FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 09, 1998

Governor Announces Largest Land Conservation Deal Ever

Protects Champion Lands for Timber Production and Recreational Use

Governor George E. Pataki today announced the largest-ever land conservation agreement in New York State -- a cooperative public and private effort to preserve 144,300 acres of lands held by Champion International in the northwestern Adirondacks for timber production and public recreation.

"We have reached an historic agreement that will provide public access to 139,000 acres of the Champion lands while ensuring that this rich forest resource remains perpetually available for timber production," Governor Pataki said. "This is a balanced approach to the sustainable use of productive timber lands and the conservation of picturesque river corridors, significant wildlife habitat, ecologically important wetlands and rare forests.

"By opening up spectacular lands and waterways for public use while ensuring that forestry will continue on the Champion lands, we are fueling the twin engines of the Adirondack economy -- natural resource-based tourism and the forest products industry," Governor Pataki said. "This is an intelligent union of economic and environmental policy in the North Country."

The New York land is in three noncontiguous blocks known as the Santa Clara, Tooley Pond and Croghan tracts, covering portions of 10 towns in St. Lawrence, Franklin, Herkimer, and Lewis counties. These lands encompass an area larger than Rockland County. The State will pay $24.9 million for the land using Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act funds.

The agreement is part of a comprehensive transaction coordinated by The Conservation Fund involving 300,000 acres of Champion lands in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. It is the largest public-private land conservation deal ever in the nation.

New York State and The Conservation Fund worked on the agreement with a private timber management organization, The Forestland Group, LLC (TFG). The Conservation Fund has entered into a contract to purchase all of Champion's lands in New York and will simultaneously sell the land as follows:

TFG will purchase 110,000 acres of Champion's commercial timber land in the Adirondack Park, and 4,300 acres outside the Park. (TFG also will acquire timber rights to 1,000 acres in the Tooley Pond tract that will continue to be owned by a hunt club). TFG will manage its land for production of high-quality hardwood timber.

The State will purchase a "working forest" conservation easement on the 110,000 acres of TFG land in the Adirondack Park, making the land available for hiking, hunting, camping, nature observation, motorized access and other outdoor recreational activities.

The State will purchase 29,000 acres along the Deer, Grass, St. Regis and Oswetgatchie rivers for addition to the Adirondack Forest Preserve. The lands contain more than 70 miles of river corridors as well as ecologically sensitive wetlands and boreal forest. Acquisition of these magnificent northern flow river corridors is a priority of the State's Open Space Conservation Plan.

Conservationists consider these northern flow rivers, which have been off limits to the public for more than 100 years, to be among the best canoeing areas in the country. Opening these corridors to public use will greatly expand outdoor recreational opportunities and tourism. Boreal forests on the lands being purchased by the State are home to many species uncommon in New York, including moose, Canada lynx and carnivorous plants.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) will develop Unit Management Plans with public input to guide long-term public use of the land being purchased by the State. DEC will develop a land management plan with TFG to guide public recreational uses of the land on which the State is purchasing an easement.

The agreement was facilitated by The Conservation Fund, a national non-profit group that specializes in bringing together private and public interests to conserve working landscapes for environmental and economic benefits.

Conservation Fund President John F. Turner said, "Our goal is to retain the northern forests so that they remain open for their traditional uses of outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat and open space, and also to produce high-quality hardwood timber. Generations to come will benefit from the protection of these vast lands. We will show that working forests can be well managed in profitable ways that will sustain jobs for families and communities."

Richard E. Olson, chairman and chief executive officer of Champion International Corporation, said that he was pleased that the traditional uses of these lands will continue. "This agreement is good for our shareholders and good for this region," Olson said. "These lands have been a sustainable source of wood for paper, furniture, homes and dozens of other products for many years, and we are delighted that under this plan these activities will continue into the future. We are leaving our lands in good hands."

Charles H. Collins, vice president of The Forestland Group, said, "Sustainable forest management is central to the timberland investment strategies of The Forestland Group. Therefore, the Forestland Group is pleased to be a part of this important and historic transaction. We are looking forward to both working with the local forest products industry as well as maintaining existing ecological systems and providing recreational benefits to the citizens of the state of New York."

In addition to having full access to the 29,000 acres being purchased by the State, the public will have use of the 110,000 acres covered by the State's conservation easement. The public will be allowed to use the easement lands for camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and other outdoor activities.

