New snowmobile guidelines roll out
Draft plan would have 3 types of trails on state land, require that they be like foot trailsBy MIKE LYNCH, Enterprise Outdoors Writer
Fact Box
To comment for the record:
Letters on the draft snowmobile trail plan for the state Forest Preserve should be addressed to James Connolly, deputy director of planning, Adirondack Park Agency, P.O. Box 99, Ray Brook, NY 12977. They may also be e-mailed to apa_slmp@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
Newly proposed guidelines for locating, constructing and maintaining snowmobile trails on state Forest Preserve lands are now open for public comment.
Released to the public Friday afternoon by the state Adirondack Park Agency, the proposed guidelines build off of the 2006 Snowmobile Plan for the Adirondack Park. They are expected to go before the APA's State Lands Committee next week and the full agency board in October.
The guidelines would promote relocating and constructing snowmobile trails on the periphery of wild forest areas, set rules for grooming practices and requires that snowmobile trails retain the characteristics of foot trails.
Small tracked groomers would be allowed on community-connector trails while other trails would have to be maintained with groomers dragged on snowmobiles.
There would be three types of trails allowed. Class II, or community-connector trails, would be trails on the fringes of the Forest Preserve that link hamlets and villages. These trails would be slightly wider than current standards, with nine-foot maximum widths and 12 feet on curves and steep slopes over 15 percent grade.
Class I, or secondary snowmobile trails, would be spur trails leading to repair shops, restaurants, lodging and gas stations. They could also be short loop trails and recreational trails that are not part of trails connecting communities. They would be a maximum of eight-feet wide.
The final type, Class III, would be routes on roads in the Forest Preserve that are seasonally open to automobile traffic and open to snowmobile traffic in the winter.
As of Friday afternoon, several stakeholders interviewed by the Enterprise had not yet had time to review the guidelines in order to offer comments on them.
"We're in the process of reviewing the document," said Jim Jennings, executive director of the New York State Snowmobile Association. "We want to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row (before we comment)."
Fred Monroe, executive director of the Local Government Review Board, said his organization would be meeting with the snowmobile association and the Association of Adirondack Towns and Villages in the near future to discuss the guidelines.
"I know one that has been a conflict for years is that a snowmobile trail has to be the character of a foot trail," Monroe said. "That's one of the concerns we have. We feel safety should be number one on snowmobile trails. And if the state imposes a standard that makes trails unsafe, they'll probably have liability (issues)."
One of the key issues in the draft guidelines is that they would allow only "small" tracked groomers to be used on the community-connector trails. In June 2007, environmental organizations, including the Adirondack Mountain Club, won a lawsuit against the APA and state Department of Environmental Conservation for allowing tracked groomers on wild forest lands in the Jessup River Wild Forest Unit Management Plan in Hamilton County.
Adirondack Mountain Club Executive Director Neil Woodworth said Friday that after a quick review of the guidelines, they seemed to be in accordance with what his organization supports, although he did plan to read them over more carefully.
"The Adirondack Mountain Club and several other groups went to court about two years ago because the Department of Environmental Conservation and some of the localities and snowmobile clubs were using these heavy track groomers on trails, including some of the interior areas," Woodworth said. "I think now they are bringing this forward in a way that addresses those concerns when we brought that litigation."
The APA will accept public comments on the proposed snowmobile standards and guidelines draft until Sept. 30.Any written comments received by then will become part of the public record. Written comments received after Sept. 30 will be provided to agency members but will not be part of the official record.
---
Contact Mike Lynch at (518) 891-2600 ext. 28 or mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
|
northcountrynell
|
|
|---|---|
|
09-06-09 8:09 AM
|
Sometimes 6 million acres is just not enough for everyone to be happy.
|
|
twinrivers
|
|
|
09-05-09 5:13 PM
|
This is an important step regarding snowmobile trail use in the Park. The "guidelines" (also referred to here and by the APA as a "draft plan")hopefully indicate that the DEC and APA are getting closer to completing the full plan trail locations in the Park.
|