainly because of its flexibility to make changes when necessary. Too often the rules for Adirondack Park’s usage are less than flexible and not forward looking to changing conditions. The case of the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor’s failure to be reviewed and changed from 1996 until 2012 proves that this valuable asset in the Park’s inventory has been severely underutilized. The good news is that the APA has recognized its value and is doing something to correct the corridor’s underutilization.

My wife and I are both rail trail bicyclists and snowmobilers. Obviously we are overjoyed that the travel corridor’s description is being amended to include use as a rail trail. Having ridden over parts of more than 50 rail trails all over the USA, we can truthfully say that in our opinion, this rail trail will not only become a premier attraction for the Adirondacks but also one of the best rail trails in the nation.

Looking forward, none of us can really see the future of travel in our country. Technology will bring us wondrous things in that area. This plan, because of its flexibility, will allow change as it may become necessary. One sentence that we especially like in Alternative 6 is, “This alternative will also allow for a rail with trail if the corridor and surrounding lands have the capacity to support that use,” and here is why. This summer we attended a presentation at the Cranberry Lake fire hall by Peter Dunham, a summer resident of Cranberry Lake, proposing to use the old Grasse River Railroad bed as a bicycle and hiking trail or, as we would call it, a rail trail. This trail would begin in Cranberry Lake hamlet and could, with proper permissions, go all the way to Conifer station on the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor. Then, if Alternative 6 is adopted with its rail-with-trail provision it would open the “possibility” of a rail with trail along the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor connecting to the Adirondack Rail Trail in Tupper Lake and thus helping the economies of all the communities in its path. The snowmobiler in us, of course, would prefer to see a rail trail all the way to Big Moose in the town of Webb, which is also a possibility with the adoption of Alternative 6, and would save time and money connecting the Grasse River Railroad trail, parts of which are already snowmobile trails to the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor. We are, of course, aware of the current pace of change in the Adirondack Park, so we are trying to look 10 to 15 years ahead.

Respectfully yours,

Marcel and June Carrier

Star Lake and Callicoon

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