ࡱ> %` hbjbjNN 4 ,,hSSSS4S|ӎ2FTXUXUXUWXXXRTTTTTT$hmx|XX||xXUW|XUWR|RV@XU:T V&S;Љ ΍0ӎ܉ %zTX _e in<uXXXxxXXXӎ||||(F/D$F/ Times Union coverage From:  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=900432" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=900432 Accessed 2/17/10 N.Y. should put its focus on the land it already owns By DAVID PATERSON First published: Saturday, February 13, 2010 New York state is in the midst of the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression and we face an $8.2 billion budget deficit. As I have said repeatedly, we cannot keep spending money that we do not have. Significant spending reductions are necessary if we want to emerge from this crisis and build a strong fiscal and economic recovery. One small way to help us get there is a proposed cut in funding for the Environmental Protection Fund. We are reducing fund spending from $180 million this year to $143 million for fiscal year 2010-2011. Your Jan. 27 editorial, "A new kind of wilderness," takes only a selective look at Environmental Protection Fund categories, which severely limits your understanding of the approach. The Department of Environmental Conservation and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation have significant needs for capital improvements on the lands and parks the state already owns. By placing a temporary moratorium on new open space and parks acquisitions, we are able to instead spend $35 million within the EPF for maintenance of existing state lands. Thus, the moratorium allows us to take a "time out" on new purchases so that we can take care of the parcels we now own. When the crisis has passed, we will engage again in the purchase of open space. Your editorial also made a specific -- and in my view inaccurate -- reference to the Nature Conservancy's holdings purchased from the Finch Pruyn paper company. This preservation is not "retroactively threatened," which was explained to your newspaper by my administration prior to your editorial. I agree that preservation of the Finch Pruyn lands is an extraordinary opportunity and have directed Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis to purchase the conservation easements on this land with the current EPF funding. By doing so, we preserve nearly 90,000 acres of this resource, provide new recreational opportunities for all New Yorkers and protect more than 800 timber industry jobs. When the state's financial picture improves, we will purchase the remaining 65,000 acres of this parcel. It is unfortunate that we do not have the resources to fully fund the EPF, just as it is also unfortunate that we have to cut health care and education funding. But it is time that we faced up to the failed policies of the past that have gotten us here. With resources so scarce. we must be wise stewards of what we have. This year, we are deciding to protect and preserve the lands the people of New York currently own before buying any new lands. David Paterson is governor of New York. From:  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=893684&category=OPINION" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=893684&category=OPINION Accessed 2/17/10 A new kind of wilderness First published: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 A moratorium, some are calling it. It's an innocuous enough word, making Governor Paterson's determination to suspend the state's practice of buying land in the Adirondacks and Catskills to conserve it sound more responsible than it is. It's not hard to understand why the governor wants to cut the $59 million land acquisition portion of the state's Environmental Protection Fund. The state, after all, has a $7.3 billion budget deficit. Even a cut of, yes, the entire $59 million for land acquisition must have a certain appeal when the state confronts such a fiscal crisis. But Mr. Paterson's commitment to austerity doesn't stop there, and that's where the real trouble begins. Prior land acquisitions, of a magnitude that has further enhanced the environmental treasure of the Adirondacks, are at risk as well. The abrupt elimination of money for land conservation purchases could create some very innocent victims of New York's hard times. It's not just state government that's involved in these often very complicated deals. Yes, it's the state's money -- the taxpayers' -- with which these large parcels ultimately are purchased and added to New York's Forest Preserve. But it's conservation groups -- The Arlington, Va.-based Nature Conservancy, for example, and its Adirondack chapter, along with the New York City-based Open Space Conservancy and the Lake George Land Conservancy -- that initiate these deals. They act, in effect, as the middlemen. They buy land with their own money and -- until now, at least -- the understanding that they'll resell it to the state. Draining the land acquisition fund will leave these organizations in the lurch. The Adirondack chapter of the Nature Conservancy, for instance, still owes about $80 million on its $110 million purchase of some 161,000 acres from the Finch, Pruyn paper company in 2007. That was an extraordinary purchase -- of some 80 mountains, 70 lakes and ponds, and a quarter of the whitewater gorge portion of the Hudson River shoreline -- reflective of the determination of both conservation groups and state government to preserve the Adirondacks forever. It's unsettling to think such preservation can be retroactively threatened. Some 600,000 acres in the Adirondacks alone have been protected this way since the Environmental Protection Fund was established in 1992 -- funded by a real estate transfer tax that continues to be a reliable source of revenue for New York, even in a severe recession. No matter what the state calls it, this is a default. As surely as not paying back bond holders would hurt the state's credit rating, reneging on these deals will strike a blow to New York's credibility. And its ability to make such deals in the future. What other purchases are now in limbo? Which ones might never be made at all? This is about more than a moratorium. Instead, a fiscal crisis is on the cusp of giving way to an environmental crisis. THE ISSUE: The governor wants to stop land conservation purchases. THE STAKES: A moratorium is one thing. Undermining prior deals is quite another. To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com___________________________________________ From:  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=891306" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=891306 Accessed 2/17/10 State puts land deals in limbo Conservancy groups left holding the debt if moratorium plan passes By  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/TUNews/author/AuthorPage.aspx?AuthorNum=163" BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer