For Immediate Release: January 8, 2004
Contact:
Keith P. McKeever | Public Relations | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
The Independence River unit is a large Wild Forest area located in Lewis and Herkimer Counties at the western edge of the Adirondack Park. Total acreage is estimated at 75,540 acres.
Terrain is characterized as a mix of foothills and lowland pine barrens. This area is excellent habitat for the pine marten, bobcat and moose. The Independence River is designated as a Scenic River.
Included in this wild forest is a significant portion of the Otter Creek Horse Trail system. This system is unique because it is the only Adirondack region horse trail system that includes overnight facilities for horses and their owners.
The proposed amendment is not a comprehensive update to the Independence River Unit Management Plan (UMP). It contains specific activities to adhere to requirements established in a Consent Decree resulting from the Galusha case - (Civil Action No. 98-CV-1117). Therefore the proposed actions are not unit wide management actions but specific activities designed to comply with the consent decree.
The Consent Decree commits DEC and APA to the review and support of expanded opportunities for motorized and non-motorized access to the Forest Preserve for persons with disabilities.
There are seven accessibility enhancement projects included in this plan amendment. Four site specific projects and three road related projects.
The Francis Lake Access, McCarthy Road Accessible Campsite, Otter Creek Horse Trail Access and Payne Lake Access projects address the Galusha Consent Degree by providing handicap accessible routes, parking spaces, mounting platforms and campsites in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The three road related projects; Mt. Tom Road Rehabilitation, Big Otter Lake Road Rehabilitation and the Branaugh Road Access projects are proposed on existing roads that were included in the inventory of roads open to public motor vehicle use in the approved 1986 UMP for Independence River Wild Forest.
The road projects comply with the Galusha consent decree by providing car and truck access to public lands for the purpose of camping, hunting and nature observation. A CP-3 permit is required for access along Branaugh Road and the last .4 of a mile of the Mt. Tom Road.
In order to comply with the Galusha consent decree and resolve conflict with NY State Vehicle and Traffic Law the DEC is proposing to prohibit the use of ATV’s on the Mt. Tom, Branaugh and Big Otter Lake Roads.