New York state government officials and news reporters paddle on Boreas Ponds in September 2012. In the background is the Great Range — from left, Basin, Saddleback, Gothics and Pyramid — in the High Peaks Wilderness. (Enterprise photo — Mike Lynch)

RAY BROOK — Late last week the state Adirondack Park Agency released a plan for one of the most talked-about state land purchases in recent memory.

While the APA classified more than half of the Boreas Ponds Tract as wilderness to be added to the High Peaks Wilderness Area, more than 9,000 acres were also added to the adjacent Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest. And in those 9,000 acres resides the crown jewel of the property, Boreas Pond.

One of the most hotly debated management decisions was how close to the pond car access would be. Environmental groups lobbied for a parking area far from the pond — most of them wanted at least a mile — while accessibility groups wanted parking access at the dam on the pond’s shore.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s plan calls for seasonal vehicle access to within one-tenth of a mile of the dam, with a wheelchair-accessible parking area there and a hardened-surface trail to a canoe-kayak launch on the shore of the pond.

To the west, Boreas Ponds Road would be maintained so local town crews can reach gravel pits, which they have easements to use. The DEC plan says Boreas Ponds Road would also be open to vehicular traffic during hunting season.

The parking area nearest the dam will be limited to day-use parking only, and reservations for four of the six spots will be issued on a first-come, first served basis. The other two spots will only be open to CP-3 permit holders.

“Permittees will obtain a key to access the parking area at the proposed Frontier Town Campground and Day Use Area Registration Ticket Booth during open hours or an alternative location,” the plan says. “Permittees will need to have their check-out time clearly posted on their dashboard and visible through their windshield.

“To ensure the return of the key by the appropriate check out time there will likely need to be an incentive.”

After the state purchased the Boreas Ponds Tract from The Nature Conservancy in 2016, DEC developed an interim access plan and built several new parking areas. Four of these six will remain in use, in addition to the expansion and construction of other access points. A larger parking area will be built at the Four Corners intersection, which is just shy of a mile from the Boreas dam.

The state is also calling for more than a dozen primitive campsites to be built along Boreas and Gulf Brook roads, and on the shore of the pond itself.

The DEC will also maintain the Boreas Pond and LaBier Flow dams. If the department can’t keep up with the maintenance of the structures, they will be removed and the river will be allowed to return to its natural state.

With the dams remaining in place, the Boreas tract offers paddling opportunities that the state plans to supplement with hand-carry launches at both the Boreas dam and downstream of the LaBier Flow dam. Hand launches will also be built on Sanford Lake and the Hudson River.

In addition to camping options, the DEC will build a mountain biking day use area off of Blue Ridge Road.

“The intent is to create an area to prepare for riding the area’s single track mountain bike networks while protecting the resource from abuse through roadside group camping,” the plan says. “An approximately 30-acre day-use-area would provide sufficient parking and associated facilities like privies, picnic tables, and informational kiosk, and would be large enough to discourage roadside camping.”

Boreas Road and Gulf Brook Road will be utilized in the winter as a community connector snowmobile trail between the towns of Newcomb and North Hudson. The DEC is also planning more than two dozen trails that would be open for hiking, biking, snowshoeing and skiing.

A trail is planned to reach the summit of Boreas Mountain, but the DEC equivocated on whether it would be constructed on state land in the High Peaks or on a conservation easement.

Two mountain biking areas will be constructed, and a bicycle connection from Elk Lake to Branch Road will also be built.

A new trail to Vanderwhacker Pond will be built to replace the existing herd path, and, pending an amendment to the High Peaks UMP, a trail will be built from the wild forest to the top of LeClaire Hill in the High Peaks.

Equestrian use will be allowed along Gulf Brook, Boreas Ponds and Branch roads and to the Boreas dam. Mounting platforms will be built at all equestrian campsites, and the DEC is proposing a new regulation that would prohibit horses from entering waterbodies and wetlands except at designated spots.

A temporary moratorium will be placed on the installation of rock climbing hardware such as bolts and fixed pitons. The department will conduct an inventory on existing hardware to “gather use data and the environmental impacts of the area and will aid in making sound decisions for the management of climbing routes and their access facilities in the future.” Several other measures will be taken to enhance climbing opportunities, such as stabilizing soil at the tops and bottoms of climbing routes.

Finally, the historic log cabin near the Four Corners will be maintained as is while DEC evaluates public interest in the site. The cabin — which the DEC estimates was built in the late 1800s — could be used for historical and environmental interpretation, or removed if adequate maintenance funding is not secured.

The APA board is slated to vote to send the Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest plan to a joint public comment period on Thursday at its monthly meeting. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at agency headquarters in Ray Brook. The board will also vote on the associated Mount Van Hoevenberg Intensive Use Area and High Peaks Wilderness Area amendments.

To download the full plan, go to www.apa.ny.gov/mailing/2018/05/stateland.htm.