Adirondack News

“It's good idea to get the public involved in reporting infractions, just don't confront individuals on your own because you never know who you could be dealing with out in the woods. Just call up authorities and let them handle it.”

“This is the pure result of the overcrowding in the High Peaks. The more crowded an area is, the more regulation and enforcement that has to be -- for better or for worse.

New Jersey has the same problem, and that's one of the reasons why it's so difficult to trail camp down here, among other things.”

“PS I think it has more to do with the lack of funds and manpower to effectively oversee what is happening in the park. This rule gives the public a more formal way to act as eyes and ears for DEC as well as a check on the department to make sure they are upholding the laws that are in place to protect New York State’s wildernesses.”

“Yeah next time I see someone violating something I will have to ask them their name and adress.”

“All it takes is a small inconspicuous digital camera. Nothing vapor locks elected officials faster than pictures.”

“That sucks. I hope he's doing alright...”

“He's one lucky kid. It's quite a drop down to Avalanche Lake.”

“Amen. I remember looking down at the lake from Colden summit. Nice drop!”

“JESUS! 400 foot slide down a slab of rock! Lucky he lived and he caught the tree with his leg and not his head!


That name is familiar to me for some reason - anybody we know?”

“I don't know how many of you has seen Mt Colden, but the top looks like a bald man's head. Curved & rocky with signs that ask you to keep off the tundra.(yea, right)It's a long drop if you start sliding & I've hit ice storms there on a rainy day in August.

On the far side however, the steep trail down even with a lot of running water has pretty good traction in the warmer months. That wouldn't happen in the Catskills where the clay gets VERY slippery & then throw in moss for good measure.”

“http://www.thecavedog.com/Adirondacks-Web_Pages/Adirondacks-Adirondack_Landmarks/Sea_Dog_with_the_Trap_Dike_in_Rain.JPG

This picture shows the trap dike and slide that the boy fell on.”

“http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=322533&category=CAPITOL&BCCode=CAPITOL&newsdate=1/12/2005

[SIZE=4]Plants agree to ax emissions [/SIZE]
Settlement to aid state's court cases against facilities in the Midwest

By ERIN DUGGAN, Capitol bureau
First published: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

ALBANY -- State officials brought the fight for clean air from the Midwest to New York's back yard Tuesday, announcing a landmark agreement with six upstate power plants to remove the equivalent of 2.5 million cars' worth of pollution from their smokestacks.
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The six plants, owned by two out-of-state companies, will cut their emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide by up to 90 percent over the next decade. Gov. George Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced the settlements in a joint news conference.

The settlements, praised by environmental and health advocates, are expected to make it easier for Spitzer to argue in court that companies outside New York need to clean up their operations. Large Midwestern plants are upwind of New York, and have been blamed for much of the state's pollution.

"We initiated those first, and it led, unfortunately, to a response from many of the out-of-state utilities that New York state was trying to clean up its dirty air problem by pushing the issues to out-of-state facilities, rather than focusing within our own house," said Spitzer. "Needless to say, that was not the case."

Spitzer's litigation against power companies began in 1999, when his office targeted several out-of-state utilities for violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Some of the litigation has already been successful, and Spitzer has yet to lose a claim against a power company. The cornerstone of Spitzer's argument is that work done on the power plants is not routine maintenance, which would be allowed without new environmental controls under the Clean Air Act. Instead, the companies are upgrading old, heavy-polluting plants piece by piece to avoid installing emissions-reducing equipment -- a perceived loophole in the law that environmentalists believe the Bush administration would like to open further.

"It's only a loophole if you have an EPA that is intentionally expanding the generally accepted definition of routine maintenance," Spitzer said. "It's our burden now to be rigorous and enforce our definition of routine maintenance, which we have been using successfully over the last five years."

The companies involved in Tuesday's settlements are Minnesota-based NRG Energy, which will clean up two power plants in western New York, and Virginia-based AES Corp., which will clean up four plants in the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions of the state. Those four were formerly owned by New York Electric and Gas Corporation, which will pay a $700,000 fine. Niagara Mohawk Power Company, which previously owned NRG's two plants, will pay a $3 million fine and an additional $3 million to support environmental projects in western New York, and is giving the state 2,500 acres along the Salmon River in Oswego County.

"This agreement, by reducing these pollutants by this massive amount, also translates into public health benefits," said state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Erin Crotty. "It's the grand slam, from an environmental perspective."

NRG will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 87 percent, and nitrogen oxide emission by 81 percent at its Huntley and Dunkirk power plants. AES will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide at its four plants by at least 70 percent, and sulfur dioxide by at least 90 percent.

AES plans to use a new clean-coal technology, and NRG said it's switching from high-sulfur Eastern coal to lower-sulfur Western coal. NRG estimated it will spend $70 million on compliance. No estimate was available from AES.

NRG spokeswoman Meredith Moore said the deal was good for NRG because "it gives us the flexibility we need to achieve the emission reductions without threatening reliability, and it resolves the allegations and litigations we had been subjected to."

The American Lung Association of New York, which monitors New York's pollution-reducing efforts, praised Pataki and Spitzer.

"If you reduce emissions by this level," said spokesman Peter Iwanowicz, "it will mean tens of thousands of fewer asthma attacks, hundreds of lives saved, and hundreds of millions of dollars in health care costs we will no longer have to pay because the air is cleaner."”

“Wednesday, March 16, 2005 4:02 PM

State proposes ATV ban in Catskills, Adirondacks public land

(Albany, NY - AP) — The state is proposing what would amount to a ban on all-terrain vehicles on state land in the Adirondack and Catskill state parks.

The ban under a draft of a policy by the state Department of Environmental Conservation comes after environmental groups and state officials used photographs to show damage by the vehicles.

Acting Environmental Conservation Commissioner Denise Sheehan says the proposal would make state Vehicle and Traffic Law apply to the sensitive forests. Exceptions would be allowed for disabled riders and some other narrow cases.

AT-Vs and other motorized vehicles are already banned from state land designated as wilderness.

Environmental groups had argued partial bans restricted by road or region would be too difficult to enforce.

In July, the state Adirondack Park Agency banned the use of all-terrain vehicles on trails in sensitive wild forest areas in the western park.

AT-V enthusiasts have opposed greater restrictions. They note the growing activity provides an economic boost to the areas often hit hard.

Public comment periods are scheduled statewide through May.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


http://www.wrgb.com/news/local/local_news.asp?selection=article_30843”

“Excellent. They could always walk but many who can't haul their thousand pound machine to the wild places will not go at all saving much gasoline and leaving the wild places for those who do not mind walking plus the overall 'environmental ethics' of the machine riders is deplorable!

Of course, natural selection will shortly eliminate ATV riders.
last edited: 3/17/05 11:55:58 AM”

“My one question is that, given the public/private nature of the Adirondack Park, how will this affect relations with landowners that permit hiking trails to cross their land and who use rec vehicles on park land adjacent to their own?

Will some/many close these hiking trails?”

“That's a good question. I don't know the answer to it.”

“Here's a link to the draft plan of what is trying to be passed.

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/publands/atv.pdf”