First published: Thursday, January 21, 2010 LAKE GEORGE -- At the Lake George Land Conservancy, Nancy Williams is worried. She has only enough money in the bank to make one more $40,000 quarterly payment toward a loan that was used to buy the 1,400-acre Berry Pond forest. Two years ago, the conservancy bought the land for $2.65 million, with the understanding that the state would buy it to add to Forest Preserve around the lake. But the state Department of Environmental Conservation has not closed the deal, which got a lot less certain this week when Gov. David Paterson announced in his 2010-2011 budget that the cash-strapped state was imposing an indefinite moratorium on land purchases. That sudden development has not-for-profit land protection groups, which for years have acted as middlemen in state property purchases in the Adirondacks, Catskills and elsewhere, wondering if they'll be left holding the bag for cash already spent. "We are a very small group that relies entirely on donations," said Williams on Wednesday. "I have enough cash for one more payment on Berry Pond. After that, I don't know." Jessica Bass, a spokeswoman for the state Budget Division, said the office was "currently determining" the moratorium's impact. A DEC spokeswoman declined comment. Further north in the Adirondacks, the regional chapter of The Nature Conservancy has a much bigger problem. In 2007, it spent $110 million to buy 161,000 acres from the paper producer Finch, Pruyn & Co. The property includes 80 mountains, 70 lakes and ponds, a quarter of the Hudson River shoreline along the whitewater gorge, and great swaths of the state's wildest and uppermost river reaches -- including the Hudson, Cedar, Opalescent, Indian, Boreas and Branch. At the time, plans called for the conservancy to sell about 65,000 acres to the state. Now, the conservancy still owes about $80 million on the deal, said Adirondack chapter director Michael Carr. The international Nature Conservancy loaned the Adirondack chapter about $63 million to pay off private financing. The remaining $16.7 million is owed to the New York City-based Open Space Conservancy. "People are not going to walk away from this. We will have to be creative to refinance to make it easier to carry," said Carr. Income from timber harvests, which feed the Finch plant in Glens Falls, as well as rent from sportsmens' clubs, are helping the conservancy to cover $1 million annual property tax bills, he added. The Open Space Conservancy also holds nearly 3,800 acres, purchased over the last five years for about $11.6 million, said Executive Director Joseph Martens. From:  HYPERLINK "http://bulletin.aarp.org/states/ny/2009/39/articles/keeping_forests_profits_healthy.html" http://bulletin.aarp.org/states/ny/2009/39/articles/keeping_forests_profits_healthy.html Accessed Sept 28 2009 Keeping forests, profits healthy Source: Times Union | September 27, 2009 Tom Keyser Sep. 27, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The old model didn't work anymore. The economics of owning forestland and making paper had changed, and so the Finch Paper mill, which has manufactured paper in Glens Falls for more than 100 years, had to change, too. In 2007, a group of equity investors bought the company, known since its founding in 1865 as Finch, Pruyn and Co. (OOTC:FPCNB) , and changed the name to Finch Paper LLC. It sold 160,000 acres in the Adirondacks to the Adirondack chapter of the Nature Conservancy. The sales agreement called for the conservancy to sell wood to the mill for 20 years and for Finch foresters to continue managing the lands. That led to the launch three months ago of Finch Forest Management, a consulting service that, company officials say, will benefit Finch, forests and forest owners. The company is offering its sustainable forestry expertise, by way of its seven professional foresters, to public and private landowners for a fee. Finch foresters will help the owners keep their forests healthy, growing and generating the money to make forest ownership affordable in the face of rapidly escalating property taxes. "The long-term health of our paper mill is directly tied to the long-term health and availability of a healthy, growing forest resource," says Joseph F. Raccuia, president and CEO of Finch paper. "We are committed to helping keep those forests healthy and growing for generations to come." What's more, the consulting service may provide Finch with a chance to hire more foresters. Finch eliminated about 100 jobs earlier this year because the demand for paper is down and, more importantly, the company faced a long-term need to become leaner and more competitive, says Roger A. Dziengeleski, a company vice president and head forester. "It's crawl, walk, run. And we're in the crawl phase now," he says of the consulting service. "We have a lot of room for growth." Finch foresters manage 184,000 acres, including the 160,000 acres formerly owned by the company, Dziengeleski says. The company is trying to recruit other landowners with at least 100 acres. The combination of escalating land values and increasing property taxes makes it tempting for owners to sell forestland to commercial or residential developers. "We all have an interest in seeing that as many forests as possible remain forests," Dziengeleski says, "for the paper and wood products we rely on, for clean air and water, for a diversity of wildlife habitat and for recreational opportunities." Conservation groups recommend Finch's foresters. "They have done a good job," says John Sheehan, communications director for the Adirondack Council, a privately funded, not-for-profit environmental organization. "Their cutting has been done in such a way that the health of the forest isn't compromised. "In fact, one of the reasons we were so excited about the state purchasing some of its land is that it was in such good condition. About 60,000 acres of the 160,000 acres are slated to go into the Forest Preserve as public property, mostly in the High Peaks area. The property such as the Hudson River Gorge that the state is hoping to purchase from the Nature Conservancy from Finch's former stewardship is in very, very healthy condition." Finch's idea is to provide landowners with a long-term management plan of responsible and periodic timber harvesting that generates income but also keeps the forests healthy. Economic and government forces pushed Finch to institute change. Finch officials say they know of no other paper manufacturer operating such a service. Escalating land values and changes in federal tax laws made it attractive, if not necessary, for paper companies to sell forestland. That hit home in Glens Falls when equity investors from Connecticut