DEC initiates process to remove Debar Pond Lodge in northern Adirondacks

Public invited to comment on draft plan until Aug. 15 

By Zachary Matson

After years of back-and-forth on the future of a historic lodge in the northern Adirondacks,  New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing to remove it.  The decision to move forward on Debar Pond Lodge, according to the DEC, comes after efforts “to preserve the structure failed to garner a viable option.”

The agency’s plan outlines a larger environmental impact statement and revisions to an existing draft unit management plan detailing management actions for the 88,300-acre Debar Mountain Complex. The DEC is accepting public comments on the plan until Aug. 15.

The fight to save Debar Lodge

The draft scope indicates DEC will propose actions to remove the main lodge, built in 1939, and its seven outbuildings and restore the site to a natural condition. DEC also plans to improve trails, accessibility and historical interpretation at the site.

Preservationists for years have sought ways to maintain Debar Lodge as a legacy of Adirondack architectural history, including proposals to reclassify the lodge site or protect it through a constitutional amendment. Those efforts have not been successful to date. As the site is classified as wild forest, the structures are considered non-conforming under the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.  

“Over the years, DEC has considered multiple proposals that could have allowed for preservation of the Debar Pond Lodge Site, but these proposals would not comply with legal requirements,” according to the scoping document.

The scoping document acknowledges the loss of historic resources by removing the lodge, which in 2014 was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The state proposes mitigating those downsides by documenting the sites, salvaging parts of the structure of use elsewhere and developing historical signage at the site.

Moving ahead with a plan

Advancing a unit management plan for the Debar Mountain Complex, though, would enable state officials to improve recreational access and resources on the property. The planning documents notes that DEC “lacks the resources to properly maintain the structures and does not have an operational need for the buildings.” 

The scoping includes some alternative approaches to consider as part of the environmental impact review, including taking no action, stabilizing and mothballing the lodge and rehabbing or restoring the site to its historic state. But the draft scope indicates removal as the agency’s “preferred” option. 

“After considering many alternatives, absent a constitutional amendment the DEC must comply with existing law and there is no mechanism whereby Debar Lodge can remain,” according to the plan. 

Related reading on Debar Lodge:

• Lawmakers introduce plan to save Debar Pond Lodge
• Hidden pleasures of Debar Pond area
• Debar Pond Lodge’s future remains uncertain
• Public, preservationists voice support for Debar Lodge
• Debar Lodge proponents map out process for saving it
  
  Explorer file photo of Debar Pond Lodge at top by Mike Lynch