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Debar Pond proposal has changed

To the editor:

A recent letter states that “Debar Pond does not need a parking lot, gazebos, bathrooms, conference center or campsites. What it needs is to be torn down and returned to its natural forested setting.”

Actually, the gazebos, etc. that the writer does not want are unconnected to the proposal for lodge preservation. The gazebos, picnic pavilions, doubling the road width, and expanding the parking for buses was proposed by our own Environmental Conservation department! If DEC had constructed the “recreational hub” as they called it, the peace, tranquility, natural forested setting and the quality of Debar Pond would go downhill fast.

Fortunately, DEC agreed to drop their damaging idea and to allow a better alternative to be tested in the state Legislature: A constitutional amendment and land exchange that would preserve the lodge as is on just 6 acres (no buses, no gazebos, no campsites), allow continued foot access to the pond and its forest trails, maintain the peaceful environment, and place 400 acres near Meacham Lake into the forest preserve as an exchange for the 6 acres.

Adirondack Wild supports that proposal as a much better, more natural alternative to DEC’s intensive use recreational hub.

Sincerely,

David Gibson

Managing partner,

Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve

Ballston Lake

Starting at $4.75/week.

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