and New York City bought the Finch company and sold the 160,000 acres for $110 million. The land was expendable because Finch cut only a small portion of its wood there. And it negotiated the agreement to continue managing the acreage and buying the pulpwood harvested there. Also, the money from selling the land helped pay for the Finch operation -- 70 acres in Glens Falls -- and provide money for upgrades to the manufacturing facilities. The rest of the timber Finch buys comes from public and private owners. And 75 percent of that is family-owned forests. "Now that the old model didn't work anymore, we had to ask ourselves: What should we do now?" Dziengeleski says. "If you don't have wood, none of the other stuff matters. We thought it was a no-brainer: Keep managing forests." Tom Keyser can be reached at 454-5448 or by e-mail at tkeyser@timesunion.com. Finch Paper LLC What: Founded in 1865 as Finch, Pruyn and Co., Finch manufactures 250,000 tons per year of uncoated printing paper for brochures, newsletters, direct-mail, offices and other business uses. Where: 1 Glen St., Glens Falls. What's new: Company launched a forestry consulting service and now manages forests for public and private landowners. On the Web: http://finchpaper.com; http://www.finchforestmanagement.com/ Newstex ID: KRTB-0007-38322355 From  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=846616" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=846616 Accessed Sept 28 2009 A grand river, a grand voyage Half Moon a destination for paddlers, who gain a new appreciation of waterway By  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/TUNews/author/AuthorPage.aspx?AuthorNum=87" FRED LEBRUN First published: Sunday, September 27, 2009 Troy's familiar skyline mocked us as we paddled in vain against a strong headwind at slack tide. No matter how hard we paddled, we keep seeing the same buildings. Getting home was going to be hard work. The Hudson can be big and brawny in the estuary, and even skirting the shoreline as we were trying to do provided little relief from the force of the wind. About the time whitecaps began breaking into the canoe while we were fighting the wake of boats motoring through is when we chose discretion over valor, and pulled out. We had options, putting in again at the Corning Preserve boat launch in full view of our final destination, Capt. Chip Reynold's replica of the Half Moon at Albany's Snow dock. This was the last leg of a grand adventure that began two weeks ago assessing the health of the true river that bears the explorer's name, and noting changes from a similar voyage of discovery we took along the same route a decade ago. In hiking boots, canoe and raft we covered about 180 miles of the upper Hudson and its watershed of origin. Not the entire length, or even as much as we did last time, but long, representative stretches that told the tale. We traveled from the tip of Mt. Marcy, the state's highest mountain, to Albany. And we saw change, and more in the wind. Most of the news is good news, but some is bitter sweet. In just a few short years, for example, a centuries-old way of life in the Adirondacks has been turned on its head by the bottom falling out of the wood products industry that resulted in the sudden sale of huge holdings by timber companies. Now, only two paper mills remain, Finch-Pruyn in Glens Falls and International Paper in Ticonderoga, both specializing in high-end paper made from hardwoods. Still, on balance, the change through ownership this has brought to the river is positive since it protects for all times from development the critical watershed. Great swatches of the river bank and surrounding watershed are now owned by the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy and up at the headwaters by the Open Space Institute. None of it is yet open to the public. It's still off limits. Eventually, much of these lands will become part of the public domain. But not before these well-heeled not-for-profits create a new dynamic between environmental groups, the state, and local governments over the uses of these vast lands, and by establishing a proper balance between environmental protection and the reasonable needs of those living and working in this unique private-public park. Mike Carr of the Nature Conservancy and Joe Martens of OSI have become potent forces in this regard, as have DEC commissioner Pete Grannis and Curt Stiles of the Adirondack Park Agency. ''The change I've seen develop is attitude. People are listening to each other now, with respect and with an eye toward inclusion,'' says Carr. So here are some of the changes we saw and what struck us most over the past two weeks: The critical watershed above the first trickle that becomes the Hudson is cleaner, less polluted, less abused than it was a decade ago. There are still trails in the boggy areas of the Flowed Lands that need better maintenance, but that's small compared to the improvements. Progress is attributed primarily to rules and restrictions imposed by the DEC on group sizes hiking and camping, a ban on camp fires and camping above 300 feet and the need for bear canisters while overnight camping in the High Peaks. Also, could it be, that campers and hikers are becoming more responsible? The ghost village of Adirondac right at the start of the Hudson is getting an infusion of capital from the Open Space Institute. A key historic building, McNaughton Cottage, is being restored, and so is an 1850 blast furnace. We saw bald and golden eagles everywhere along the trip, right down to Waterford, in far more numbers than we did before. There's been no rain of consequence for nearly a month, and the upper river heats up quickly, causing stress for cold water fish like trout. In the Hudson Gorge, which holds quantities of stocked brown and rainbow trout, the water temperature was in the 70s. Vast stretches of the river, such as from Newcomb to the Cedar River, and North Creek to the Glen, were too shallow to canoe. It is an odd and unexpected combination, Adirondacks high country, wilderness and hot water. Commercial rafting 17 miles down the Indian River and through the Hudson Gorge has become an established way of life along this stretch. It's a stable source of three season economics. In an odd way, its replaced wood and timbering for local employment, although not for the same people. We do need to correct the record here about the origins and extent of whitewater rafting in the Adirondacks, and beyond. Former rafting guide Heidi Pietsch reminded us that there are now whitewater opportunities on the Black, Middle Moose, Lower Moose, Salmon, Sacandaga and Cattaraugus rivers as well. Our old friend Dr. Bill Cromie also points out with modesty that it was he and the late Rusty