adirondack...joining the adirondack council if you are not already a member. see the back cover for...

The Adirondack Council

Adirondack CouncilMember Organizations: Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks,

Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Audubon,National Parks & Conservation Association,

Natural Resources Defense Council, The Wilderness Society

• Five More Lakes Have Mercury• New Acid Rain Kit for Schools• Great News on Disabled Access• New Board Members Elected• APA Working on Cell Towers• Legislature Fights Light Pollution• Action Alert on Acid Rain• Council Director Steps Down

Inside...

Defending the Northeast’s Last Great Wilderness

Better Access to Forest Preserve!


Sincerely,

On the Cover

ChairDavid SkovronVice Chairs

David E. BronstonPatricia D. Winterer

TreasurerJ. Edward Fowler

Secretary

Board of Directors

StaffActing Executive Director

Bernard C. Melewski

Our MissionThe Adirondack Council is an18,000-member, privately fundednot-for-profit organization dedicatedto protecting the natural character andcommunities of the Adirondack Parkthrough research, education, advo-cacy and legal action.

Etienne BoillotDean L. Cook

Joanne W. DwyerBetty EldridgeJohn L. ErnstAlyse Gray

Robert L. HallGary F. Heurich

Theodore L. HullarGeorge R. Lamb

Ernest B. LaPrairieDouglas S. Luke, Jr.

Karen MeltzerScott L. PatersonJames S. Phillips

Richard L. ReinholdBrian Ruder

Ellen Marshall ScholleCarole Anne Slatkin

Thomas D. Thacher, IIWilliam Weber

Lillia AnsonJulie Ball

Elaine BurkeMichael G. DiNunzio

Diane W. FishLisa M. GenierKathy KelleyScott Lorey

Radmila MiletichJoseph M. MooreGary A. RandorfJohn F. Sheehan

Anne TrachtenbergLinda Whalen

Bernard C. MelewskiCounsel & Acting Executive Director

Dear Friends of the Adirondacks:

Defending the Northeast’s Last Great Wilderness

Barbara L. Glaser

Welcome to the summer newsletter of the Adirondack Council. Inside thesepages you will learn about many of the issues that will shape the future of theAdirondacks.

And there has been plenty of activity! From acid rain and the control of invasiveplants to access for the disabled and the construction of new cell towers, you willfind it in these pages. We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and will considerjoining the Adirondack Council if you are not already a member. See the backcover for more information about how you can join.

If you are already a member, I may be the first to inform you that our long-timeexecutive director, Timothy J. Burke, has decided to move on after ten years withthe Adirondack Council. Much has been accomplished by the Adirondack Coun-cil during his tenure.

In recent years, the Adirondack Council has been the leading voice for newcontrols on the pollution that causes acid rain. The Council has worked diligentlyto bring the need for new legislation to the attention of Congress. With your help,the Council’s effort on acid rain may finally lead to action in the coming year. ( Seeinside how you can help.)

Working together, we have also accomplished a great deal to further the protec-tion of the Adirondack Park. The Council worked hard to ensure that the State ofNew York had the funding to pursue large land acquisitions to be added to theForest Preserve in the Adirondacks. In the last decade, over 300,000 acres hasbeen protected in the Adirondack Park by direct purchase for the Forest Preserveor by the use of conservation easements.

The Adirondack Council has also been working to foster economic sustainabilityfor communities in the Park. With unemployment rates at a 30-year low, it is clearthat the Park’s health and beauty are not only a natural treasure but also a greateconomic asset to Adirondack communities.

The Council’s role as the environmental watchdog of the Adirondack ParkAgency (APA) and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)has become even more important over the past ten years. The Council works toensure that the APA protects the natural resources in the Park from harmful devel-opment and that the state-owned Forest Preserve lands are properly managed bythe DEC.

We wish Tim all the best. He has assembled a very dedicated and talented staff,who together with the strong leadership of our Board of Directors and our enthu-siastic membership, assure the continued success of the Adirondack Council.

Jabe Pond Road in the Lake George Wild Forest is one of those openedto the disabled for access by all-terrain vehicles and trucks in a court casein which the Adirondack Council played a pivotal role. The scene on thecover is what awaits the traveler at the other end. Jabe Pond is just west ofSilver Bay in the Town of Hague. Turn the page for a complete rundown ofthe settlement’s benefits for the disabled and for Wilderness protection inthe Adirondack Park. Photo by Gary Randorf.