The easement also will open up hundreds of miles of roads and trails for use by motor vehicles, including snowmobiles and all- terrain vehicles. An extensive series of roads and trails covering hundreds of miles on the property will be made available for motorized recreational access, where appropriate.

The easement specifies 159 miles of primary access roads and trails that will be permanently open to the public. Hundreds of miles of additional existing roads and trails also will be available for non-motorized and motorized uses, where marked and designated, subject to temporary closure by TFG for logging purposes. Hunting, fishing and trapping will be permitted in accordance with established New York State seasons on all of the lands. Private hunting and fishing clubs that have leased parts of the easement lands will be allowed to remain for 15 years.

TFG will retain exclusive right to the land during big-game season -- the second Saturday in October through the third Saturday in December -- through the year 2013 to allow use by the existing clubs. During this time, the easement property will be closed to the public, with the exception of primary roads or trails. After 15 years, the clubs' camps will be removed and the lands will be open to public year-round. Within the river corridors, existing hunting and fishing camps will be allowed to remain for five years before removal. Public use will be restricted within a one-acre area around each camp.

DEC Commissioner John P. Cahill said, "This agreement opens up 139,000 acres of spectacular land to public use and is a long-term economic development strategy for the Adirondacks. The land will remain in private ownership and will be carefully managed to create a hardwood forest that will support a vigorous forest products industry."

Adirondack Council Executive Director Timothy J. Burke said, "This agreement establishes Governor Pataki as the modern architect of the Adirondack Park. This deal will establish the northwestern Adirondacks as the finest recreational mecca east of the Mississippi River. At the same time, the timber harvesting requirements for the owners of the easement lands will ensure that 110,000 acres of forest will remain healthy and available as a sustainable source of raw materials for one of the region's most important industries. This whole deal is a wild success."

Howie Cushing, president of the New York State Conservation Council, which represents sportsmen and women, said, "This is great news for New York's conservationists. By keeping the bulk of these lands in active forest management, this deal will provide tremendous wildlife habitat for all species and great new hunting and fishing opportunities for the public."

David J. Miller, executive director of the National Audubon Society of New York State said, "This is a landmark deal and an historic step for conservation in the Adirondack Park. This deal is living proof that the environment and the economy are two sides of the same coin. It creates new recreational opportunities in the northern and western parts of the Park while retaining, perhaps even creating, forestry jobs, both for the benefit of the regional economy."

The State's easement requires TFG to develop a written Forest Management Plan to be approved by DEC to guide all timber harvesting and management activities. The plan will help protect threatened or endangered species, unique habitats, forested wetlands and stream-side buffers. The easement prohibits logging along the river corridors and adjacent to other environmentally sensitive water bodies.

To encourage sustainable forestry, the easement prohibits clear- cuts in excess of 25 acres and restricts harvest levels to 70 percent of the annual growth of the forest for at least 20 years, and to no more than annual growth thereafter. This ensures the forest will continue to grow and will support a long-term forest products industry.

Governor Pataki said, "I have strongly supported the 'working forest' concept as outlined in the State Open Space Plan as a tool to keep productive forest lands on the tax rolls and in private hands while making them available for a wide variety of public uses. This agreement is a model for sustainable forestry."

Thirteen subdivisions, ranging in size from 2,500 acres to 12,000 acres, are being proposed for the land to be owned by TFG to make the land affordable for smaller-scale, local timber operations in the future. The subdivisions must be approved by the APA.

TFG will pay its share of all local, school and county taxes with the State paying the balance of these taxes on the easement lands. The State also will pay full taxes on the 29,000 acres it purchases.

The participants in the transaction will submit an application seeking APA approval of an existing subdivision created by Champion Realty in the Croghan tract containing about 100 seasonal residences around the Soft Maple Reservoir of the Beaver River in the towns of Watson and Croghan in Lewis County.

The agreement is contingent on APA approval for the subdivision of the proposed State lands along the river corridors, the 13 subdivisions proposed for the lands TFG will own and the Soft Maple Reservoir Flow subdivision. The agreement between DEC and The Conservation Fund also must be approved by the State Comptroller and the Attorney General.

The Conservation Fund is buying 300,000 acres from Champion in the three states for $76 million. More than 70 percent of the land will remain in timber production, including nearly 80 percent of the land in New York State.

When the Champion agreement is completed, New York State will have invested $200 million to conserve about 250,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands through acquisitions and easements since Governor Pataki took office in 1995.