The Adirondack Park could become more accessible for people with disabilities, but a proposal has some worried about wilderness
By Gwendolyn Craig
The Adirondack Park’s wildest places could become more accessible for people with disabilities.
But based on proposed regulatory changes governing use of public lands in the park, interpretations of accessibility may clash with wilderness.
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Persons in the disabled community, environmental groups and retired state staff feel a proposal as written could lead to all-terrain vehicles driving through forest untouched by a motor vehicle in more than 50 years.
State regulations do not allow motorized access in areas classified as wilderness, primitive and canoe in the park, which represents more than 1.2 million of the approximately 2.6 million acres of forest preserve.
A proposal by the Adirondack Park Agency to its policy document governing the forest preserve could change that.
Jason Thurston, outreach coordinator for John Dillon Park, an accessible campground between Tupper Lake and Long Lake, is thrilled that the state is looking to improve accessibility through the amendment process to the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.
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The state Department of Environmental Conservation has struggled to make recreational opportunities available for people with disabilities in the Adirondack Park, including most recently at Great Camp Santanoni in the town of Newcomb.
A settlement reached after a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) stipulated the Adirondack Great Camp would be made accessible, but the state has had limited success honoring that term.
The state classified the 5-mile road to the camp in such a way that motorized vehicles are not allowed, making access for those with mobility limitations a challenge. The state has tried horse and wagons and now electric mobility devices to address the issue.
“The solution they came up with for Santanoni does not include me,” said Thurston, who is a quadripelgic. “I just want equal (access). I don’t want more than. … I want some solution where I can access more of the wilderness, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
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The APA, which oversees public and private development in the park and dictates what the DEC can and cannot do in forest preserve lands, is spearheading the policy document updates.
Disability advocates and environmentalists worry, however, that the changes as proposed go too far and effectively break one of the core tenets of the document first drafted in 1972.
“We don’t think Gov. (Kathy) Hochul will want to go down and have her legacy being the first governor to weaken the wilderness guidelines and wilderness protection in New York state,” said David Gibson, managing partner of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve.
Thurston is also concerned with the environment and what the proposal as written could do. The forest preserve and the natural resource protections it’s afforded are some of the reasons he lives in the park, he said.
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The DEC, however, disagrees with groups’ concerns. In a statement provided after this story posted online, the department said “proposed amendments do not change DEC’s established process to carefully consider state environmental protections” through an accommodation program it has administered since 2011.
State officials, required to review the master plan every five years, last updated it in 2019.
The amendments are out for public comment until Dec. 2. The agency could make changes before sharing the final draft with the APA board. Should the APA board approve it, the changes would go to Hochul for her signature.
To learn more about the amendments and how to submit comments by Dec. 2, go to https://apa.ny.gov/Hearings/ApaCommentPopup.cfm?ProjectNumber=APSLMP2024.
More access than wheelchairs
The DEC said any wheelchair, including a power wheelchair, can be used on state land open to the public. The proposed updates to the master plan clarify the definition of a wheelchair.
Thurston needs a power wheelchair to get around. There are very few places in the park’s forest preserve that he can go, even in other land classifications where the state permits some motorized access.
One amendment to the master plan includes the addition of other power-driven mobility devices (OPDMDs).
The ADA’s definition of OPDMD’s is “any mobility device powered by batteries, fuel, or other engines…that is used by individuals with mobility disabilities for the purpose of locomotion, including golf cars, electronic personal mobility devices…such as the Segway PT, or any mobility device designed to operate in areas without defined pedestrian routes, but that is not a wheelchair.”
The APA separated OPDMDs from the definition of motor vehicles, which some say opens the DEC to allow things like golf carts, ATVs and Segways in these most protected park lands.
Disability rights are about providing equality, and using the full definition of OPDMDs in the case of the master plan sounds more than equal, Thurston said.
He wants the state to provide more access to the forest preserve than indoor wheelchairs, but he’d like the definition of OPDMDs narrowed in the master plan.
“Just because we want to be able to go places that everybody else can go, doesn’t mean we need four wheelers to do it,” Thurston said. “I just want equal.”
The APA did not consult the APA/DEC Accessibility Advisory Committee about the proposed changes, said Thurston, chairman of the committee. The committee of 15 met on Wednesday and is still working out a position on the amendments.
The committee is enthusiastic that the state is looking to expand access, but it seeks a balance of protecting the environment, Thurston said.
It is considering ideas including limits on what kinds of mobility devices the state might allow. For example, Thurston said, it may recommend prohibiting gas-powered vehicles or high-speed mobility devices.
The DEC currently has a program that allows for OPDMD use “on a case-by-case basis” through an application process. The application must comply with the state’s “laws, rules and regulations regarding public motor vehicle use on DEC’s outdoor lands,” which would include the master plan, the state constitution and federal regulations. The DEC said it considers type, size, weight, speed, design and other factors, too.
Thurston said most people with disabilities do not know the application system exists, and it’s a cumbersome process. The DEC has told him it issues only a handful of permits a year.
