One of the great joys of the Adirondacks — a reason people have come here since the 19th century — is the opportunity to escape the noisy human world and bask in the natural sounds of water, wind and animals.

And one of the great joys of Adirondack journalism is reporting from the woods and waters. On Aug. 19, Managing Editor Peter Crowley got to work from his canoe while covering a protest and counter-protest on and around Weller Pond. Weller and its smaller sibling, Little Weller, are connected to Middle Saranac Lake by a slim channel, and Protect the Adirondacks wants the state to turn the ponds into a “quiet waters” refuge. The environmental group organized a flotilla of people in three dozen canoes, kayaks and guideboats to paddle across Middle Saranac to the ponds and thereby demonstrate that desire to the public.

In response, people who enjoy motorboating at Weller met the flotilla in nine motorboats with signs saying the pond should continue to be shared.

Luckily for both of them, the Enterprise was there to document the day and relay their messages far and wide.

This is not a wilderness area, which the state designates as motor free. This area, the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, allows motors, and motorboating is well established on the Saranac Lake chain. Motorboaters have almost certainly been the main culprits in spreading invasive Eurasian watermilfoil — a boat washing station at the Second Pond launch is intended to reduce that — but otherwise, it’s hard to see how they’ve done significant environmental harm. Loons and ducks have no problem hanging around motorboats, as we observed.

Weller is already pretty quiet, more so than other parts of the Saranac Lake Islands Campground. It’s not the kind of place where people choose to water ski because it isn’t that big and has too many obstacles, such as islands. Plus, any Weller trip is by definition not a quiet water experience because one must cross Middle Saranac Lake to get there.

If a motorboat ban would truly protect the plants and animals and shoreline, we’d be all for it. For that reason, we could see a motorboat ban on Little Weller making sense — but not Weller. Yet Little Weller doesn’t have campsites, and Protect the Adirondacks wants to establish a place on the Saranac chain where campers can get away from the sound of motors. That would be nice for those people, but it would take away from other people’s enjoyment. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has to balance all these people’s interests, and therefore we don’t think a motorless Weller is justifiable.

The DEC already plans to place a 5 mph speed limit on Weller Pond. To us, that seems slower than necessary for the pond itself, though definitely appropriate for the channel. We also imagine it would be hard to enforce.

There are numerous places around the Adirondacks to paddle or row and be free of motors. The state added new ones at its recently purchased land at Essex Chain Lakes and Boreas Ponds. To add to that number by taking away from motorboaters seems unfair and unnecessary.

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NEWS STORY: Quiet vs. shared waters: Motorboaters face off against environmentalists rallying to make Weller Pond a motorless refuge