For Immediate Release: October 18, 2001
Contact:
Victoria Hristovski | Director Public Information | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
RAY BROOK - It was another busy monthly meeting as an array of subjects were brought before the Adirondack Park Agency at its headquarters in Ray Brook. Among the subjects on the agenda were a tour of leased forest lands in the Park; a comprehensive plan presentation from the Town of Inlet; a presentation on key carnivores in the Adirondacks, and a permit request for a furniture-making operation in Willsboro, Essex County.
This month’s meeting began on Wednesday, October 10th with a tour of leased forest lands in Piercefield and the Cranberry Lake area. The tour was sponsored by Empire State Forest Products Association and included a variety of working forest lands. The tour provided an opportunity to discuss forest management activities and recreational development and use on these leased lands. Members and staff of the Adirondack Park Agency, along with members of the community and forest land managers spent the day traveling to different recreational lease sites on these working forest lands, where different types of structures were observed.
On Thursday, the Administration Committee authorized four public meetings to take comment on a revised draft of the proposed updated policy on telecommunication towers. The Agency authorized the draft with minor revisions and it will be publicly distributed for review next month. The locations, dates and times of the public comment sessions will be finalized and announced shortly. The draft explains the reasons for an updated policy and factors that will protect the open space character of the Park while providing telecommunications services authorized by federal law.
Also on Thursday, special presentations were made to the Local Government Services and Park Ecology Committees. Officials from the Town of Inlet presented a Community Plan to Committee members and summarized past and current Town planning efforts. Inlet Supervisor JR Risley and other Town officials reviewed ongoing efforts to develop a plan that will "guide the Town into the future while preserving the environment and improving the quality of life, and the economy."
During the Park Ecology meeting on Thursday, Dr. Justina Ray of the University of Toronto and the Wildlife Conservation Society reported on two years of monitoring populations of key carnivores in the Adirondacks. According to Dr. Ray, small carnivores have come back to the area while larger carnivores have not. Dr. Ray’s studies show that the raccoon population in the Adirondacks is dispersed and concentrations are found near campgrounds and near water. Conversely, pine marten seem to be restricted to higher elevations, she said. The population of pine marten in the Adirondacks is the southern most location of the creatures in the Northeast United States. Her two-year study was based on non-invasive tracking methods to determine the populations and species of the animals.
Resource Analysis and Scientific Services (RASS) staff updated the Park Ecology Committee on an Environmental Protection Agency project to control roadside invasive plant species in New York. RASS staff is working with representatives from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Department of Transportation and the Adirondack Nature Conservancy to begin a second season of invasive plant management. RASS staff noted that japanese knotweed and purple loosestrife removal may require excavation, biological control, or spot herbicide use.
At its Friday meeting, the Regulatory Programs Committee, and later the full Agency, unanimously approved the Old Adirondack, Inc. furniture making operation proposed for development in Willsboro, Essex County. Old Adirondack, an established maker of Adirondack style furniture, will occupy a new 25,000 square foot structure on the first development site in the Willsboro Commerce Park. The Agency also reviewed the concept for the larger, 107 acre Commerce Park, which will be the subject of additional planning work prior to its further approval. The Willsboro Commerce Park is a designated Build Now-NY development site, one of over thirty Statewide. Through this designation, Empire State Development has been providing funds to plan and market the Commerce Park.
Also for consideration before the Regulatory Programs Committee was a project in a Rural Use area to utilize a waste disposal site in Northampton, Fulton County. Committee members decided to move the project to public hearing, a recommendation that was later confirmed by the full Board.
A request for a second renewal of a permit to build a single-family dwelling with an adjacent carport/storage building in the Town of Harriestown, Franklin County, was approved.
Also on Friday, on the occasion of his retirement, Ray Davis, the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the Department of Environmental Conservation, was recognized for his years of service and contributions toward the implementation of the Act in the Park.
The next Adirondack Park Agency meeting will be held November 15 and 16 at the headquarters in Ray Brook. As always, the public is welcome to attend.
For more information, please contact: Victoria Hristovski at 518-891-4050, ext. 173.