Walter Linck, who worked for two decades on natural resource planning for the APA until he retired in June 2021, pointed to other states like California and Minnesota that have implemented successful accessibility programs while maintaining wilderness. He is critical of the state’s plans to consider OPDMDs different from motor vehicles.
“All DEC wants to do is give them a combination lock or throw them keys to a lock, open up the gate to a road and say ‘go have fun,’” Linck said.
An end to wilderness?
Multiple environmental groups have testified at public hearings and in comment letters to the agency about the mobile device issue. Most are alarmed over the change and warn of potential negative consequences. The accessibility proposal, combined with other amendments removing DEC deadlines, had some groups accusing the agency of giving up its oversight of the DEC.
When the state acquires new forest preserve lands, it has three years to remove non-conforming structures using motorized equipment. The DEC has been in trouble with the APA as recently as last year for breaking that rule. One of the master plan amendments removes those deadlines.
“It appears that through these amendments, the agency is seeking to limit its own authority,” said Jackie Bowen, conservation director for the Adirondack Council, at a public hearing.
Claudia Braymer, deputy director of Protect the Adirondacks, said the OPDMD proposed language gives “DEC unfettered discretion to fundamentally alter the nature of wilderness, primitive and canoe areas.” If the agency does that, she said, it “would be a complete abrogation of APA duties to protect the natural resources of the Adirondack Park.”
In presentations, APA and DEC staff have referenced the ADA and the federal Department of Justice’s regulations, noting that they “are in place to ensure that state and local governments do not discriminate against persons with disabilities.”
Environmental groups do not believe the federal laws require such a change. They see it as the state’s choice to weaken its natural resource protections.
Cathy Pedler, director of advocacy at the Adirondack Mountain Club, testified that ADA regulations allow public entities to make exemptions from compliance if modifications “would fundamentally alter the nature of the service program or activity. OPDMD use as a motor vehicle use would fundamentally destroy the land classification program of wilderness.”
Linck called the changes a “level of absurdity” that was “either sloppy miscalculation or nefariousness.”
Compromises
Jerry Delaney, executive director of the Adirondack Local Government Review Board, is disappointed with such reactions. The message he thinks their testimony sends to disability advocates is “you should be happy with what you got,” he said.
During his Albany testimony, Delaney said the review board “is unified in being happy about access for the disabled.”
One environmental organization appears open to some change.
Peter Nelson, co-founder of Adirondack Wilderness Advocates, said the APA should remove OPDMDs, but the organization is receptive to allowing battery-powered wheelchairs.
“There’s got to be a way to compromise,” Thurston said.
Top photo: DEC/APA Accessibility Advisory Committee member Scott Remington rides quadracycle at Great Camp Santanoni. Explorer file photo
Editor’s note: This story was updated with information from the DEC sent to the Explorer on Nov. 11 from an inquiry sent on Oct. 31. This story was also updated to clarify Adirondack Wilderness Advocates’ position. This story was also corrected to clarify the state land allowances of wheelchairs.
Todd Eastman says
Is age a disability? Where does it end if Wilderness must be accessible to all with whatever means they prefer? Should the NYS version of the ADA include the construction of an ADA accessible path up the state’s highest peak?
This amending process seems to have far more to do with breaking the ideal of Wilderness than following the intent of the ADA…
Scott Trager says
Our Not-for-profit runs activities for guests with mobility impairment at our private facility in Ellenville NY and other venues. Everyone deserves to enjoy outdoor recreation which benefits physical and mental health. This past year we have held adaptive hikes at some NYS Parks which were very well received by participants and park staff. We are working on our 2025 schedule and are interested to offer events in the Adirondacks. Check out soarexperiences.org and contact us to learn more.
John Henry says
There is no reason as you take over former private lands that we somewhat accessible you don’t account for that. The ADA almost legally requires it. The former gooley club was sad lost of opportunity for this with well improved mobility access.
Jeannine says
OPDMD is not an arduous process. I have one. It is easy. Please don’t make a mountain out of a mo-hill.
SNAPPER PETTA says
Seems that a look into the programs offered by “Wilderness Inquiry” (WI) is in order. WI was started years ago in response to the request to open up the Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Area to motorized recreation. The reason given was people with disabilities couldn’t enjoy the wilderness without motorized options. Of course, WI showed that isn’t true. Even today, SUNY Cortland’s outdoor education practicum, held at Raquette Lake each summer, has a therapeutic component where students take 6 day canoe trips which put WI’s philosophy of travel for people of all abilities into practice. Over the years we’ve had students in wheelchairs, those who are legally blind, etc., take part in the course. It’s a lesson in inclusion that more people should be aware of.
Edward Robart says
I am a 77 year old with a 75 year old spouse who are both retired. I am also retired military. We both enjoy the outdoors. But we are both having difficulties with arthritis having problems with our knees and hips, being able to get down on our knees and back up. The problems have gotten serious enough to require handicap permits,etc. As I said before; we love the outdoors and being able to explore different places. We would love to see the APA and ADA authorities get their heads together on the issue about motorized vehicles in the Adirondack park. We ourselves don’t see any problem with motorized wheelchairs, scooters ,or manual wheelchairs. .Motorcycles, mopeds, golf carts, ATV’s,or Utvs should not be allowed. APA and ADA authorities could and should get their heads together . Thank you.