Soft Maple Reservoir, Lewis County,where rock bass of any size should beavoided. All contained mercury levels

Council Offers Free Acid Rain Multi-MediaEducation Package to Schools & Libraries

The Adirondack Council is of-fering free educational materi-als to teachers and librarians

interested in providing information totheir students and patrons about themost serious environmental issue fac-ing the Adirondack Park today: acidrain.

Our acclaimed 22-page color bookleton acid rain’s causes, symptoms and

potential solutions is the centerpiece ofthe package. Also included is a two-sided classroom poster developed incooperation with Boreal Labs and Sci-ence Kit, Inc. especially for school sci-ence classes. It includes photographsof acid rain damage, as well as four les-son plans/worksheets on the back thatcan be photocopied on to standard 8.5by 11 paper.

The newestaddition to thepackage is an 8-minute video tapeproduced byAmerican Envi-ronmental Reviewand funded by theRivendell Foun-dation. It’s an ex-

panded version of a program developedfor the Public Broadcasting System andmade possible by the Rivendell Foun-dation, which has been showing on PBSstations across the United States.

This expanded version goes intogreater depth in describing the problemsacid rain has caused in the forests, wa-ters and alpine ecosystems of theAdirondack Park. It provides toll-freephone numbers for those seeking addi-tional information.

The materials are suitable for studentsat the middle school level and higher.The video tapes will be available start-ing in September.

If your school or library could ben-efit from free materials on acid rain,call 1-800-842-7275 (from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Monday to Friday).

Five More Lakes Found Tainted With Mercury

... Continued inside back cover

Herkim

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Ham

ilton

Cou

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Five more Adirondack lakes havebeen added to the list of those so pro-foundly contaminated with mercury thatpeople should avoid eating the fish. Thecontamination is largely a product ofacid rain.

The lakes include Upper and LowerSister Lakes, Hamilton County, whereyellow perch 10 inches and larger shouldbe avoided; Dart Lake, HerkimerCounty, where yellow perch over 9inches should be avoided; Big MooseLake, Herkimer County, where yellowperch over 10 inches should be avoided;

well above state health standards.Mercury is one of the most toxic met-

als found in our environment. It causesinternal organ damage, harms reproduc-tion and fetal development and impairsboth brain and nerve functions.

Mercury contamination has nowbeen reported in 20 Adirondack lakesand ponds, but there may be many moreaffected. To date, the state has testedfish in only 25 percent of its surfacewaters for such contaminants.

There are two main reasons mercury


The Adirondack Park Agencyin July voted to hold a formalpublic hearing this summer on

an “experiment” to use chemical pesti-cides to kill Eurasian watermilfoil in LakeGeorge. This chemical pesticide hasnever been allowed in the AdirondackPark.

The Adirondack Council had urgedthe APA to hold a formal hearing afterthe applicant admitted that the pesti-cide it plans to use will also kill rare andthreatened native plants along with themilfoil. Even harming protected plantscarries a $25 fine per plant.

The Council wanted the APA to holda public hearing to resolve this issue,and others, before the APA rules on theapplication. The adjudicatory hearingordered in mid-July by the APA Boardof Commissioners will allow the APA togather sworn testimony, while allowingthe Adirondack Council and other par-ties to cross examine consultants andexpert witnesses.

The Council also cautioned the ap-plicant that the Council would

fight any attempt to loosen state healthregulations that currently prevent theapplication of the pesticide near drink-ing water intakes. The applicant’s draftenvironmental impact statement makesit clear that talks were already under-way to petition the NYS Health Depart-ment for permission to apply the pesti-cide Sonar in the southern basin of thelake. That’s where most of the milfoil isgrowing adjacent to a home or business,many of which draw water from the lake.

Unlike exotic invasive plants such asmilfoil, native plants play an integral rolein the lake’s ecosystem. Native plants

provide food and shelter to fish andother aquatic animals and are compat-ible with other native plants. They re-move nutrients and other particles thatcan make the water cloudy.

Invasive exotics are non-native spe-cies accidentally transported to a

new location. Eurasian watermilfoil wasbrought to Lake George in boats andtrailers. Exotics sometimes out-compete

native plants and overtake their habi-tats. It is sometimes necessary forpeople to intervene to protect nativeplants. But the method chosen makes aworld of difference.