Brust of Corinth, working with Dick Purdue, the supervisor of Indian Lake, who began whitewater rafting as a commercial venture down the Indian, a year before others from Maine and Canada built it up. The most striking changes in the long series of ponds between five hydrodams from where the Sacandaga comes into the Hudson below Lake Luzerne, and Glens Falls, are the long greenways along the river with easy access for public and boaters. Town after town and the power companies have created several lovely parks, bike and strolling paths. The ones in Corinth and heading into Glens Falls come to mind. We saw walkers where last time there was only hostile river bank and no one to be seen Hydropower along this meandering east-west stretch that was once intimately associated with 100 years of log drives ending at the Big Boom above Glens Falls, has been taken over completely by Canadian companies. That's new. In response to federal relicensing requirements, there is easier portaging and carrying for paddlers than there was a decade ago around those dams. Still, the 0.7-mile carry up and over Palmer and Curtis dams in Corinth remains a bear. From Fort Edward, which will someday be mentioned in news stories without dredging attached, to Mechanicville is the land where time stands still. Nothing has changed, except in the river, the dredging upstream is in full swing. But along the shores, there are no new structures, homes or even barns. It's all on hold, just like the land values, until the dredging is done. The latest and biggest news on the dredging front is that the last month of no rain has allowed GE to largely catch up on the volume of PCB-contaminated soil its extracted from 11 of 18 hotspots designated for the year-long phase one of the dredging plan. The bad news is they've found as much 80 percent more contaminated soil than expected, which means seven sites won't even get touched this year. Whether to extend phase one into a second year, or fold the remainder into the next phase, or something else entirely, will have to be decided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency after this dredging season ends on Nov. 1. Regardless, this likely means a five-year dredging plan, which was a political number to begin with, is likely to be six or seven or more. Kayaking on the Hudson is visibly king, canoeing is on the wane, and powerboating is dropping even faster. Powerboating has been affected by the recession, high price of gas, and perhaps more stringent river security since 9/11. Fishing is hurting in the estuary as several species are showing the strains of over harvesting. Access, along the entire river, from the new Open Space Institute holdings at Lake Sanford at the tippy top, all the way down to New York harbor, has greatly improved for car-top launching and for trailers. There are a few more restaurants the length of the river, but very few. The amenities generally still lag, even, surprisingly, in busy places like Albany. Although people like Susan Trimarchi at Lock 1 Marina in Halfmoon are now making a living catering to transient boaters, even transporting them to nearby restaurants. As Mark Behan, spokesman for GE, wisely put it, "for years communities upriver turned their backs to the Hudson. Now they're slowly turning around and facing it.'' The next step is to embrace it. So my lead paddler Paul Grondahl kept us straight into the whitecaps and we slowly made our way to the Half Moon. Capt. Reynolds ordered a one-cannon salute. We were touched by our reception. We tied up between the Half Moon and dock and climbed a rope ladder to wave to the long lines waiting to board the replica of Hudson's ship for tours. It was festival afternoon in Albany. I went back down the rope ladder. Paul was to follow. I got into the canoe and then suddenly something went wrong and quite tippy and the next thing I knew I was on my back under water. I was quickly hoisted out by a young crewman to the sound of great and universal laughter by all those present, including my patient wife. A proper but safe dunking. A fitting end to just the best fun. The river had the last laugh, as it should. From  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=844974" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=844974 Accessed Sept 28 2009 Rafting brings many ripple effects Whitewater sports influences upper Hudson River economy, attitudes By  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/TUNews/author/AuthorPage.aspx?AuthorNum=87" FRED LEBRUN First published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 "How do we do it?'' our guide Wayne Failing roared with demonic glee over the din. The self-described flower of God had done it again, he had just ably spun our 14-foot raft through a narrow whitewater flume between two gigantic hydraulics. A hydraulic is a nasty piece of work, a raging back current below a huge boulder that sucks in whatever falls in, and can easily flip boats and rafts. We were in the middle of our whitewater adventure run with Wayne, thoroughly soaked, and, if not scared, at least anxious. In other words, we were getting what we paid for. This is September, after all. These aren't 10-foot natural waves from snow run-off in April. We're riding the two-hour bubble of water releases from Lake Abanakee down the Indian, and then the Hudson. A total of 17 wild and crazy miles, even if it is engineered craziness. Without that water release, the Hudson here right now is so low and bony you couldn't go 50 feet even in a canoe without grounding. The river of solitude above Newcomb has become an imitation at least of the springtime river of intimidating force. You could see where this would be a paralyzing wonder in the spring. Even now, the strength of a river current out of control created by a 3-foot water release makes you gulp. In the 30-plus years since the first Maine entrepreneur recognized the value of turning this section of the Hudson into the only whitewater rafting experience in the state, rafting has evolved greatly. Instead of just a springtime terror dependent on nature, it is three season, abetted by $75,000 a year in dam releases four days a week through Columbus Day. The money is paid by the 11 outfitters who do this, with Wayne's company, Middle Earth Expeditions, the smallest. Whitewater rafting has become a huge economic engine for this otherwise struggling corridor from Indian Lake to North Creek. This year, rafting brought 15,000 paying customers to the Hudson, and rafting employs hundreds. The best thing that's happened to this stretch of the river in the last 10 years is the acquisition by the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy of the former Finch-Pruyn lands on both sides of the Hudson. For more than 150 