LAKE PLACID - A state Department of Environmental Conservation attorney has asked for clarification of the DEC commissioner's decision to toss out a fine against Lake Placid Snowmobile Club President Jim McCulley for driving his truck on Old Mountain Road in 2005.
Since it was reopened in 1986 by the Adirondack Ski Touring Council as part of the Jackrabbit Trail, Old Mountain Road has been used as a trail for cross-country skiing in winter and hiking in summer. The DEC considered it part of the Sentinel Range Wilderness, but no longer - now, the towns of Keene and North Elba seem to have jurisdiction over it, as they once did.
"On behalf of the staff of the Department of Environmental Conservation, I respectfully request clarification of certain aspects of the decision," DEC Region 6 attorney Randall C. Young wrote to DEC Commissioner Alexander "Pete" Grannis on June 5. "Staff does not seek reversal of the dismissal of the action. ... However, we believe that specific aspects of the decision should be clarified to ensure proper care, custody, and control of the lands under the administration of the Department."
Young asked for clarification of five points, including Keene and North Elba's obligation to improve the route, all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile use on it, and a statement about the criteria for abandoning a road.
In response to Young's request, McCulley's attorney, Matt Norfolk, of Lake Placid, filed an opposition motion Thursday.
Norfolk argued that "all of the issues DEC staff raises in their motion for clarification were thoroughly argued, litigated and adjudicated in the administrative enforcement proceeding. ... DEC staff enjoyed many opportunities to state their case and the legal authority upon which they relied."
Precedent setting?
Since winning the decision, both Norfolk and McCulley have said this is a precedent-setting case that could effect hundreds of old town roads not properly abandoned by municipalities and absorbed into the Adirondack Forest Preserve. In a press release, Norfolk stated that "the reason behind DEC Staff's motion for clarification clearly is to avoid the state-wide precedent the McCulley decision presents."
But a DEC spokeswoman in Albany denied this is the case.
"This ruling only applies to the Old Mountain Road case, and has no impact on other closed roads in the Adirondacks," DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino wrote in an e-mail to the Enterprise. "This is an individual enforcement case involving one specific set of facts and one specific road. It does not signal a policy change."
But Severino's statement seems to be inconsistent with Young's letter to Grannis.
"Clarification regarding recreational use is also important because many of the Department's trails on state land may follow former roads that were arguably highways by use at some point in the distant past," Young wrote. "This has significant implications for management of the state's trails and how staff will create trails and manage lands in the future."
Another question raised by McCulley since the decision was whether having a town road through a wilderness area would require a reclassification of the land. State Adirondack Park Agency spokesman Keith McKeever said his agency is not currently considering a reclassification of the Sentinel Range Wilderness and that having a town road through a wilderness area is not unprecedented. He noted that roads can be considered primitive corridors.
"There's no discussion about making changes to the Sentinel Range Wilderness, although (DEC) commissioner's decision does raise some legal issues," McKeever said. "At this time we're working with DEC to coordinate any responses until things shake out."
The main legal issue is what to do with other town roads on Forest Preserve that weren't properly abandoned. He said there may have to be changes to the State Land Master Plan in the future to deal with this issue, but that still has to be determined.
"The main issue is how to deal with them because this could come up in other areas," McKeever said. "We're working with the DEC to coordinate any changes to the (State Land) Master Plan to deal with it."
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Contact Mike Lynch at (518) 891-2600 ext. 28 or mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.