The applicant for the APA pesticidepermit is the Lake George Park Commis-sion (LGPC). So far, the commission hasemployed only non-toxic methods --hand harvesting, plastic mats, suctionhoses and the like -- to control Eurasianwatermilfoil. The LGPC has employedthose methods very successfully formany years.

Eurasian milfoil has been presentin Lake George since 1985.

Thanks to the LGPC’s non-toxic meth-ods, it covers less than 2 percent of thelake bottom.

The Adirondack Council has offeredto work with the LGPC to find moremoney to continue the non-toxic har-vesting and control methods. (The

Council believes that chemical pesti-cides are a last resort, to be used onlywhen non-toxic alternatives have failed.)Instead, LGPC has continued to pressfor a permit to use pesticides.

The LGPC has argued that chemicalpesticides (in this case, a fluridone-based product called Sonar) are less ex-pensive than non-toxic controls. Theyrequire less labor and less planning.

On the other hand, they can kill muchmore than exotic milfoil.

There are 48 plants native to LakeGeorge. Despite claims from the con-sultant that Sonar is safe, the applicant’senvironmental impact statement admitsthat they have no data on what will hap-pen to 32 of those 48 species when So-nar is applied.

There are at least six plants nativeto Lake George that are scarce

enough to be protected under thestate’s “rare, threatened and endan-gered” plants law. The applicant’s en-vironmental impact statement providedno data on what the pesticide will do toat least five of them. Three of those fivespecies are present in one or all of theproposed application areas in the lake.

The applicant wants the APA’s per-mission to kill them all.

At an April meeting, the applicant’sconsultant declared: “If it’s a

choice between killing milfoil and sav-ing native species, we’ll choose killingmilfoil.” The consultant recommendedusing more than 2,000 pounds of thechemical at four sites in Lake George.

Taking a broader view, the Council isconcerned about the precedent of al-lowing chemical herbicides in any of theParks’ 2,800 lakes and ponds.

Lake George Pesticide Plan on Hold

‘If it’s a choice between kill-ing milfoil and saving nativespecies, we’ll choose killingmilfoil.’

Pesticide consultant to LakeGeorge Park Commission,

April 2001

Lake George’ssouth basin in July.

The APA wantsmore informationbefore making a

decision on usingpesticides to

control Eurasianmilfoil. Photo byJohn F. Sheehan.


The Adirondack Council ob-tained significant new protec-tions for the Forest Preserve,

while also providing new opportunitiesfor people with disabilities to gain ac-cess to the Park’s wildest places, whenit settled a long legal battle in July.

Three people with disabilities whowanted greater vehicular access to theAdirondack Forest Preserve had suedthe Department of Environmental Con-servation, the governor and a host ofothers.

The Adirondack Council and otherenvironmentalists joined as parties tothe lawsuit, hoping to protect sensitiveareas of the Forest Preserve from harm-ful motorized traffic.

The settlement had something foreveryone. It was a far cry from what theplaintiffs originally wanted, but itshowed that reasonable accommoda-tions can be made for the disabled with-out degrading the natural environment.

The Council and other environmen-tal intervenors:!Helped to prevent a wholesale

opening of the Forest Preserve to mo-torized traffic.!Reduced motorized vehicle use by

state officials in areas off-limits to pub-lic traffic.!Ensured that the state would not is-

sue permits to the public for vehicle usein Wilderness and other off-limits areas.!Ensured that state personnel will

keep track of all their trips into restrictedareas and report those trips to theAdirondack Park Agency quarterly.!Ensured that the state will halt its

illegal practice of allowing private clubsand towns to bulldoze and widen footpaths in the Forest Preserve to accom-modate snowmobile traffic.!Required that any decision to re-

construct or open roads for vehicle usebe justified through the state’s formalUnit Management Plan process, wherethe public is allowed input.

The disabled will have much-im-

Settlement: Better Access for Disabled& Better Protection for Wilderness

proved access for hunt-ing and fishing. New fa-cilities will be built atboat launches and camp-grounds to provide easieraccess to areas that areheavily used by the dis-abled.

Plaintiffs in the casehad originally

sued the state for millionsof dollars in damages andsought to open hun-dreds of miles of roadsand trails, some in Wil-derness Areas, to motor-ized traffic. They sued inU.S. District Court in Al-bany, claiming a violationof the federal Americanswith Disabilities Act. Thelawsuit was filed in 1997,shortly after the DEC re-vised its policy for disabled access tothe Forest Preserve.

