The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation — which manages the historic site — along with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Adirondack Park Agency want to draw up a unit management plan, or a UMP, for John Brown Farm’s 213 acres. UMPs are typically developed for state-owned and managed lands to assess the land’s natural resources, features and guide appropriate recreational and developmental uses for the land based on what its resources could sustainably accommodate. The High Peaks Wilderness, the Fish Creek Pond Campground in Saranac Lake and the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington all have UMPs.

The John Brown Farm, which is managed by OPRHP, was established as a historic site in 1896. The site contains the Brown family farmhouse, indoor and outdoor exhibits, the grave of John Brown and 3.8 miles of multi-use trails. The homestead is listed in the Nation Register of Historic Places and is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Martha Swan — the executive director of the historic site’s friends group, John Brown Lives! — said that a UMP process for the farm has been “in the air” for a couple of years now. As the friends group approached the 125th anniversary of the farm’s designation as a historic site in 2021, according to Swan, they began to consider how the farm could continue to serve as a “site of conscience and significance for years to come.”

JBL drew up a document, which they called “A Modest Proposal” — a “tongue-in-cheek” reference to Jonathan Swift’s 1729 satirical essay — that called for a comprehensive review and plan for the John Brown Farm site.

A statue of John Brown and a young boy, sculpted by Joseph Pollia, is seen as snow falls at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

Alane Ball Chinian, the regional director for OPRHP, said the UMP process was also born out of the need for upgrades to the farm — like creating a designated parking area and features to make the site more accessible for people with disabilities. But since the farm’s land is DEC-owned, the OPRHP has to go through the DEC to make any improvements to the lands. Creating a UMP is an avenue for making these improvements.

After the OPRHP first began a UMP process for the Crown Point Historic Site on Lake Champlain — the only other historic site in the blue line — to make improvements there, Chinian Ball said the “natural” next step was to carry a UMP process over to the John Brown Farm.

Swan said JBL has had a seat at the farm’s UMP table since this past fall — a rarity in a process that’s typically run by the state alone. Now, Swan is hoping people who enjoy and appreciate the farm will join the conversation and make the UMP process more “robust.”

“To be at this inflection point 120-plus years later … to be able to sort of take a step back, take a long view and a comprehensive view of this very important site, bringing conservationists and ecologists and people interested in history and heritage, accessibility, et cetera together in this process, to really evaluate what’s there to serve the public, what’s not there, and how the site could serve the public as a historic site, as a heritage site, as a site of natural, precious 200 acres is wonderful,” she said.

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Gathering feedback

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The OPRHP, DEC and APA want to collect public input on the UMP process in two virtual meetings — one at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8 and another at 10 a.m. on Feb. 9 — where people can voice how they believe land formerly owned by the famed abolitionist should be managed. The agencies will also provide information about the UMP planning process and state historic site facilities during the meetings.

People who want to attend the meetings can pre-register by emailing johnbrownfarm.plan@parks.ny.gov or by calling 518-474-0409 no later than noon on Friday, Feb. 3. People can also request a paper copy of meeting presentation materials and a call-in number to attend the meeting via phone. For those who can’t attend, the meetings will be recorded and made available on agency websites after the meetings.

The meetings will be accessible to people with disabilities. People can request accommodations for communications by contacting Owen Gilbo — by email at owen.gilbo@parks.ny.gov or by phone at 518-402-2648 — no later than 48 hours before the meetings begin.

Public input can also be emailed to johnbrownfarm.plan@parks.ny.gov or mailed to Paige Barnum, NYS OPRHP, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY, 12238. Comments will be accepted until March 13.