Citing unanswered questions, state’s highest court sends trespassing suit against Adirondack Explorer back to lower court for a trial. By KENNETH AARON The six-year-old navigation-rights dispute between Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown and a group of property owners has been sent back to State Supreme Court Justice Richard T. Aulisi for a full trial, which is unlikely to take place before next year. A decision in May by the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest tribunal, reopens the question of whether the public has the right to paddle a two-mile-long waterway connecting two pieces of the state-owned William C. >>More
Journey to Boreas Ponds
In early June 2016, Editor Phil Brown enjoyed one of his most memorable canoe trips in the Adirondacks: He spent the morning paddling around lovely Boreas Ponds, taking in breathtaking views of the High Peaks.
Court hears paddling case
The state’s top tribunal is expected to issue ruling soon in lawsuit filed against Explorer editor after he canoed through private property. By KENNETH AARON A lawsuit sparked by a canoeist’s paddling through private land in 2009 may finally be nearing an end, as New York’s highest court heard arguments in March on whether the waterway in question should be open to the public. The Friends of Thayer Lake and the Brandreth Park Association sued Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown following a trip that began at Little Tupper Lake and ended at Lake Lila. In between, Brown paddled a two-mile >>More
Paddling case re-argued
Judges hear appeal of ruling that upheld right of canoeists and kayakers to travel through private land on Shingle Shanty Brook. By Kenneth Aaron Lawyers for the landowners who sued Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown for canoeing across their property returned to court in early October, arguing that the waterway in question should be closed to the public. A five-judge panel of the state Appellate Division’s Third Department heard the appeal in Albany and is expected to issue a decision this year or early next year. Last year, State Supreme Court Justice Richard T. Aulisi ruled that the remote two-mile waterway—comprising Mud Pond, Mud Pond Outlet, and part of Shingle Shanty Brook—was >>More
Essex Chain plan on hold
DEC is criticized for avoiding snowmobile-trail issues in draft document. By Phil Brown The state Department of Environmental Conservation has withdrawn a draft management plan for new state lands known as the Essex Chain Lakes Complex in the face of criticism that it failed to discuss the route of a controversial snowmobile trail. The decision to address the snowmobile issue in a new draft plan won praise from both environmental activists and snowmobile enthusiasts. “It’s important that all the issues of the Essex Chain are dealt with at one time, so the public has an opportunity to debate them all,” said Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club. Last December, >>More
Paddling case advances
John Caffry and state file court papers in defense of the public’s right to paddle through private property. By Kenneth Aaron A state appeals court is expected to hear arguments this fall in a trespassing lawsuit filed against Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown after he paddled through private land on a remote waterway that connects two tracts of state land in the William C. Whitney Wilderness. The landowners—the Brandreth Park Association and Friends of Thayer Lake—sued Brown in the fall of 2010, more than a year after he wrote about the paddling trip for the Adirondack Explorer. Last year, State >>More
Paddling ruling appealed
Brandreth Park Association says judge erred in dismissing trespass suit against ‘Explorer’ editor. By Kenneth Aaron THE BRANDRETH PARK Association has appealed a court ruling in a paddling-rights dispute, contending that it could strip landowners of their rights by potentially opening even the smallest of waterways to the public. Dennis Phillips, who represents the association and the Friends of Thayer Lake, said State Supreme Court Justice Richard Aulisi ignored historical precedent by failing to gauge the commercial suitability of a privately owned waterway that Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown paddled in 2009. In his decision a year ago, Aulisi >>More
‘Day one of forever’
The opening of the Essex Chain Lakes attracts a flock of paddlers on a colorful autumn day. By Phil Brown AFTER CARRYING our canoes a quarter-mile, paddling briefly across Deer Pond, and then carrying another half-mile, Sue Bibeau and I were eager to begin our exploration of the Essex Chain Lakes, a string of pristine ponds surrounded by wild peaks. As soon as we put in, though, we encountered another canoeist, and we had to stop for a chat. It was Mike Carr, executive director of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy. Without him, we wouldn’t be here. Thanks to Carr and >>More
The Hudson’s mellow side
State acquisition of Essex Chain Lakes Tract from the Nature Conservancy opens up Blackwell Stillwater to flatwater paddlers. By Phil Brown IN THE LAST ISSUE of the Explorer, I wrote about paddling a stretch of the upper Hudson River newly open to the public. As you may recall, we started in Newcomb and traveled about six miles downriver, taking out near an iron bridge just below the confluence with the Goodnow River. I thoroughly enjoyed that trip, but I was surprised by the number of rapids, so I returned to the Hudson in July to see if the river had >>More