The old system required a handi-capped person to prove his or her dis-ability to a DEC employee through anarcane test before obtaining a specialvehicle use permit. It required the ap-plicant to specify a location, durationof stay and the purpose for the trip.

The 1997 version of the policy al-lowed qualified applicants to use anyroad already designated for handi-capped use any time the road was open(some close seasonally when they be-come impassable with snow or mud).

The Council was concerned that afederal court might not be as vehementabout protecting the Forest Preserve asstate courts have been, and sided withDEC in trying to prevent a harmful ex-pansion of motorized traffic.

But in the course of investigatingthe plaintiffs’ complaints, the

Council discovered that DEC had beenhanding out illegal permits for vehicleuse for years. In addition, DEC’s ownpersonnel were driving into restrictedareas on a regular basis.

The Council and the other environ-mental groups decided that we couldnot allow DEC to continue issuing ille-gal permits. Consequently, the groupsfiled a cross claim against the state, ar-guing that the illegal permits must bestopped. The federal judge essentiallyreferred the case to state court. DECthen revised its policy before a statecourt suit was commenced. DEC cen-tralized the issuance of all permitsthrough the Albany headquarters,placed strict limits on DEC’s own use ofvehicles and created a quarterly report-ing program overseen by the APA.

Six roads previously opened to thehandicapped by the judge will

remain open. Camp Santanoni Road,which had been opened by the judgeearlier in the case, will be closed again.As the Council had recommended, theDEC will make arrangements with a lo-cal horse-drawn wagon service to bringdisabled people down the road and intothe woods north of Newcomb for free.DEC has also agreed to provide statepersonnel who will assist the disabledin reaching Wilderness without motors.

Lily Pond in the Lake George Wild Forest is nowopen to ATVs driven by disabled persons holding aDEC permit. Photo by Gary Randorf.


Each year megather for a funsentations from gram team.

This summer, Elizabethtown athe progress anefforts to eliminPreserve througaction.

Over onmeeting, hostedlor, at his homeLake Champlainthe Park and ouenjoy a morninvicinity with spHigh Peaks andof sunshine in w

FollowinAwards Dinner individuals andticularly effectienvironmental c

CounciE

Below, Council Chairman DavidSkovron prepares to address themembers. Bottom left, the nextgeneration of members. Bottom right,Adirondack Life staff memberJo’elKramer and friend Charlie Wilson enjoythe awards dinner. Photos by Julie Ball.

The Adirondack Council sponsors a variety of outdoor educational and recreational trips for Council supporters. Above,board member Ed Fowler sets up a photo shoot on a trip in the Champlain Valley. Above right, in the Split Rock tract withthe Council’s world-renowned landscape photographer Gary Randorf, Eve Bogle and staff member Diane Fish soak in theview. Right, Jack Bogle, with his combination walking stick and camera stand, (left) and Reg Bedell. Left, Ruth Skovron,board member Ed Fowler, Margot Ernst and board member John Ernst, and board member Gary Heurich arrive for theannual meeting. All photos by Julie Ball.


John Ernst former Board Chair (1995-1999) and current Co-Chair of the Campaignfor the Forever Wild Fund, returns to the board after a term-limit mandated year off.John continues a family tradition of conservation advocacy in the Adirondacks thatbegan with his grandfather, who in the early 60s, donated the first conservation ease-ment in New York State on land surrounding Elk Lake. John Ernst divides his timebetween Elk Lake Lodge in the Adirondacks and New York City, where he is a privateinvestor. Mr. Ernst has served as a Director since 1982 (with the exception of 2000-2001). He serves on numerous non-profit boards including the New York League ofConservation Voters.

Ted Hullar Is director of higher education at Atlantic Philanthropies . Mr. Hullar’slong history in the field of environmental research and academic administration in-cludes his role as chancellor of the University of California at Davis (1987-94), andprofessor of toxicology and coordinator of the University of California Economic Devel-opment Initiative. In the 1970s, Mr. Hullar served as deputy commissioner for programsand research at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and servedas a professor and administrator at Cornell University from 1979 –1984.

Doug Luke is President and Chief Executive Officer of HL Capital, Inc. with offices inNew York City and San Francisco. He lives in Pine Plains, NY and Keene Valley, NY. AnAdirondack Council member since 1989, he shares the Council’s commitment to programsin advocacy and education to protect the Adirondacks. He is a former Chairman and BoardPresident of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve.

