Forest Preserve (New York): Difference between revisions

{{unreferencedmore citations needed|date=MayDecember 20132018}}

WhileArticle XIV todayof the [[New York State Constitution|state constitution]] requires the Forest Preserve isto valued"be largelyforever kept as awild [[conservationforest biology|conservation]] measurelands", itsthus establishment inproviding the 19th centuryhighest wasdegree motivatedof primarilyprotection byof economicwild considerations.lands Graduallyin itsany inherentstate. worthA as[[constitutional aamendment]] naturewould preservebe camerequired to betransfer seen,any asof itthis becameland ato drawanother forowner [[recreation]] andor [[tourismlease|lessee]]. A later amendment to Article 14XIV also made the lands important parts of [[water supply network]]s in the state, particularly [[New York City water supply system|New York City's]], by allowing 3% of the total lands to be flooded for the construction of [[reservoir (water)|reservoirs]].

DuringIn the1865, years[[George afterPerkins theMarsh]] published ''[[AmericanMan Civiland War|Civil WarNature]]'', which made the stateconnection between [[deforestation]] and [[desertification]]. In the years that followed, New York's business community began to fear that [[erosion]] from unchecked [[logging]] in the Adirondacks could, through [[erosion]], [[silt]] up the [[Erie Canal]] and eliminate the state's major economic advantage. They were informed by [[George Perkins Marsh]]'s seminal 1865 book, ''[[Man and Nature]]'', which made the connection between [[deforestation]] and [[desertification]].

[[Image:Adirondack and Catskill Parks Locator.svg|300px|thumb|left|The Adirondack (top) and Catskill parks within New York., delineated by the Blue Line]]

Five years afterwardlater, [[surveying|surveyor]] [[Verplanck Colvin]] beheldwas said to have had the idea for a park while viewing the Adirondacks from the summit of [[Seward Mountain (New York)|Seward Mountain]] during his mission to map the region. The idea of preserving the lands in some sort of park occurred to him then and there, and after he returned heHe wrote to his superiors in [[Albany, New York|Albany]], that action needed to be taken to prevent that kind of despoliation. Theywho appointed him to a [[committee]] to study the problem.

In 1882, the businessmen began lobbying the [[New York Legislature|legislature]] in earnest,. and were rewarded three years later with the passage of theThe Forest Preserve Act, whichwas providedpassed thatthree noyears logginglater, wouldprohibiting be allowedlogging on state-owned land.

The Catskills had actually been considered when the Forest Preserve legislation was first passed, but [[Harvard University|Harvard]] [[botanist]] [[Charles Sprague Sargent]] had visited them and reported back to the legislature that it was not worth the effort as its streams did not appreciably affect the state's navigable [[waterway]]s. However, an amended version of the bill was passed, after many deals and compromises among members, that added lands in Ulster, [[Sullivan County, New York|Sullivan]] and [[Greene County, New York|Greene]] [[countyCounty (USUnited States)|counties]] to those eligible for Forest Preserve status.

==Article 14XIV==

To manage the land, the state had created a [[New York State Forest Commission|Forest Commission]], making New York second only to [[California]] in having a state-level [[forestry]] agency. Most of its members were either openly or covertly connected to [[timber]] interests, however, and routinely approved dodges around the legislation to make sure logging would continue. In 1893 the legislature retroactively approved many of these practices by giving the commission the right to sell timber from the lands and trade them as it saw fit.

This section, Article 7VII of the 1894 constitution (which was later changed to articleArticle 14XIV), is often referred to as the "forever wild" section even though those two words do not appear next to each other in the text.

Since then, over 2,000 amendments to Article 14XIV have been introduced in the legislature. Of those, only 28 have made it to the ballot, and only 20 have passed. Many of those have been otherwise routine land transfers that enabled the construction or expansion of public [[cemetery|cemeteries]] or [[airport]]s. Others have allowed for the construction and continued maintenance of reservoirs and highways. The most significant change was a pair of amendments that created the [[Alpine skiing|ski centers]] at [[Belleayre Mountain Ski Center|Belleayre]] in the Catskills and [[Gore Mountain (ski resort)|Gore]] and [[Whiteface Mountain|Whiteface]] in the Adirondacks. The latter includes a [[toll road]] to the summit as well.

[[ecology|Ecological]] and [[environmentalism|environmental]] awareness grew in the later years of the 20th century. Recreational use of the Forest Preserve began to rise to new levels, and newer methods of outdoor recreation became popular. These two factors led to a widespread realization that it was no long enough to simply rely on the language of Article 14XIV and the state's Conservation Law (as it was called at the time) and the [[case law|court decisions]] and administrative opinions that relied on them.