years, these lands were in well-protected and well-nurtured private hands. But now any chance this last great swatch of wild Adirondacks could be lost to development or fragmentation has been saved by the Nature Conservancy. For now, natural wonders like the OK Slip Falls just up from our campsite remain off-limits to public trespass. Those falls are among the highest in the state, and a terrific hiking destination. In the future, God and the Dow willing, the state can buy those lands and carefully regulate how they're used and accessed. Meanwhile, Mike Carr of the Nature Conservancy, just like Joe Martens of the Open Space Institute up in Newcomb, is looking for ways to preserve and enhance Adirondack traditions and opportunity, accommodating not only those anxious to add to the Forest Preserve, but local economic development too. These include preserving the many hunting leases on the old Finch-Pruyn properties, and maintaining logging and timber management. And we hope, promoting rafting as well. Rafting is not totally without environmental impact, but is a fair trade-off. Those walls of water have been found to have little impact on macroinvertebrates and stocked trout populations. The bubbles do take away cold water refuge spots during the hot months, which stress fish. We stayed for two days at our campsite deep in the interior, far from any cellphone reception or roads. Sitting on a log and listening all day to the babbling of OK Slip brook will do more to lower your blood pressure than all the chemistry in Jersey. Still, the occasional plane going overhead was a reminder that we were players in the theater of wilderness. Even so, as Wayne is passionate in pointing out, the experience he provides in a whitewater raft or a back-country canoe requires the preservation of the character of wilderness along the shores to be convincing, not just galloping waves or big bass. We saw eagles and osprey. I caught trout and small-mouth bass. But I also smelled the rotting vegetation along the shorelines at low water, when the bubble had passed. And the water temperature had to be in the 70s throughout this stretch of the Hudson, the danger zone for trout. In September. That's not good. I'm not sure rafting has anything to do with that, but what it does tell me is that the river here is fragile. Proceed with care. Still. ''Life is good,'' Wayne said with a broad smile, at least 30 times. Ditto to that. Follow Fred LeBrun as he retraces his 1998 trip down the Hudson River. He will post updates at http://timesunion.com/storyofalbany as well as a week's worth of stories. Monday: Mount Marcy and the watershed. Origins of the Hudson. Tuesday: The river of solitude where ghosts hover. First navigable waters. Wednesday: White- water Hudson. The theater of wilderness. Thursday: A river of commerce and hydro power. Lake Luzerne to Glens Falls. Friday: An old debt to the river is repaid. Dredging the Hudson. Saturday: The Champlain Canal. A river waiting to be renewed. Sunday: Close to home. The Hudson we think we know. From  HYPERLINK "http://timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=785301&LinkFrom=RSS" http://timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=785301&LinkFrom=RSS Accessed April 6, 2009 Danish twist on Adirondacks, climate change Foreign firm buys 92,000 acres in the Adirondacks from Nature Conservancy By  HYPERLINK "http://timesunion.com/TUNews/author/AuthorPage.aspx?AuthorNum=163" BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer First published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 ALBANY A Danish pension company committed to fighting climate change is the Adirondack's newest major landowner. The firm ATP recently bought 92,000 acres spread across six counties for $32.9 million from The Nature Conservancy, a conservation group that had bought the land in 2007 as part of a larger purchase from the paper company Finch, Pryun & Co. "The purchase of the forest ties in well with ATP's increased focus on climate-related investments," said company official Henrik Gade Jepsen. ATP will also continue sustainable forestry on the lands, which will supply wood for Finch's paper mill in Glens Falls. "We ensure that the forestry operation is conducted in a responsible and sustainable manner," said Jepsen. The company owns forests in North America, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union. ATP, which manages one of Europe's largest pension portfolios, also is a member of Carbon Disclosure Project, a global program that encourages business to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. "This certainly looks like a major climate change play, given that ATP is also making major investments in renewable energy," said Michael Carr, executive director of the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy "This tremendous investment in the Adirondacks is a testament to strong partnerships toward a sustainable future." In 2007, The Nature Conservancy spent $110 million to buy 161,000 acres from Finch under the largest-ever sale of Adirondack real estate. The property includes 80 mountains, 70 lakes and ponds, a quarter of the Hudson River shoreline along the whitewater gorge, and great swatches of the state's wildest and uppermost river reaches, including the Hudson, Cedar, Opalescent, Indian, Boreas and Branch. Plans call for the conservancy to sell about 65,000 acres to New York for addition to the forever-wild Forest Preserve. Closed for nearly a century, these areas would open to the public gradually during a 10-year phased transition as hunting club or other leases are phased out. Another 1,170 acres will be set aside for community purposes in Newcomb, Long Lake, and Indian Lake. ATP will sell conservation easements to the state on its lands, which will allow public access to those lands on a faster schedule than the state properties, said Carr. The Nature Conservancy, headquartered in Arlington, Va., acquired the land from Finch in part using loans from an affiliate of the Open Space Institute and John Hancock Life Insurance Co., which has financed other Nature Conservancy land purchases. So far, the conservancy has raised about $16 million toward its $35 million fundraising goal to cover the cost of the project, Carr said. "We are on plan, and on schedule, for the goals we set in 2007." Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by email at bnearing@timesunion.com. From  HYPERLINK "https://www.timesunion.com/archives/secure/docheckout.asp?action=Get+Doc+Tag&dblist=TX2008_ALBANYTU&tagnum=200808270082&papid=albanytu&suffixes=false&synonyms=false&thesfile=savesufx.fth&view=rtemplate&templatetype=legacy&outputtype=DOCXSLT" https://www.timesunion.com/archives/secure/docheckout.asp?action=Get+Doc+Tag&dblist=TX2008_ALBANYTU&tagnum=200808270082&papid=albanytu&suffixes=false&synonyms=false&thesfile=savesufx.fth&view=rtemplate&templatetype=legacy&outputtype=DOCXSLT Accessed Oct 22 2008 MEGA ADIRONDACK LAND DEAL MARKED BY HARMONY, POTENTIAL August 27, 2008 Fred LeBrun The Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy has opened the bidding for the first major land sale from the magnificent 161,000-acre Finch, Pruyn property in the heart of the Adirondacks that it acquired last year. On the block are five groupings of property totaling 90,500 acres. These are all working forests. They will remain so, although each grouping also will be governed by permanent easement restrictions that will keep these lands whole and undeveloped forever. New owners will be required to conduct extensive biological inventories to assess the status of natural communities, come up with management plans to preserve those communities and monitor long-term forest health. And they will be required to practice sustainable, very green forestry. Only timber investors need apply, and frankly, given the tight easement restrictions, they are the only ones who might be interested. Connie Prickett, spokesman for the Nature Conservan cy, says initial interest in the timber industry has been surprisingly strong. Deals for these parcels are expected to be closed by the end of the year. It's all coming together according to plan. Considering the staggering scale and complexity of breaking up the $110 million Finch, Pruyn acquisition; that in itself is amazing. The Nature Conservancy is paying the debt service on the borrowed money to buy the property, and the taxes. So, from its perspective, the sooner there are other owners, the better. But there remains no greater imperative than making sure the primary benefit in the flurry of deacquisition that will go on for the next couple of years is in preserving the integrity of the Finch, Pruyn lands, unfragmented and undeveloped. That's what the Nature Conservancy is in business for. A large chunk of the most desirable land nestled near the High Peaks, around 57,000 acres, will be bought by the state for inclusion in the Forest Preserve. That will be done over time through the sale of a series of parcels to the state, Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said recently. Fortunately, there's still enough Environmental Protection Fund money available for these purchases, regardless of our slumping state economy. The state is still negotiating how much of the Finch, Pruyn property in the southern Adirondacks it will buy. That's expected to be somewhat short of a third of 27,000 acres there. The announcement a year ago that this last great holding in the Adirondacks was suddenly up for sale stunned us all, as did the news that the Nature Conservancy was stepping up to shoulder the responsibility. This is easily the most important single acquisition in memory, perhaps even since the Forest Preserve was created in the late 19th century. By then, incidentally, Finch, Pruyn had already owned the property nearly 30 years. We're speaking here of prime hiking and canoeing lands that haven't been trod on by public feet since the Civil War. What may be the most remarkable aspect of this mega-deal is the way the Nature Conservancy, and its minority partner, the Open Space Institute, have gone about building consensus for how these lands would be broken up and with what public availability and restrictions. Consider this: Each of the five towns in which the key northern holdings lie passed resolutions lauding and approving the plan - including more land going into the Forest Preserve. Historically, Adirondack local governments have fought this sort of arrangement tooth and nail, and complained bitterly about it. The reason for the 180 shift by the towns? "I like to think its because we included them in all of our thinking and planning from the beginning, and we respected what they told us," says Prickett. And because the Nature Conservancy saw what these towns needed for this transaction to work for them. A network of connected snowmobile trails, which had eluded local government efforts for decades. Fringe acreage for town growth. Continuing the long-time Adirondack traditions of hunting, fishing and recreational leases on working forests. This fall, the Nature Conservancy is renewing existing recreational leases for three years on the 90,500 acres going up for sale. Usually these were year to year. That will become a condition of sale. After that, it will be up to the new owners whether to continue the practice. There is every indication they will, because those leases are a predictable and important revenue source. Finch, Pruyn paid their taxes with those leases. Yes, it's all working according to plan. But, remember, the public does not have any new access to those Finch, Pruyn lands yet. Give it time. Now that we are reasonably assured the property is heading in the right direction, that's not so much to ask. Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com. From  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=707103" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=707103 Accessed Oct 22 2008 Exploring an Adirondack jewel Conservancy scientists get first-hand look at purchase By KIM SMITH DEDAM, McClatchy Tribune First published: Monday, July 28, 2008 BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE -- Careening through a forest dell of four-foot hay-scented fern, scientists pushed into thick underbrush heading toward a swamp. The earthy smell of peat and spruce gum hung on the wind, and thunder rumbled off the mountain peaks. Not many humans have traversed this soggy patch of earth, where every step leaves a footprint-shaped pool of water. Heavy rubber boots can sink up to the knee; they make a giant sucking sound in stride. Fresh signs of bear, moose and deer were apparent in open areas. In this setting, New York State Natural Heritage ecologists were exploring deep regions of a 15,000-acre parcel of former Finch, Pruyn & Co. lands sold to the Nature Conservancys Adirondack Chapter last year. Tucked between the base of Blue and Dun Brook mountains, its a small L-shaped sliver of the total 161,000 acres. A final strategy for land-use management is still in the works, but most of the property will be sold in working-forest agreements, explained Nature Conservancy scientist Michelle Brown, who organized the trip. Ecologist Tim Howard said the region is a likely candidate for special easement restrictions to protect high-grade wetlands sprawled out around Dun Brook. Howard and colleagues Greg Edinger and Laurie Swift are top scientists with the New York Natural Heritage Program, a joint venture of the Nature Conservancy and state Department of Environmental