The State should purchase Whitney Park, a 36,000-acre area adjacent to the existing Whitney Wilderness area. It has been on the State’s Open Conservation Plan for purchase for decades. Most of the acreage is pristine forest lands and waters. As noted by the APA in 1996: “[the area has] numerous lakes, ponds, streams and extensive wetlands, [and] represents a significant open space and ecological resource … Nowhere in the Eastern United States do land resources exist in private holdings of comparable size and extent, with the exception of Northern Maine. The open space and ecological values of properties of this size and containing these resources diminish rapidly as they are subdivided.”

Whitney Park includes 22 lakes and ponds, countless wetlands, and over 100 miles of undeveloped shoreline. Designated rare and sensitive ecosystems and species characterize the property. Most importantly, the property forms a vital ecological corridor connecting several vast tracts of existing Forest Preserve lands: the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, Round Lake Wilderness Area, and Five Ponds Wilderness Area to the north and west, and the Sargent Pond Wild Forest to the south and east. This connectivity allows animals to move freely between habitats, which is essential for finding food, mates, and shelter. For over three decades, Whitney Park has been recognized as an ecological and recreational treasure. Hence, it has been on the State’s list for purchase for decades.

Bringing Whitney Park into public ownership would create a contiguous, 213,000 acre network of protected lands and waters–a last-chance conservation opportunity.

According to a recent public statement by Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton, DEC is in “productive conversations” with the prospective purchaser of the 36,000-acre Whitney Park. Commissioner Lefton stated that DEC “is interested in ensuring conservation of the land’s most important natural resources, habitat connectivity, and recreational corridors.” DEC’s reference to recreational corridors is troubling and should set off alarm bells.

The term “recreational corridors” typically refers to limited and tightly controlled public recreational access that is granted when the State purchases a conservation easement from a private landowner. This is in stark contrast to Forest Preserve lands, which offer unrestricted recreational access to every square inch of publicly owned lands and waters and are constitutionally protected as “forever wild.”

DEC’s statement suggests that the State is pursuing a conservation easement instead of acquiring ownership and adding Whitney Park to the Forest Preserve. Such an outcome would fall far short of the public’s long-standing expectation: to see a substantial portion of Whitney Park permanently protected as part of the publicly owned and accessible Forest Preserve.

The 3-million-acre Forest Preserve in the Adirondacks and Catskills is one of the great success stories in New York State. It has been built through a multi-generational, bipartisan conservation tradition from 1885 to today. Whitney Park has been identified by generations of Adirondack conservationists and State officials as a cornerstone of a protected Adirondack Park, a missing link for historic public canoe routes that ran north-south and east-west through the property, and as a vital missing piece for the public Forest Preserve.

In 1998, Governor George Pataki purchased the northern portion of Whitney Park, 15,000 acres around Little Tupper Lake, from Mary Lou Whitney. These lands were combined with Forest Preserve lands around Lake Lila to form the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, which has grown to be one of the most popular Wilderness areas in the Adirondacks, providing timeless and wild outdoor experiences. It’s impossible today to imagine an Adirondack Park without public lands and waterways like Lake Lila and Little Tupper Lake.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and challenge that the State of New York and Governor Hochul must meet head-on. Protection of Whitney Park would be a great accomplishment for her administration and, like critical lands purchases made by previous Governors, would stand the test of time for its immense public benefits, including boosting the Adirondack and North Country economy, quality of life, clean air and water, public recreational opportunities, greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, and climate action.

Public use of Adirondack lands and waters has increased immensely in recent years, as evidenced by the crowded trails and parking at trailheads and boat launches. The long-term benefits of State lands to our health and well-being, as well as for the wild animals and environment we enjoy, are immense and must be enhanced and protected as much as possible.

The State has the funds to make this landmark purchase. New York has the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act and the annual $425 million Environmental Protection Fund, both of which include millions of dollars for land acquisition. We urge DEC to use every means at its disposal to add Whitney Park to the Forest Preserve. Settling for a conservation easement would undermine the ecological integrity of the Adirondack Park, squander this opportunity to create a vast interconnected network of public lands and waters, and needlessly restrict public recreational access to this long-recognized Adirondack treasure. This opportunity may never come again.

Send an email to Governor Hochul by going to: https://tinyurl.com/mwpm9zc7 or leave a phone message for Governor Hochul at 518-474-8390.

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Barbara A. Rottier is the vice chair of Protect the Adirondacks! and lives in Vermontville.