Karen Meltzer has been an owner and director of Brant Lake Camp since the1960s. Now “semi-retired,” she remains involved with the camping world throughassociation boards including terms as vice-president and then treasurer of the Ameri-can Camping Association, and two terms as President of the New York State CampDirectors Association. She is involved in many Adirondack organizations and servedtwo terms as president of the Brant Lake Association.

Jamie Phillips lives in Essex, New York and Fallbrook, California. As co-founderand director of the Eddy Foundation, Mr. Phillips is active in the preservation of wildlands,organic agriculture, and in biodiversity issues. In addition, he is a fund manager, focus-ing on promoting socially responsible and angel investment. He is also an accomplishedphotographer and artist.

Carole Anne Slatkin lives in Essex, New York. She is a former editor ofAmerican Birds magazine, served as project editor for North American Fossils,North American Seashore Creatures and co-authored the book John James Audubon:The Watercolors for the Birds of America. Ms. Slatkin is also a former director ofPublic Programs for the New York Historical Society.

Bill Weber, Ph.D. has twenty-five years of experience in international wildlifeconservation. He currently serves as director of North America Programs for theWildlife Conservation Society, and is responsible for dozens of projects from Alaska tothe Adirondacks, addressing issues from lynx and wolf recovery to fire ecology,ecotourism and community-based conservation. Bill and his wife Amy Vedder recentlywrote a book about their work in Rwanda, In the Kingdom of Gorillas, to be published bySimon & Schuster in October 2001.

Adirondack Council Board MembersElected at Annual Meeting

The Board of Directors of the Adirondack Council is comprised of twenty-six volunteers whodedicate their time, expertise and financial support to the Adirondack Council. Each summer, at theannual meeting, board members who have concluded their terms leave the board and new candi-dates are voted in. We acknowledge with great appreciation the contributions of Alison Clarkson,Katharine Preston, Avery Rockefeller III, Jack Ryder, Jr., and Curt Welling, who completed theirservice this year.

New Directors include:

embers of the Adirondack Counciln and informative meeting with pre-

all members of the Council’s pro-

on July 14, staff members from theand Albany offices, reviewed bothd obstacles in the Council’s recent

nate acid rain, and protect the Forestgh advocacy, education and legal

ne hundred members attended thed by Gary Randorf, Senior Counse-e in Whallonsburg, New York nearn. Early arrivals traveling from acrossutside the Blue Line were able tong walk on the quiet roads in thepectacular views of the Adirondackd clouds giving way to the first dayweeks.

ng the Annual Meeting, the Annualallowed the Council to recognize

organizations that have been par-ive advocates for Adirondack Parkconcerns during the last year.

il Members GatherEach Summer


Faced with a host of new pro-posals for telecommunicationstowers throughout the Park, the

Adirondack Park Agency is attemptingto update its 1978 CommunicationsTowers Policy.

The policy governs the siting of tow-ers. It requires those wishing to erecttransmitters and receivers in the Parkto co-locate on existing towers when-ever possible and requires that towersbe “substantially invisible.”

Due to changing technology and theproliferation of cell phones in recentyears, the Park has been under increas-ing pressure to host new tower sites.Local officials claim that having thesetowers amounts to a safety issue. Someeven claim that one hundred percentcoverage must be provided in the Park.

Cell service providers often seekto locate their facilities on hill-

tops to get the most coverage per towerbuilt. But, that leads to problems whenthose who enjoy the Adirondacks for

their wild and natural character are con-fronted with a shiny steel structure inthe midst of an otherwise natural land-scape. A casual look at the hilltopsalong the Adirondack Northway, southof the Adirondack Park, shows whatcould happen inside the Park as well,as communications towers become themost prominent visible feature.

The agency requested proposalsfrom planning and engineering

firms to get help in researching currenttechnology and revamping its old policyon the siting of towers. It hired the LAGroup of Saratoga Springs (the onlygroup to respond) to help research theagency’s policy, compare it with thepolicies of other municipalities and re-gional planning authorities and draft anew agency policy.

The Council and some APA com-missioners objected to the choice ofthe LA Group, since the firm often rep-resents tower applicants (and in fact, iscurrently representing a Vermont radio

station seeking to erect alarge tower in Willsboro).We suggested that theagency put the proposalback out to bid.