Conservation. They are working in the Adirondacks this summer and their research will help govern management of special habitat. Roads untraveled Assembling at 9 a.m., the expedition rambled in four-wheel drive along old logging roads until the trail vanished in new-growth forest. I guess this is as far as we go on wheels, Brown said. Evidence of skidder ruts and overgrown timber staging areas put the last cut here some 40 to 50 years ago, she estimated. Using GPS points, Howard and Edinger marked the woodland parking lot and started to bushwhack due north toward the swamp. Special hand-held computers helped catalog data at observation points along the way. Through miles of changing terrain, Edinger marked seven or eight sites, where he counted numbers and types of trees and plants at the canopy, sub-canopy, shrub and herbaceous levels. Edinger also used a Biltmore stick, an old-fashioned lumbering gauge that measures height from a distance and is traditionally used to estimate the board-feet of lumber in any tree. About halfway in, Howard noticed a black spruce tree with deformed needles curling inward like a ball. On closer inspection, he discovered tiny red clumps of dwarf mistletoe, a parasite plant that grows under the bark of a tree. The mistletoe infects primarily fir trees, causing them to grow witches brooms, strange-looking bundles of twigs and foliage stuck at the top. Heritage data Information gathered from the swamp will be added to state Heritage natural community data banks. The upland forest shows active management, Howard said, but down in the wetlands, theres a lot less. We could call this a high-quality example of black spruce-tamarack swamp. He had been up Dun Mountain the week before and had several other sites to visit in these watery regions. The science will inform good land management, Brown said. It will also work as a benchmark to observe impact of climate change on pristine areas. With more than 74,000 acres tagged for timber management, the Nature Conservancy hopes to learn all it can about condition, habitat and natural communities before the land is sold to an as-yet-unnamed timber company. Large-scale protection requires more than just mapping, Brown said. It is a mosaic of forest preserve and working forest. From  HYPERLINK "http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=680190" http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=680190 Accessed Oct 22 2008 Luring more than snowmobilers By NEIL WOODWORTH First published: Sunday, April 13, 2008 Fred Monroe's March 30 Perspective piece, "Economic Engine: Adirondacks need a development master plan," touts the economic impact of snowmobiles while dismissing other winter sports such as cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. This doesn't make sense. As a public official, Monroe should welcome all winter visitors to the Adirondacks. Tens of thousands of people come to the region each winter to pursue nonmotorized winter activities. (This past winter, the Adirondack Mountain Club's Heart Lake facility tallied nearly 10,000 day visits.) These visitors stay at motels and inns, eat at diners and restaurants, shop at local stores and buy gasoline. A number of businesses in the Adirondacks, such as Friends Lake Inn in Chestertown, already rely heavily on cross-country skiing to get them through the winter. Snowshoeing is the fastest growing winter sport. It provides an inexpensive way for people of all ages to experience the wilderness in winter. With its deep snows, spectacular vistas, large tracts of wild forest and proximity to major metropolitan areas, the Adirondacks could easily become a magnet for snowshoers. Since 1922, the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) has actively encouraged responsible outdoor recreation in the Adirondacks. ADK believes there's a place for snowmobiles. In fact, there are lots of places -- more than 2,000 miles of snowmobile trails on public and private land in the park. Even with the recently adopted 848-mile cap on snowmobile trails on wild forest land, there is still room for additional trail development in the Forest Preserve. In a way, Monroe is correct when he says snowshoeing is not the solution. But neither is snowmobiling. No single activity by itself can adequately sustain Adirondack businesses during the winter. Adirondack leaders should not focus all their efforts on promoting a single winter sport, especially one that relies so heavily on the whims of the weather. (You can cross-country ski and snowshoe when the snow isn't deep enough for snowmobiles.) Monroe's approach to the Adirondack's "economic engine" is like tuning up your car and only changing one spark plug. The Adirondacks needs a tourism base that is broad and diverse. We agree with Monroe that there should be an economic development master plan for the Adirondacks. We recognize the need for affordable housing, good-paying jobs and lower property taxes. (After all, many ADK members and employees live inside the park's Blue Line boundary.) And we agree that this plan needs the attention of the highest levels of state government, including Gov. David Paterson. All New Yorkers have a stake in the Adirondacks and all New Yorkers should share the responsibility for its environmental and economic health. For example, many places in the park lack reliable high-speed Internet access, which is vital to economic development, but it will require substantial state resources to develop the needed infrastructure. But we strongly disagree with Monroe's contention that state land acquisition is "dismantling" the Adirondack economy. In February, the state and The Nature Conservancy unveiled a plan for the former Finch, Pruyn properties that preserves jobs in the forest-products industry, maintains traditional sporting clubs, provides for affordable housing and offers opportunities for community enhancement. The plan also offers opportunities for the development of new snowmobile trails. Most of the Finch, Pruyn land earmarked for the Forest Preserve is too steep or too wet for development and is of minimal value for timber production, but it is extremely valuable for recreational purposes. For the first time in more than a century, visitors will have access to the spectacular OK Slip Falls, the highest waterfall in the park. The deal will create the Adirondacks' second canoe area, giving paddlers access to seven lakes and 15 ponds in the Essex Chain of Lakes. These additions will enhance the Adirondack brand and burnish its image as a world-class destination. If the Adirondacks are to prosper, its leaders need to move away from the "zero sum" approach that constantly pits snowmobilers against cross-country skiers and environmental protection against economic growth. The tourism industry in the Adirondack Park depends on the quality of its environment. But don't just take our word for it. On its Web site, the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce sums it up nicely: "Our visitors come back year after year to enjoy the lakes, mountains and overall beauty of the region." Protecting the natural beauty of the region is protecting its economic future. Neil Woodworth is executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club. This is the second of two articles written in response to Fred Monroe's March 30 article, "Economic engine: Adirondacks need a development master plan." An article by Curtis F. Styles, chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency, appeared April 6.  