To the editor:

Now that the decision to remove the 34 miles of rails between Tupper and Lake Placid has reached a fevered pitch, I feel the urgency to again state my views on this issue. I know some of my friends disagree with me, and I respect their views. But I feel strongly about this issue, and here is why.

We currently have tracks that are supporting two businesses. One fledgling business, the Rail Explorers, saw great success this past summer by allowing 11,000 visitors, including those that have disabilities, to see parts of the Adirondack Park that they could not otherwise see. I know that Rail Explorers is currently working on rail bikes that will transport wheelchairs deep into the forest. This is amazing news for the elderly and handicapped visitors to our region. This innovative business (the only one of it’s kind in the U.S.), nor the disenfranchised that they can accommodate, should be disqualified by Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates and its followers.

Jerry Jenkins, author of “Climate Change in the Adirondacks,” states that a likely rise in temperature of 9 degrees by 2080 (a mere 65 years from now) would put the 6-million-acre state park in the same climate zone as the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. This news may make some Adirondackers jump for joy, but that prediction means a lot less snow. The short-sighted notion of ripping up the rails to make a few snowmobilers happy seems foolish when instead we should be thinking long-term about how climate change and dwindling use of fossil fuels will effect our precious part of the state. Keeping this infrastructure in place seems like a good place to start. Yes, the tracks need repair, but let’s get to it and make them viable again.

There are miles and miles of abandoned rail beds in this region that link Saranac Lake to Plattsburgh and Malone. This is where ARTA should be focusing its attention, not on tracks that support businesses. What a wonderful way to attract our Canadian neighbors to the region through a rail trail from Malone and Plattsburgh!

I recently rode the rails on a Rail Explorers bike from Lake Clear to Tupper Lake. It was an exhilarating experience. But as I was cruising along, without any cell service, deep in the forest, I wondered about injured bikers without communication and a way to get help. That’s a long stretch that families with small children will not take. In addition, calculating the amount of work to maintain that trail is perplexing. Will volunteers do that? Will the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Conservation be cycling in with chainsaws to remove downed trees on the trails? That sounds like something we taxpayers will have to finance. Instead, I’d rather see my tax dollars going to restoring this precious infrastructure so that my great grandchildren will be able to travel through the Adirondacks with ease.

And finally, in the last few weeks, I have had several community leaders talk to me about their support for keeping the rails from being removed. I commend them for stepping out of the shadows. I urge you all to make your voices heard and send your comments to the Adirondack Park Agency. Comment period will conclude on Dec. 18. Go To apa.ny.gov for more information.

Gail Brill

Saranac Lake