Congratulations to the Adirondack Park Agency for its masterful public relations strategy in squashing any "Save the VICs" movement before people could even think about getting it started. When Gov. David Paterson unveiled his proposed 2010-2011 state budget on Jan. 18, we learned that the APA is planning on closing its Visitor Interpretive Centers at Newcomb and Paul Smiths at the end of 2010 to save money.

Right away we heard about a meeting to save the VICs, and APA officials said they were willing to help others transition the buildings from public to private use.

On Jan. 28, during the "Save the VICs" brainstorming session hosted by Paul Smith's College, it was apparent that people in key decision-making positions had swallowed the "APA is closing the VICs, and that is final" pill without hesitation. When Assemblywoman Janet Duprey said the state is definitely closing the VICs, many took this as gospel. People started thinking that it's impossible to persuade the state of New York to keep the VICs open. After all, if Janet Duprey thinks it can't be done, then why try?

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Necessary planning

The college should be commended for taking the lead on this issue and facilitating the creation of a steering committee to explore ways of transitioning the VICs from public operation to the private sector. The VICs' friends group, the Adirondack Park Institute, has done a great service to the community by spearheading the new committee. I joined about 30 people at the committee's organizational meeting on Feb. 26 at the Paul Smiths VIC, and I will volunteer my time and talents to do whatever I can to help the group, which is now called the VIC Transition Task Force. This work is essential if the APA actually goes through with its plan to close the VICs. No matter what happens, I see a bright future for both VICs.

But as of now, the governor's budget is still a proposal; it has not been approved. Just because the APA says it is closing the VICs doesn't mean it's a done deal. The APA board or the governor can change their minds at any moment.

History lesson: In the 1980s, the APA decided to build one VIC - in Newcomb. Gov. Mario Cuomo came back later and announced that the state was indeed building two VICs: one in Newcomb and a larger one in Paul Smiths. And in the mid-1990s, the APA board voted to close the Paul Smiths VIC, then changed its mind.

While I support the VIC Transition Task Force because I'd like to be a good Boy Scout and "be prepared," I still maintain that the state of New York - whether it's the APA or the Department of Environmental Conservation - needs to keep operating the VICs as a public entity.

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New York state's responsibility

New York created the Forest Preserve, the Adirondack Park and the Adirondack Park Agency, forced land-use restrictions on property owners in the Park, and used taxpayer money to buy millions of acres of land and land easements in the Adirondack Park. The state is therefore responsible for two things: educating the public about why it is important to protect the Adirondack Park, and fostering a balanced economy inside the Park because its creation of the APA burdens the local economy by restricting economic development.

Privatizing the VICs and shifting the educational burden to the private sector is lazy and irresponsible. Taking away local jobs and tourist attractions will hurt taxpayers who live in and visit the Adirondack Park.

If the state keeps taking away its Adirondack Park attractions, many tourists will undoubtedly decide to go elsewhere for their vacations, and the state will lose money in sales tax revenue. Why would the state take away from that revenue stream and hurt small businesses that rely on tourism dollars to sustain their livelihoods?

If you have ever visited the VICs - taken part in the programs, attended special events, read the exhibits, gone to the Butterfly House, walked the trails - you have experienced first-hand WHY the Adirondack Park is a special place. You have walked through most of the natural communities represented in the Park's unique ecosystem. You have walked among the deer and birds and otters, seen a monarch butterfly emerge from its chrysalis, provided shelter to an eastern bluebird, New York's state bird, on the Paul Smiths Bluebird Trail. You have seen the importance of protecting habitat. Thanks to the Adirondack Park Agency, you now have a better understanding of WHY it is important for taxpayers to pay for the protection of the Adirondack Park's natural resources.

I served as the VIC senior public information specialist from 2001 to 2009, and I have seen what a difference these facilities make in regard to tourism and environmental education. In 20 years, they have hosted almost 2 million visitors and educated about 75,000 students. The VICs and their not-for-profit partner, the Adirondack Park Institute, have achieved their goal of "Teaching a Generation to Care." Why does the state think it is OK to stop with only one generation?

Get rid of the educators at the VICs, and the question of "Why is it important to protect the Adirondack Park?" is left with the typically bureaucratic and totalitarian answer of "Because, I said so."

Substituting PR for education is misguided and ineffective. You can't teach the public about protecting the Adirondack Park through press releases and editorial board meetings. You need face-to-face contact with qualified, experienced and well-trained environmental educators. And you don't need to search for them; they're already on staff at the VICs.

If anything, the state needs to invest in its VICs, fix the buildings and hire more people. The state has failed to adequately fund these facilities for years.

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APA core mission

The APA, not the governor, decided to close the VICs. We know why: to save money, which was a directive from the governor. Point taken. But you can't tell me that with three other state agencies represented on the APA board - the DEC, the State Department and the Department of Economic Development - they couldn't put their collective heads together and figure out how to financially keep the two VICs open. This shows a lack of vision on the part of state government. Ironic, isn't it? The entire concept of the Adirondack Park is all about a vision for the future.

My guess is that state officials - the APA board, the governor, the whole lot of them - simply don't get it. They don't understand the importance of environmental education in the Adirondack Park; otherwise, they would understand how important the VICs are to the APA's mission.

APA officials have said they decided to close the VICs because they're not part of the core mission of the APA. Well, maybe that core mission needs to be rewritten. Or maybe the current people in charge have misinterpreted the mission. After all, the agency had environmental educators on staff long before it opened the VICs.

I'll admit, the VICs aren't the heart of the APA. They don't pump life-giving blood throughout the agency. They don't make it run. Other divisions do that: Administration, Regulatory Programs and Planning. They're not the brain, the science behind the agency; RASS does that. They're not the hands that extend out to the towns and villages; Local Government Services does that. If anything, the Interpretive Programs Division is the skin of the APA and, more importantly, the face. Whether the folks in Ray Brook like it or not, it's what the public sees every day, and it provides an essential public relations service to the APA. If they haven't noticed, the APA's public approval ratings are at an all-time low right now. They need all the PR help they can get.

At 6 million acres, the Adirondack Park is the size of Vermont, and there are many natural communities that make up the complex Adirondack ecosystem. That's a lot of land to interpret. The state of New York simply can't do it with a PR department of one employee at the APA, which is what they've decided is feasible after Jan. 1, 2011. The APA needs educators. It needs the VICs.

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Andy Flynn lives in Saranac Lake where he owns his own publishing business, Hungry Bear Publishing.