The Council did prevailupon the agency to haveany new draft policy fromthe LA Group “peer re-viewed” by other govern-mental, planning and aca-demic institutions.

One troublesome trait thathas begun to emerge in re-cent applications is the ruseof making a commercial op-eration seem like a publicsafety necessity. A phone,TV or radio company appliesfor an APA permit to build atower. The applicant tellsthe local ambulance and firedepartment that it will pro-vide space on the tower for

those services.When the commercial operator ap-

plies for a permit, the possibility of add-ing public safety equipment acts as afoil for thorough review.

The New York State Office for Tech-nology is currently reworking the

state’s emergency services network ina new initiative known as the StatewideWireless Network. Local emergencyservice providers will be able to usethose facilities and frequencies. Thenew network will use existing towersites and will be implemented within thenext couple of years. The Council hasurged the APA to require every entitythat will be located on a tower to be aco-applicant in the permitting process.

We have also urged the state toexpedite plans for the State-

wide Wireless Network, which will elimi-nate the need for individual towns orcounties to come to the agency withtheir own emergency services towerproposals. In addition, the APA hasbegun placing a condition on permitsthat allows it to remove towers that fallidle for six months.

Park Agency Struggles With Towers

Some cell tower proposals claim the builders can disguise towers nearing 200 feet inheight among trees half that size. This Marquil cartoon from the Sunday Post-Star, ofGlens Falls, ran April 29. Reprinted with permission.


The NYS Legislature passed a bill in June that would limit the use ofoutdoor lighting in certain areas of the state and would require state agen-cies to replace their outdoor fixtures with energy-efficient equipment as oldfixtures wear out.

The bill will help prevent acid rain and air pollution by reducing electricityuse, while providing relief to wildlife and insects for whom outdoor lightingis dangerous. It would also allow the state to designate dark zones toprovide better viewing of the night sky.

The bill would allow the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation toestablish certain “dark areas” of the state that are especially suitable forstargazing and for the habitat of animals and plants that thrive in naturaldarkness. If the governor signs the bill, DEC will prepare a plan regardingthe designation and preservation of these areas and submit the plan tothe Legislature and the governor.

In the Adirondacks, the Council has worked with the Adirondack NatureConservancy to protect the Clintonville Pine Barren, in Clinton County, wherea rare species of moth was almost wiped out by residential developmentand outdoor lighting.

The pine barren is home to Lithophane lepida lepida, a moth that hasbeen driven out of nearly every other suitable habitat in the state. When theCouncil informed the media of this in 1992, Council members from Buf-falo stepped forward with a donation to the Conservancy that allowed it tobuy the core of the pine barren and to start a program to preserve as muchof the rest as possible. When exposed to artificial lights at night, the mothis drawn to the light, stops feeding and dies.

In other business, the Legislature passed bills designed to allow smalltowns more financial autonomy and to allow the land swap in KeeneValley approved by voters in 1995 to move ahead.

Financial AutonomyBoth houses passed a bill in June that would allow more Adirondack

towns to borrow money without the NYS Comptroller’s approval. Currentlaw imposes unnecessary administrative and financial burdens on smalltowns.

The comptroller’s review of town finances is triggered once the propor-tion of state lands located within the town reaches 10 percent of the town’staxable value.

The bill would increase that proportion to 30 percent. That would allowtowns such as Altamont, in Franklin County, to raise and spend capitalproject money without state permission. Altamont recently urged the statenot to purchase a parcel of land offered by Tupper Lake business OvalWood Dish, citing the comptroller’s review as a reason for objecting to thepurchase.

Financial transactions covered by this bill include activities involvingcapital reserve funds, repair reserve funds, snow and ice removal androad repair reserve funds, capital reserve funds for fire districts, reservefunds for the payment of bonds, reserve funds for school districts, activi-ties involving the issuance of bonds, and the letting of contracts.

Keene Land SwapAlso in June, both houses of the Legislature approved technical correc-

tions that will allow the exchange of lands between the state and the Townof Keene. The exchange was approved by the voters in November 1995.These corrections reconciled the language of the law with that of the deeds.The changes were recommended by DEC and the Attorney General’soffice as necessary to complete the land exchange.

The swap will allow the town to give the state more than 140 acres alongthe Ausable River in exchange for 12 acres of state land adjacent to thetown cemetery.

