News stories tagged with "adirondack-park"

(02/22/11) Debate and legal wrangling continue in the Adirondacks over who has the power and authority to close old town roads.

The flashpoint for the conflict is a road from Lake Placid to Keene that currently serves as part of the Jackrabbit ski trail.

But that case could have far-reaching implications for other roads in the Park.

As Chris Morris reports, North Country Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward reintroduced legislation last week that would give final say in these disputes to local town officials.

(08/13/10) Later this morning, the Adirondack Park Agency is expected to approve a plan creating the first major piece of a new regional snowmobile trail.

The project in Hamilton County includes construction of a new 12-mile hub trail that would link the towns of Piseco and Speculator.

State officials say this project in the Jessup River area will be a model for a much larger snowmobile trail system now in development across the Park.

But critics on all sides say they're not sure this plan is workable or affordable. Brian Mann has our story.

(05/13/10) The Adirondack Park Agency was created in 1971. In the decades since, a debate has raged over how the Park should be managed.

Specific issues change from year to year. But the basic battle lines over conservation, property rights, and economic development have long seemed carved in stone.

But now some observers say the budget crisis in Albany is changing all that, throwing into doubt some of the core ideas about the Park and its future. Brian Mann has our special report.

(04/08/10) The New York Post reported this week that the Adirondack Nature Conservancy reaped millions in profits from a land preservation deal with New York State. The story says the conservancy paid Domtar $6.8 million for the land, and sold it to the state for almost $10 million four years later -- an "absurd" profit as headlined in the Post.

The report is prompting reviews by the state attorney general's office into potential over-payments for the 20,000 acres in Clinton County. Martha Foley talks with Adirondack Bureau Chief Brian Mann.

(05/01/07) The Spitzer administration has unveiled a major shake-up in the management of the Adirondack Park. State environment officials confirmed today that the leaders of the DEC in Region 5 and Region 6 has been asked to resign. A local government group also says the Governor is preparing to name a prominent environmentalist to serve as the new APA commissioner. Brian Mann has details.

(01/25/06) In the latest issue of the Adirondack Explorer, editor Phil Brown profiles the "big four" environmental groups that operate inside the Park. Brown compares the history and the agendas of the Adirondack Council, the Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, and the Adirondack Mountain Club. Brown spoke with Brian Mann about the ways that green groups collaborate on environmental issues and the feuds that sometime make cooperation difficult.

(01/19/06) A state Supreme Court judge in Saratoga Springs has dismissed an
environmental group's lawsuit over a controversial cell phone tower on Lake George. The so-called "frankenpine" tower will be built to look like a huge pine tree. The Adirondack Council sued to block the plan, arguing that it would mar a scenic vista. But as Brian Mann reports, the case was dismissed on a technicality.

(03/15/02) The Adirondack Park Agency is reviewing an application by AT&T wireless that could improve cell phone service along a stretch of the Northway. The antenna project is a first test of the agency's new tower policy, designed to protect the region's views. Brian Mann was at yesterday's APA meeting and has this report.

(11/29/01) One of the great myths of the Adirondack Park is that state zoning regulations restrict or at least shape most development on private land. In fact, much of the real estate boom of the last decade has taken place on shorelines. Thousands of homes have been built in lakefront areas that are largely exempt from Park Agency control. As Brian Mann reports, critics of the zoning plan say the result has been a disaster for lakes and ponds in the Adirondacks.

(03/16/01) For all its natural beauty, the Adirondack Park is a place defined by people. Towns and villages are scattered within the blue line. Laws and regulations protect the environment. As Brian Mann reports, the Adirondack Park Agency is working to reshape one of its Visitor Interpretive Centers. The idea is to bring the human element into sharper focus.