by Tony Gray

ALBANY, NY --- New York's highest court stopped construction of Adirondack Park snowmobile highways dead in its tracks with a recent ruling for public advocacy group Protect the Adirondacks! .

NYS Court of Appeals Justices ruled 4-2 the state Constitution forbids NYS Department of Environmental Conservation from cutting down Forest Preserve trees as part of the agency's plan to carve 300 hundred miles of Class II snowmobile trails in the Adirondack State Park.

Protect the Adirondacks! (PTA!) Executive Director Peter Bauer said he told DEC for years, "[A] lot of what you're proposing is going to violate the forever wild provision of the state constitution." That opinion was scoffed at by DEC agents, he said, as the state proceeded with their trails.

PTA! took DEC to court in 2013 after two trails totaling 27 miles had been built between Newcombe and Minerva. Bauer and his members tracked the work. "I tried to show up and watch them but they were told to stop working if they saw me show up," Bauer said, adding it didn't stop them from tracking work on the trail.

"We looked at the first 27 miles of trails constructed and documented the amount of tree cutting," Bauer said, shocked when they realized 25,000 trees had been cut in the first 27 trail miles. At around a thousand trees an acre, the DEC goal of 300 new miles would extrapolate to more than a quarter of million downed trees. Plus a lot of land was graded or bench cut to level out the new trail. "If the state wants to make this kind of sweeping change," Bauer said, "they should get a constitutional amendment."

The environmental group won a 2016 injunction to stop work on the trails while a state court considered their case, which began 2017.

PTA! legal action initially failed at the trial level, won a TKO at the appellate level, then scored a knockout in the Court of Appeals.

Bauer said the Supreme Court judge ruled the tree cutting was not unconstitutional, reasoning a few hundred acres of trees was inconsequential in a multi-million acre preserve. The Appellate Court disagreed, giving PTA! a partial victory, calling the trails themselves OK but the tree cutting unlawful. The top court gave PTA! complete validation, saying Class II trails were destructive to wilderness and the level of tree cutting was unconstitutional.

About 2.5 million of the total 6 million-acre Adirondack Park is considered a Forest Preserve, which New York's constitution mandates be maintained in a forever wild condition: “The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.”

“The court's decision upholds longstanding precedent for defending the unique and important constitutional protection given to the Forest Preserve," said Claudia Braymer, an attorney for Protect the Adirondacks in the case. Braymer and lead attorney John Caffrey are members of Protect the Adirondacks! The two Glens Falls lawyers provided their legal services on a pro bono basis.

"The forever wild provision ensures the preservation of state-owned land within the Adirondack Park in its wild state," opined the court majority. "The destruction or removal of trees represented a principal threat recognized by the 1894 Convention delegates, and violation of the prohibition against the destruction of timber is a violation of the 'forever wild' clause, because that prohibition was a means to the ultimate objective of protecting the forest as wilderness."

DEC spokeswoman Maureen Wren said the agency is disappointed but appreciates the court's application of a long-standing ruling from the 1930 case, Association for Protection of Adirondacks v Macdonald, which she called consistent with DEC efforts to provide access to the forest preserve, including construction and maintenance of hiking and camping facilities. "DEC remains committed to serving as a steward of this essential and irreplaceable resource as we fulfill our statutory duty to manage the Forest Preserve for the use and enjoyment of the public," Wren said.

Common sense prevails when it comes to things like fire-fighting or public safety. The state may cut small amounts of trees but the tree cutting may not be substantial, according to Bauer who emphasized his group isn't anti-recreation. "This issue is about the forest preserve," he said. "It isn't about snowmobilers."

There are close to 3,000 miles of existing roads in the Adirondack Park, according to Bauer, and some run through Forest Preserve lands. About 700 miles of those roads are dirt roads that DEC doesn't plow and, since they are about 25-feet wide, they are perfect for snowmobile use. The Class II trails would connect existing roads to expand the snowmobile trail network.

The hamlet of Old Forge, in the Town of Webb, has invested heavily in building hundreds of miles in snowmobile trails. Town of Webb Supervisor David Berkstresser said trails are mostly on town land obtained over the years for that purpose, along with private property easements from timber companies and private individuals. "Those of us who live here try to maintain a delicate balance between preserving the environment for future generations, while carving out a living helping people enjoy the same at the present time," he said. Riders must purchase an annual $80 permit to ride on their snowmobile trails.

Webb's supervisor noted they have the only permitted trail system in New York, enabling them to provide snowmobilers direct access from their lodging to restaurants and fuel stations, something other trail systems Old Forge connects with are unable to provide. "Without it, our economy would be completely different than it is now," said Berkstresser. "How the appellate ruling affects us has yet to be determined. It was a battle won by the conservation groups, but it was probably just that: a battle, not the end."