View from Albany

By Neil Woodworth and Margaret Carr

Speak Up Now for the Catskill Forest Preserve!

In mid-January, 2001, you will have the best opportunity in 20 years to speak up for the Catskills. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is drafting unit management plans (UMPs) for many beautiful areas of the both the Catskill and Adirondack Forest Preserves. These plans will determine how our Catskill Forest Preserve will be managed for decades to come. The DEC has scheduled six public meetings around the state to hear your opinions. The NY-NJ Trail Conference and the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) asked DEC for out-of-park hearings so that all New Yorkers would have the same opportunity to be heard as those fortunate enough to live near these marvelous lands.

These hearings are the perfect opportunity for Trail Conference members to have their say. Maps and information will be available at the meeting locations. Attendees will be able to talk to the DEC planners about their hopes and concerns for the areas listed and to make verbal or written statements. Written statements may be submitted after the meetings.

Perhaps you want some more hiking trails in the Shandaken Wild Forest. Maybe you've had difficulty enjoying cross-country skiing in the Catskills because certain trailheads haven't been plowed. Or perhaps you've seen an all terrain vehicle (ATV) in use on a favorite hiking trail in Sundown Wild Forest, even though such use is prohibited.

Now is the time to voice your thoughts and concerns about how the Forest Preserve could be managed. Any new trails or other user facilities must be included and approved in a UMP. This is your chance to speak up for:

The Niagara Falls of the Catskills

A major planning issue for the Catskills is how to address the heavy foot traffic and slope scrambling at Kaaterskill Falls. Management of this area is being addressed in the UMP for the Kaaterskill -North Mountain Wild Forest.

Kaaterskill Falls is one of the most striking natural features in the state. It has two great tiers: the upper falls drops 175 feet and the lower drops 85 feet. The falls see a great deal of day use because it's less than a half mile from Rt 23A. From spring to fall, a constant stream of tourists visit the area. Once to the base of the falls, many are inclined to scramble up the steep slopes to a high point or to the top. Due to their geology of unstable shale and limestone, the slopes suffer from a tremendous amount of erosion. Established trails have been difficult to maintain because of this instability.

Management options to address the slope include: building a cement staircase and platform to a high point for viewing; building a natural rock staircase to a high point; or building a simple platform and posting signs that prohibit hiking to the top. Clearly, none of these proposals is a lasting solution to the erosion problem at the falls, but with an educated public and enforcement, perhaps one of these ideas will curtail the use problems. How do you think the area at the falls should be managed? What kinds of overuse have you seen or experienced there?

Whither Our Wild Forests?

The DEC is being asked to widen many snowmobile trails throughout the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Some snowmobile clubs and local governments have asked for reconstruction of snowmobile trails so that the wider, faster models can use backcountry trails. These groups are also asking for grooming of trails by tracked grooming machines. This could result in 10-15 foot wide snowmobile trails, since Class A tracked groomers require such width to operate and handle corners. The Trail Conference and ADK believe that the operation of these groomers on trails in the Forest Preserve is not consistent with the "forever wild" clause of the state constitution. Current law and policies limit these trails to a maximum of 8 feet. We do not know yet whether or not similar requests will be made for snowmobile trails in Catskill Wild Forests in the future.

Hikers use snowmobile trails in the warm months. While the Trail Conference and ADK are not opposed to snowmobile use in the Forest Preserve, we hope you will urge the DEC to stick to the current regulations which require that snowmobile trails have the same character as footpaths with a maximum width of 8 feet.

Parking Lots, Stewardship and Illegal Use

There are many other management details that Trail Conference members may find important. While as issues may seem less than exciting, such details become critical in the day to day use and protection of the Preserve. For instance, the Prediger Road trailhead to the Indian Head Wilderness is in great need of an established parking lot: sometimes there are 15-20 cars parked along the road and on people's lawns to access this popular trailhead. If the DEC sees enough support, a parking lot will become reality for this area.

Also, voice your support for better stewardship of the Preserve. Funds for signs, informational kiosks, and proper trail conditions will go a long way in helping preserve these lands. Finally, let the DEC know of any instances in which overuse, vandalism, refuse dumping, or illegal use are occurring. This is the opportune time to raise these issues. DEC's management plans will hinge greatly on these current use patterns and problems.

Revision of the Catskill Park State Land Master Plan

DEC planners have also resumed work on revisions to the Catskill Park State Land Master Plan (CPSLMP). The CPSLMP is the management blueprint that determines how wilderness and wild forest areas are managed for human use. It is an very important document for protection of the "forever wild" character of the Forest Preserve. For example, it is the CPSLMP that prohibits the use of all terrain vehicles on trails in the Forest Preserve. Amendments to the CPSLMP will greatly influence how the Catskill Forest Preserve is managed for the next 20 years. The Trail Conference and ADK support amendments to the plan that would prohibit mountain bike use on steep, single-track trails such as the Devil's Path on Hunter Mountain. We believe that mountain bike use should only occur on trails that have been specifically marked to permit bike use. This policy revision would designate trails suitable for mountain bikes in the same manner as horse and snowmobile trails.

The Trail Conference and ADK support the creation of a new Wilderness Area encompassing the peaks in the Windham High Peak-Blackhead Range. We strongly support the provision in the current CPSLMP that applies Wilderness protections to all Catskill Wild Forest lands over 2,700 feet in elevation. This special protection is better known as the 2700-Foot Rule. About half of the Catskill High Peaks over 3500 feet are in Wild Forest Areas. The Trail Conference and ADK believe these special habitats, now designated as Important Bird Conservation Areas under state law, should be afforded the same legal protection as Catskill Wilderness Areas. Many of the mountain slopes and trails in areas currently protected by the 2700-foot rule have erosion-prone soils which need the additional limitations on motor vehicle and mountain bike use afforded by the Wilderness guidelines of the CPSLMP.

Tell DEC: Keep the 2700-foot Rule!

Currently, the 2700-Foot Rule prohibits the use of snowmobiles and mountain bikes on trails such as the Spruceton Trail to the summit of Hunter Mountain. The special Wilderness status conferred by the 2700-Foot Rule also helped the Trail Conference and ADK convince the state Legislature to reject a scheme to convert the summit of Hunter Mountain into a massive ski center in 1996.

Some are now advocating for the repeal of this rule. We urge you to tell DEC planners at the UMP hearings to leave the 2700-Foot Rule in place.