Michael Scholl says
As a disabled veteran who has two bad, knees and a spine that’s totally trashed. My wife and I camp in the Daks with our TT. We canoe when we can but many times wished we could walk the paths. Wishing we could use our ATV to do it. But I know people wouldn’t ride the paths like we do on our ATV. We go 5-10 mph, where I could see others racing, going off course and endangering others. Keep it the way it is! So as a disabled veteran I accept what I can and cannot do! Took a long time to accept this!! Semper Fi!
Al West says
Everyone should have access, not just the physically fit.
Todd Eastman says
The issue is not about ADA type access on non-Wilderness lands. Adjusting Wilderness in the Forest Preserve to accommodate motorized access is the issue.
jd says
What I envision is the fiasco that Rt 73 in Keene has become with the parking evidenced even a couple weeks ago during a weekday. Oh the entitled!! I say that as a former hiker that can’t any longer due to ancient knees. Yes, I’ve hiked some of those trails but even if I still could, wouldn’t. It’s way out of control and band aids haven’t helped. Now it’s been suggested that motorized devices are the answer to what percentage of the possible hikers and at what cost to the tax payers. Please don’t take this as a condemnation of the proposal. It isn’t. But please employ due process on what kind of box you are opening
CRAIG GILBORN says
I lived 28 winters in two Adirondack towns. At 90 I can’t ‘do’ wilderness and don’t expect DEC to accommodate my disability or a quadriplegic.
Jim says
I have no problem with a wheelchair or motorized scooter using old logging roads to get to a pond or lake. It’s not feasible to make a trail up some of these mountains.
No ATV’s !!
Brian Monahan says
It is important to keep in mind that “wilderness” means wilderness.Changing what wilderness means will result in it not being wilderness.How much wilderness is left? Any changes will set a precedent,and used to take more of it.Envision the next 50 years,with the ensuing population growth,what will Wilderness become? It will be gone.The reason to keep areas wild,can not be altered.There are many other areas to go to.Leave the Wilderness Areas to Wilderness
Paula Zawadzky says
I agree with you 100 percent. I retired and bought a house in the Adirondack Park. I have trails around my property that I enjoy walking. In the winter I can walk on the snowshoe trails which makes it easier . ATVs are not allowed but I see the tracks they leave and by spring it’s a mess. Let’s leave nature and wilderness alone.
Toofar Gone says
So it’s OK to have excessive signage, maintained trails, bridges, ladders, summit pests, welcome wagons, DEC ATVs, seasonal use of chainsaws, dogs on leashes (not always), helicopters, airplanes, lean-tos, and ranger cabins in the Wilderness, but shame on Hochul, DEC and the APA if they honor the Americans with Disabilities Act to permit reasonable access to public spaces! Spoiler Alert – there are public spaces in the Adirondack Wilderness. The Green Mafia is at it again, pretending that their private wilderness experience will be ruined. The Wilderness will not be ruined with its countless acres that no one has ever stepped foot upon. What we have here are public areas accessed by many people within certain limited areas classified as Wilderness, yet deny disabled members of our society the dignity that comes with equal access to these public areas under the tiring disguise of protecting the wilderness. It’s time for a change.
Cynthia Patenaude says
It won’t be wilderness anymore. Over half the park is accessible. Having some areas stay fully primitive/wilderness allows everyone to find a suitable place to recreate and protects our forests and the flora and fauna within. There are truly not as many true wilderness areas as you think. If access changes the nature of the wilderness area, you have gained nothing, but we have lost a lot. It does not rob your dignity to not be allowed motorized access to every wilderness space. Frankly, I assume a time will come when I can no longer access some spaces. I will have to adjust. I would not expect those spaces to adjust when doing so would inherently change their nature and cause us to lose a valuable resource.
Paul says
Many roads in the Adirondacks have been illegally closed by NYS over the years – like the Old Mountain Road case in Keene. If these were left open as they should have been and maintained there would be many more opportunities for folks with some level of impairment to get out in the wilds.
https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/outtakes/old-mountain-road
Aaron says
The “slippery slope” argument we see from detractors of even the most common-sense, inclusive, and necessary updates is getting stale. Arguing to deny access to wheelchairs and other medically-prescribed mobility devices because of batteries and motors, or “opening the door” to arbitrary rule making is nakedly absurd. This is blatant discrimination couched in the self-serving language of “preservation”, nothing more. When the plan was written, who wrote it and who didn’t they consider? Clearly accessibility wasn’t anywhere on the list. These weren’t oracles, they aren’t gods, they were/are people who either didn’t realize their approach was inherently discriminatory or they didn’t care. Either way, it’s long overdue for revision.
JT says
Most wilderness trails your hiking over rocks, boulders, through streams, tree roots, mud, getting around blowdowns, steep uphill and downhill sections. This is difficult enough traveling by foot. I don’t think you can get wheel chairs or motorized scooters to work on these trails. I think there are better opportunities in wild forests which in my opinion are just as nice as wilderness.