The only significant difference between New York's wilderness policy and the federal government's is that the former limits the classification to contiguous parcels of at least 10,000 acres (40 km²²), instead of 5,000 (20 km²²).

Currently, approximately 1.1 million acres (4,400 km²²) of the Forest Preserve is designated as wilderness.

Not all vehicle use is permitted, however. [[Mountain biking|Mountain bikers]] and [[all-terrain vehicle]] enthusiasts have been lobbying DEC to allow them use of some Wild Forest trails in recent years.{{when?|date=June 2016}} {{As of|2005}} it appears that the former may be allowed to use some trails, particularly the old roads that lead to [[fire lookout|fire towers]] in both parks, DEC and most other users feel that even Wild Forest trails could not absorb the impact of ATVs.{{according to whom?|date=June 2016}}

In the Catskills, it has long been informal DEC policy{{according to whom?|date=June 2016}} to treat all Wild Forest lands above {{convert|3,100|ft|m|1}} in elevation as ''de facto'' wilderness. A proposed update{{when?|date=June 2016}} to the master plan for the park would not only make this formal but extend the limit to {{convert|2,700|ft|m|0}}.

Intensive Use areas are places like state [[campground]]s or "day use" areas (more like a small [[park#Government-Parks owned or operated parksby government|public park]]) without camping. There may be designated [[campsite]]s, [[picnic]] tables, [[charcoal]] [[barbecue grill|grill]]s, public restrooms and [[shower]] facilities and [[human swimming|swimming]] areas with [[lifeguard]]s. A fee is charged between May 1 and October 1 for most of these activities, and sometimes just for entering the area. DEC manages 45 campgrounds in the Adirondacks and 7 in the Catskills, for a total of 52 (public campgrounds elsewhere in New York are under the authority of [[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation|the state parks]]).

This classification refers primarily to lands not really considered for recreational use but for those sections of the Forest Preserve constituting the [[right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] and roadbed for sections of the [[Interstate 87 (New York)|Adirondack Northway]], other public highways in the Park, the [[Remsen (village), New York|Remsen]]-to-[[Lake Placid, New York|Lake Placid]] [[Adirondack Scenic Railroad]] right-of-way and lands immediately adjacent to and visible from them. It results from a mid-1960s amendment to Article 14XIV that allowed such road construction and maintenance, primarily to complete the Northway.

State law also allows DEC to classify land it acquires outside the Blue Lines, but in counties partially within the parks, as Forest Preserve. These have usually been small detached parcels rarely organized into larger, named units. Article 14XIV's prohibition on further sale or transfer still applies, although the state may allow the timber on these lands to be harvested.

While no one talks seriously of rescinding Article 14XIV anymore, that hasn't stopped some residents of the state from publicly chafing at its strictures. This is particularly common in the Adirondacks, since the many vast tracts of land under Forest Preserve protection limit certain economic opportunities in a region where it has always been a struggle to earn a livingactivities.{{citation [[Melvil Dewey]] sounded a common theme in the early 20th century when, advocating another constitutional amendment to open up more land to logging, he complained that the current situation only benefited "the bugs," referring to the [[Black Flyneeded|blackfly]]date=January infestations that keep many residents indoors during daylight hours in the early summer.2018}}

The only fire tower still a subject of dispute is on [[Hurricane Mountain]] in the Adirondacks, since unlike the others it is within a [[Primitive Area]] classified by the DEC as the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area. There has been speculation that the DEC would like to reclassify this {{convert|13,449|acre|ha|adj=on}} parcel into a [[Wilderness Area]]. Wilderness Areas are considered "untouched by man" and a firetower is viewed as a non-conforming structure. As such, the DEC wants it removed for this reason. However, residents of the area have been fighting to keep it since not only is it a popular and relatively easy hike, it is the only fire tower in the [[Adirondack High Peaks|High Peaks]] region. The [[Hurricane Mountain fire tower]] is also the insignia of the [[Adirondack Mountain Club]] Hurricane Mountain Chapter.

Many members felt these were an integral part of the club's identity and wanted to keep them. But in summer 2000, the 46ers' board decided to remove them as they did not feel it would be worth pursuing a [[lawsuit]] to keep them, especially with little law on their side. Some members are still bitter about this decision since it was taken without consulting the group as a whole.

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[[Category:New York (state) state forests]]