Legislature Deals With Light Pollution,Land Swap, Town Finances

The NYS Dept. of Transportation iscollecting comments on its plans to re-place the Batchellerville Bridge over theGreat Sacandaga Lake, in the Town ofEdinburg, Saratoga County. The Coun-cil is carefully monitoring the bridge re-placement process and will work withlocal residents to help create an envi-ronmentally sound facility that meets theneeds of the lake community.

The current bridge was built in 1930,just after the lake was created by dam-ming the Sacandaga River above itsconfluence with the Hudson. In 1931,the Adirondack Park was expanded by1.6 million acres, which included the newreservoir. The name was changed fromSacandaga Reservoir to GreatSacandaga Lake in the 1970s. The lakewas created to provide flood control forthe Hudson Valley between Waterfordand the tidal estuary south of Albany.It also generates hydro power from theStewart and Conklingville dams.

At 3,078 feet, the Batchellervillebridge is by far the longest span in theAdirondack Park. The bridge connectsthe town of Edinburg’s northern andsouthern portions, which were splitwhen the river valley was inundated. Itprovides access to Northville, EdinburgTown Hall and Edinburg’s commercialdistrict from the southern shore of thelake. Due to its deteriorating condition,the bridge’s weight limit was long agoreduced to five tons or less, so traffic islight and quiet. That may change.

New Bridge PlannedOver Great Sacandaga

John F. Sheehan


Both houses of Congress will be contemplatinglegislation this fall concerning national energypolicies and air pollution. This is Congress’s

best chance in a decade to finally make pollution cuts deepenough to stop the destruction wrought by acid rain.

Despite more than 109 years of careful stewardship byNew Yorkers, the Adirondack Park is being destroyed fromafar. Acid rain falling on the Park is routinely 400 timesmore acidic than untainted rainfall. More than 500 lakesand ponds are already too acidic to support their nativelife. Our mountaintop forests are being destroyed at analarming rate.

Every recent federal acid rain study has reached the sameconclusion. Time is rapidly running out. Within the lifetime of almost everyone reading this page, acid rain willhave killed half, or more, of the Adirondack Park’s 2,800lakes and ponds. By then, so much of the Park’s naturalbuffering capacity will be gone. For several weeks eachspring, melting winter snows packed with acidity will causeevery river in the Park to be too acidic for its native life.

New York can’t stop the problem on its own. Mostof the smokestack pollution that causes acid rain in

the Adirondacks comes from outside New York State. Weneed Congress’s help and a national solution.

The good news is that the solution (an additional 50 per-cent cut in sulfur-dioxide emissions from power plants anda 70 percent cut in nitrogen oxides from those same plants)is affordable and perfectly feasible using current technol-ogy. It won’t cause blackouts or price hikes. In short,there is no reason to wait.

* * * * *

Tell your U.S. Congressional reps and U.S. Sena-tors not to let another summer go by without a

solution to the acid rain crisis!The address, phone number and email address of

each of the key officials is listed at right.

• Action Alert • Action Alert • Action Alert • Action Alert • Action Alert •

Tell Congress Acid Rain Must Stop Now!

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NYHart Senate Office Building, Ste. 313Washington, D.C. [email protected]

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NYRussell Senate Office Building, Ste. 476Washington, D.C. [email protected]

Sen. James Jeffords, I-VT.Chair of Environment & Public WorksDirksen Senate Office Building, Ste. 410Washington, D.C. [email protected]

Sen. Thomas Daschle, D-SDMajority LeaderHart Senate Office Building, Ste. 509Washington, D.C. [email protected]

U.S. Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, R-LAChair Energy & Commerce CommitteeRayburn House Office Building, Ste. 2183Washington, D.C. 20515202-225-4031

U.S. Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, R-ILSpeaker of the HouseRayburn House Office Building, Ste. 2369Washington, D.C. [email protected]

U.S. Rep. Vito Fossella, R-NYCHouse Energy CommitteeLongworth House Ofc. Building, Ste. 1239Washington, D.C. [email protected]

U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-UticaHouse Science Committee ChairRayburn House Office Building, Ste. 2246Washington, DC [email protected]

U.S. Rep. John McHugh, R-Watertown(Represents western Adirondacks)Rayburn House Office Building, Ste. 2441Washington, DC [email protected]

U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, R-Glens Falls(Represents eastern Adirondacks)Canon House Office Building, Ste. 416Washington, DC [email protected]


Continued from third page...Mercury

Other Adirondack lakes known to have fish contami-nated with mercury include:

