The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking public input regarding a proposal in an amendment to the Blue Ridge Wilderness unit management plan to develop a multi-use community connector trail along State Route 28 in Hamilton County.
The proposed trail extends the Seventh Lake Mountain trail to Sargent Ponds multiple-use trail and will be maintained as a Class II community connector snowmobile trail.
Establishing a land-based community trail link between Indian Lake and Long Lake was included as community connection goal in the 2006 Snowmobile Plan for the Adirondack Park and the 2011 Moose River Plains Wild Forest Unit Management Plan. DEC is working to relocate designated snowmobile trails away from water bodies for safety reasons.
A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 28 at the Raquette Lake Union Free School District at 115 Route 28, Raquette Lake. The meeting facility is wheelchair accessible. People requesting specific accommodations should call 518-623-1275 at least one week in advance.
The proposed trail segment within the Blue Ridge Wilderness will start at the bridge over the South Inlet of Raquette Lake and follow a route parallel to the south side of state Route 28 eastward for approximately four miles to private property near Bear Brook.
The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan allows DEC, in conformance with a duly adopted unit management plan, to locate a snowmobile trail within 500 feet of the wilderness where the wilderness boundary abuts a public highway.
The draft amendment is available on the DEC website to view or download.
The deadline for public comments is December 7. Provide comment at the public meeting, mail to Forester Nick Addison, NYSDEC, P.O. Box 1316, Northville, NY 12134, or email to R5.ump@dec.ny.gov.
snowmobiles should only be allowed on PRIVATE LAND, never on public land !! they are an environmental hazard to wild animals and to human beings; leave the wilderness alone !!
We are retirees from Vermont with plans to move to NY, within the Blue Line of the Adirondacks, soon after the sale of our house. We have been visiting the Adirondacks, in all seasons, for a number of years and have an affinity for the wonderfully spectacular wilderness areas, vis-à-vis, more trees than people and, certainly, machines. As a subscriber to Adirondack Explorer I am in full agreement with it’s position on the groomed snowmobile connector route between Raquette and Long Lakes.
What part of the word “Wilderness” do some people not understand?