Adirondack Wilderness Advocates urge conservation easements for Whitney estate
By Pete Nelson, Adirondack Wilderness Advocates
In the wake of news that the 36,000-acre Whitney Park is under contract to be purchased by a developer, Adirondack Wilderness Advocates (AWA) calls upon New York state to step up to ensure the best possible protection of what is one of the most significant wild parcels in private ownership in the Eastern United States.
As stated in our by-laws, AWA does not enter into private land issues. We certainly respect the rights of private owners to decide to whom they wish to sell their land. But the state of New York’s role in land protection is well within our purview. We are deeply disappointed by news reports and statements by the landowners that the state did not even contact them during the time Whitney Park was on the market. For more than three decades this parcel has been identified as a top priority in the State’s Open Space Conservation Plan. Given that remote wild lands are an increasingly scarce resource, plus given the 30×30 Law that requires New York to protect 30 percent of its lands and waters within the next five years, the state should have been first in line. This is a tragic and unjustifiable lost opportunity.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
However, the sale of Whitney Park to a private owner does not in any way end the state’s interest in protecting these lands. AWA urges the state to engage with the new owners in two critical ways: the exercise of due regulatory diligence by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) to ensure any development preserves natural open space and ecological integrity; and negotiation of conservation easements to protect the wild forest character of the parcel and ensure reasonable public access for motorless recreation.
Park agency oversight
Development on Whitney Park lands falls under the jurisdiction of the APA’s Land Use and Development plan, which establishes strict parameters for development of land according to six classifications. Whitney Park falls under the most restrictive classification, Resource Management, which prioritizes preservation of natural, open space character. In addition to regulating this land under resource management requirements, the APA can require a comprehensive development plan, which is appropriate for a tract of this magnitude. The APA’s recent track record on land protection has not been very good, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul has recommended the appointment of two new APA board members, each of whom has strong environmental credentials. AWA will support the Governor’s slate and hopes the new members will be confirmed and seated promptly, better positioning the APA to ensure Whitney Park is protected as the precious wild resource it is.
Conservation easements
For decades conservation easements have been a critical, effective strategy for protecting private tracts in concert with public Wilderness Areas. For example, to most visitors, the lands in the Adirondack Mountain Reserve or Elk Lake-Clear Pond Preserve, both protected under state conservation easements, are indistinguishable from adjacent “Forever Wild” public wilderness. All told, New York state protects nearly 800,000 acres of private land in the Adirondacks with conservation easements. Executed with thoughtful consideration of private and public needs, conservation easements can be a win both for the public and for private owners, who can reap a variety of financial benefits.
The decision to enter into a conservation easement is up to the landowner, but AWA urges the state to do everything in its power to facilitate possible easements on Whitney Park lands. According to news reports, the prospective owner is open to discussing conservation easements. The state should get back in line, perhaps with land trusts or other potential partners, to help make easements a win-win solution.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
In addition to protecting wild lands, easements can grant public access for appropriate recreation, such as hiking and paddling. This is a critical principle for AWA, which defends the public’s vital interest in wild places. “High end resorts and golf courses are not why people are coming to the Adirondack Park,” said AWA Vice-Chair Kayla White. “This is just continuing the legacy in the park of our outdoor spaces being commodified and restricted to the ultra-wealthy.” Added Board member Timothy Mount, “The developer was quoted as saying ‘There’s a lot of capable people that appreciate the outdoors and don’t have access to it,’ but these luxury plans are elite. A conservation easement that allows public access would spread the benefits to people who could never afford a high-end resort.”
New York State missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add a remarkable tract of forests, lakes, ponds and rivers to the Forever Wild public Adirondack Forest Preserve. AWA calls upon the state to not miss a second chance to protect these lands in perpetuity.
Pete Nelson is board chair of Adirondack Wilderness Advocates: [email protected]
Photo at top: Aerial of Whitney Park, here with the Whitney camp on Little Forked Lake. photo by Nancie Battaglia
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
The whole idea of the Whitney group was to limit public access to this tract, right? They blamed the State for not managing the acquired Little Tupper Lake because of a thoughtless local who put bass into that heritage trout fishery. You open land up to people and they will surely disappoint. Not all people but the few abusers. Many people are not careless in their actions but some are, and that is why every law and every gated place in the world is exists. To say now that there should be conservation easements , brokered by the State, so that folks can visit the parcel is the antithesis of the Whitney’s objective in selling the tract to a private enterprise. The travesty here is the bulldozers. Ripping up tender, irreplaceable wilderness. No one should be in a development mode of large tracts of untouched environmentally delicate areas. We ought to though, be busy with taking the areas already previously ruined and creating paradises from them. True lack of creativity on the developers part.
The travesty of bulldozers! Get over yourself. If this group buys the land they have every right to develop it within the laws. Giving easements to the state would defeat the purpose of the development, which is catering to people that can afford to visit and enjoys the Adk mountains. It would be like someone paying big money to go to a concert or sporting event and the organizers letting people in for free to stand in the aisles.
A conservation easement across the majority of this land would be a great benefit in protecting the ‘forever wild’ nature of huge piece of the Adirondack Park, but I continue to question why the concepts of conservation and public access are always forced to be tied together. In reality they are two opposing goals that don’t reinforce each other, but rather need to find a balance to make both work effectively. Providing areas for public recreation across the park is extremely important, but conserving the natural resource is even more so and should not be sacrificed purely for recreations sake. A conservation easement WITHOUT public access would provide one of the most pristine wildlife habitats, which is becoming increasingly important as public trails become more and more popular and degrades the true wild nature around them. If the State were to become more open to securing conservation easements without the encumbrances of access easements it may convince more and more private land owners to offer up their lands and make the 30×30 goal actually achievable. I’m not saying public access easements should not be strived for at appropriate times, but we should not forget that true conservation is best with dedicated areas that are left alone.
As for the ultra-rich resort, we can debate the merits of that smaller piece of the puzzle separately while trying to focus on saving the vast majority of the land through conservation easements. Hopefully we can trust in the APA and others to keep the developed portions reasonable
Good points. In the ADKs we fortunate to have myriad acres for recreation. Preservation is much more important to access.
They’re not making any more land and Wilderness areas , Once developed ,especially for the ultra rich , just how much access will the common folk be able to have , even if there are easements ? and more important ,How much will our Grand kids and their children have in the future years ? Let his developer develope his luxury resort outside of the Park and leave ,what Wild Lands we have left , Wild for our future generations , It’s what makes our Adirondacks unique and open to all people ,no matter their riches or not …
NYS can’t take care of what the state has, not enough rangers. The new owner will be a better steward than NYS.
George, just curious how the new owner would be a better steward of the land for all New Yorkers than NYS. Luxury private golf courses laden with pesticides and herbicides, $5 million mansions?