HYPERLINK "http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=643716" http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=643716 Accessed 9/18/08 Conservancy weighs fate of 161,000 acres in Adirondacks By FRED LeBRUN First published: Sunday, December 2, 2007 After driving endless numbers of internal roads and an hourlong fly-over in Tommy Helms's 30-year-old Cessna sea plane, what's most striking about the 161,000 acre Finch, Pruyn & Co. property in the Adirondacks is its vastness and continuity. Or as biologist Michelle Brown of the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy put it, the property's "intactness." Viewed in a global context, which we seldom think of for the Adirondacks, Brown says the Finch, Pruyn & Co. lands represent one of the last, best places on earth to conserve, protect and keep whole a significant temperate deciduous forest system. What a stunning acquisition this is by the Nature Conservancy, still breathtaking to contemplate six months after it happened. A meticulously maintained working forest in the pumping heart of the Adirondacks kept very private for 146 years, with 144 miles of river, 70 lakes and ponds, 80 mountains and and a ton of natural wonders only a few eyes have seen. On very short notice, timber products giant Finch, Pruyn & Co. came calling and Adirondack Chapter executive director Mike Carr and his staff dropped an already full plate of land stewardship issues in the North Country to accommodate. They scrambled, borrowing $110 million from John Hancock Insurance and the Open Space Institute to seal the deal. But now the madness begins. While an expensive clock driven by the interest on those loans is ticking, Carr has given himself a year to put together a complicated plan for the future of the property that takes into account myriad demands and desires from a broad range of stakeholders, and the Nature Conservancy's own mission statement. "I'm not going to please everybody, probably nobody completely," the affable Carr said, as we were driving down a private road to a trail head that would take us in under a half-hour to a postcard view of Ok-Slip Falls. In future generations, this little trail to the highest waterfall in the Adirondacks, and one of the tallest in the state, will become as popular as the trek from Adirondack Loj to Marcy dam -- if it becomes part of the Adirondack forest preserve, or becomes public through an easement. It probably will, because it is very high on the wish list of environmental groups looking to steer about half of the 161,000 acres into the Forever Wild forest preserve. That means the state will have to make a significant purchase here. But at the same time, local governments, which have a veto if Environmental Protection Fund money is used, will have their demands, primarily centering on economic development opportunities. A snowmobile trail linking the towns from Long Lake to Schroon Lake is a high priority for them. The hunting and fishing clubs with a combined membership of 3,500 that lease 131,000 of the acres now would like a voice in the future as well, even though they may have to settle for smaller leases than they have now, and then there is Michelle Brown's voice, most compelling of all. The Nature Conservancy, after all, is about protecting nature, biological diversity. Not about guaranteeing public access, or honoring hunting leases, or developing recreational opportunities. Mike Carr is certainly aware of all these other hands out, and wants to satisfy as many as he can, but not at the expense of the fragile ecosystems, the unusual, threatened and endangered. The Adirondack Chapter has launched a hurry-up $35 million fundraising effort over this property, which tells me in the end they hope to keep a hunk of it. Interestingly, in short order they've raised more than $5 million, most of it coming in far from Long Lake. There are those in distant places who may never see the Adirondacks who understand the global importance of this piece of property. So Mike and his staff and board will get a chance to decide how best to divvy it up to give it the wisest protection and use, while getting out from under a groaning debt load and a $1 million a year in taxes. I do not pretend to have an inside track on Mike's thinking. Besides, I think his evolving plan is very fluid at the moment. But here are my impressions of where we'll be when the dust settles on this phenomenal legacy for our grandchildren. Much of the Finch, Pruyn & Co. property will continue as a working forest. Done right, it works. Mike Carr is a big believer in the dynamic that currently exists, that's kept the Finch, Pruyn & Co. properties beautifully maintained and conserved. In all likelihood, sexy items like the Essex Chain lakes, the Hudson Gorge, OK-Slip Falls, and maybe even Boreas Ponds will go into the forest preserve, as environmentalists wish. But there will be a place for the hunting and fishing clubs, which have proved to be excellent stewards and represent a strong Adirondack tradition. There will be a connected snowmobile trail along existing logging roads, and probably named lakes and ponds that Tommy Helms and the other seaplaners can fly into, to keep that old tradition alive too. Through the manipulation of transferable development rights, struggling towns and hamlets surrounded by forest preserve will get buildable property for growth. In other words, my hunch is Mike Carr will come up with a complex mish-mash of public and private interests interlocked through easements, leases and fee purchases. A new paradigm for land acquisition in the Adirondacks. This arrangement will require unprecedented cooperation and respect among parties, and pose a huge challenge for enforcement and all new headaches for the DEC. But you can be sure the delicate ferns and mosses growing around rare limestone outcroppings, around Pickwacket Pond and up in the higher elevations, around Squaw Brook valley, and elsewhere, will never be safer. 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