Beaver Lake, Lewis County, pickerel (all).Carry Falls Reservoir, St. Lawrence Co, walleye (all).Cranberry Lake, St. Lawrence Co., smallmouth bass (all).Ferris Lake, Hamilton Co., yellow perch (over 12”).Fourth Lake, Herkimer & Hamilton Cos., lake trout (all).Francis Lake, Lewis Co., yellow perch (all).Halfmoon Lake, Lewis Co., yellow perch (all).Indian Lake, Lewis Co., all species, all sizes.Lake Champlain, entire lake, lake trout (over 25”) and

walleye (over 19”).Meacham Lake, Franklin Co., yellow perch (over 12”).Moshier Reservoir, Herkimer Co., yellow perch (all).Round Pond, Town of Long Lake, Hamilton Co., yellow

perch (over 12”).Schroon Lake, Warren & Essex Cos., lake trout (over

27”), yellow perch (over 13”) and smallmouth bass (all).Stillwater Reservoir, Herkimer Co., yellow perch (over

9”), smallmouth bass (all) and splake (all).Sunday Lake, Herkimer Co., yellow perch (all).

is tainting fish populations in New York. The same coal-fired power plant smokestacks that cause acid rain dropmercury on the Park’s lands and waters as well. At the sametime, acidic waters break down the chemical bonds that keeporganic mercury safely encapsulated in other compounds,allowing the mercury to break free and become suspendedin the water.

Only those Adirondack waters tainted by acid rain havebeen found to have fish contaminated with mercury.

While the levels of mercury in the water are not highenough to pose a risk to people through skin absorption,mercury slowly builds up in the flesh of the fish who live inthe waters over a period of years. Fish that eat other fishaccumulate mercury even faster. Yellow perch and rockbass are voracious carnivores.

In 2000, the Adirondack Council persuaded the Legisla-ture to increase the Health Department’s budget sufficientlyto double the pace at which lakes are tested for mercury.The Council will continue to fight acid rain.

Adirondack Council Executive Direc-tor Timothy J. Burke has stepped downafter more than 10 years at the helm ofthe Adirondack Park’s largest and mostinfluential environmental organization.

“We are truly saddened by Tim’s de-parture,” said DavidSkovron, Chairmanof the AdirondackCouncil’s Board ofDirectors. “But heleaves behind him anorganization thathas grown in influ-ence and thrived financially under hisguidance. He has built and sustainedthe finest professional staff in the envi-ronmental community and embarked ona capital campaign to ensure that theorganization’s future is secure.”

“Tim has built a reputation as a hard-nosed environmental advocate who wasalways willing to seek and encourageopportunities for sustainable economicdevelopment in the Park’s villages and

The Council mourns the loss in Juneof former Council Chairman and long-time board member Harold A. Jerry, Jr.

A former NYS Senator, Mr. Jerryserved for three decades as a member

Milestones Along the TrailBurke Steps DownAfter Decade as ED

hamlets,” said Adirondack Council staffattorney Bernard C. Melewski. “Hislegacy in the Adirondacks will consistof his indispensable role, not just in theprotection of hundreds of thousands ofacres of Adirondack forests, lakes andrivers, but also in the creation of com-munity development funds and new jobsthroughout the Park.”

“It has been a great ten years for me,”said Burke. “The Adirondack Councilis a wonderful organization.”

Burke, 53, joined the Council as ex-ecutive director in May of 1991, afterserving two terms as a Vermont statelegislator and serving as Vermont’sCommissioner of Environmental Con-servation. Staff attorney Bernard C.Melewski will serve as acting director.

Harold JerryRemembered

of the NYS Public Service Commission.In 1968, Gov. NelsonRockefeller ap-pointed him to leadthe effort that cre-ated the AdirondackPark Agency -- thenation’s first re-gional planning andland-use regulatory agency.

Mr. Jerry served as a passionate ad-vocate for the Adirondack Park’s healthand natural character. He also servedon the boards of the Adirondack Na-ture Conservancy/Land Trust and theAssociation for the Protection of theAdirondacks.

Katherine O. Roberts of Garrison wasreappointed to a four-year term on theAdirondack Park Agency board of com-missioners and confirmed by the NYSSenate in June.

The Council expressed gratitude toGov. George Pataki for reappointingRoberts, whose service to the agencyhas been splendid.

Roberts Reappointed


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