Winter on Cascade Mountain, a popular hike in the High Peaks. Photo courtesy of Mary Rand.
Background
A special advisory group to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released their final report of recommendations on how to address increased levels of use in the Adirondack High Peaks region.
The High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group began their work in November 2019. They were tasked to provide advice on how to balance continuing public use with sustainable protection of the High Peaks.
HPAG first released an interim report in the summer of 2020 on outdoor recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic, then released their final report to the public last month.
"With the growing uptick in visitors to the High Peaks region, compounded this past summer by New Yorkers desperate to get outside as a respite from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's critical that DEC and our partners work together to protect these irreplaceable lands for future generations by promoting sustainable recreation, supporting local communities, and improving the visitor experience,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a press release for the report.
The scope of the report, while including immediate recommendations for action, is primarily meant as the basis for additional, more detailed strategic planning by the state, Dr. Jill Weiss, SUNY ESF assistant professor of environmental studies and researcher of trails stewardship, said.
"This is us saying: these are the parts you need to look at while you’re planning,” Weiss said. “This is not the end, this is the beginning.”
The effects of increased use in the Adirondacks, particularly in the High Peaks, are well documented. In the last forty years, numbers of visitors have steadily and seriously increased, popular trails have eroded, vegetation has been damaged, and physical infrastructure like parking and restrooms have not grown to match rising visitation.
The question of managing those issues cannot be approached by any one metric, method, individual or agency, Pete Nelson, HPAG member and co-founder of Adirondack Wilderness Advocates, said. It required, and will continue to require, continual monitoring and adaptation with the help of groups like HPAG.
“If we don’t think in terms of all of the interconnectedness of visitor behavior and protecting the forest preserve, it’s going to be hard to come up with the right answers, and quite frankly we don’t know what those answers are in any level of detail,” Nelson said.
The ten listed members of HPAG represented SUNY ESF, Adirondack advocacy groups, members of local government and business owners. In meetings, they were assisted by staff from the DEC.
Following its release, the report will undergo review by the DEC before the possible implementation of its recommendations.
“If we don’t think in terms of all of the interconnectedness of visitor behavior and protecting the forest preserve, it’s going to be hard to come up with the right answers, and quite frankly we don’t know what those answers are in any level of detail,” Nelson said.
Outline
The report’s overarching recommendations support the creation of an Adirondack Advisory Group, the adoption of the Visitor Use Management Framework developed by the National Park Service, the creation of an outdoor-recreation specific management entity within the state, and the ongoing collection of data on the use of trails, parking areas and transportation methods.
The recommended Adirondack Advisory Group would not be an additional governmental manager of the park, but a more established version of HPAG that would facilitate the future planning process and allow for a diversity of voices from multiple agencies and backgrounds, Weiss said.
“The DEC cannot be experts in everything and no one person can be experts in everything,” Weiss said. Individuals of different backgrounds and expertise are needed to collaborate on the issue.
This idea also factored into the recommendation for a new recreation-based state agency or department, Weiss said. This group, whether its own organization or a component of an existing agency like the DEC, would provide recreation experts and researchers an opportunity to exert greater influence over the management process.
The adoption of the Visitor Use Management Framework is an administrative-facing recommendation meant to organize future management decision making. The VUMF is a step-by-step guidance on how to structure thought around management issues, particularly notable for its flexible application and adaptability to changing situations from a park level scale down to the placement of a trash can.
A map of the High Peaks region and surrounding areas within the Adirondack Park. Map courtesy of the Adirondack Park Agency website.
The report also gives several immediate recommendations to manage High Peaks usage in the short term. These include increased resources for educational and stewardship organizations like the Adirondack Mountain Club, coordinated management of the Route 73 highway (a major access running through the High Peaks), year-round placement of portable toilets, and a pilot program shuttle service.
Specific additional actions, both long-term and immediate, are detailed in the body of the report. The body is divided into six parts by topic: Wilderness and ecology, visitor experience, High Peaks Wilderness trails, public safety, community, and stabilizing financial support.
Several recommendations within those sections are not new. They encourage the state to follow through with existing goals of the DEC’s Unit Management Plan for the High Peaks region, including support for the summit steward program and the relocation of the Cascade Mountain trailhead.
“The Adirondack Park is just one of many parks in the state. The fact is, it deserves attention like all of the other parks, but it does have some special needs,” Weiss said.
Of the six sections, two consistently repeated recommendations are for data collection and education.
The Adirondack Mountain Club Summit Steward program, which places environmental educators on popular peaks during the summer, is suggested for future investment, alongside new and existing steward positions at trailheads and in populated areas. Education and outreach campaigns are also recommended in the form of social media campaigns, pop-up info booths and at a proposed physical information center.
Data collection is the other throughline within the report. This process extends to both the collection of real time data on parking use and capacity as well as longer term data on the perceptions, backgrounds and goals of Adirondack visitors themselves that can be used to guide decision making.
Management without proper and deep understanding of the central problem often results in anecdotal-based decision making that might produce unintended consequences, Nelson said. He spoke of a recent ban on parking for a four mile stretch of Route 73, intended to limit pedestrians on roadsides and reduce parking violations.
“People would be parking illegally while rangers were writing tickets, knowing they were going to get a ticket, [and] not caring because they wanted to park and use the trail anyhow,” Nelson said.
The many entrances and freely accessible nature of the Adirondacks also contribute to a need for research before concrete limitations or actions can be done effectively, Nelson said.
“We don’t have gates, we don’t have entrances, we don’t have places where users check in. We have a highly dispersed, highly accessible in an unfettered manner landscape,” Nelson said.
The final section of the report, funding, is notably less detailed than the former five sections, both in detail and in specificity.
The funding section was in part intended to recommend additional mechanisms for fundraising given the special requirements of the Adirondacks, Weiss said.
“The Adirondack Park is just one of many parks in the state. The fact is, it deserves attention like all of the other parks, but it does have some special needs,” Weiss said.
One notable recommendation from the financial section is the creation of an independent private fundraising body in the model of the Land and Water Conservation Fund used by the federal government. According to the report, this fundraising body would provide additional flexibility in fundraising and spending in addition to funds from the state.
Gaps
The report is nominally guided by 8 overarching principles. However, comparing those principles to the body of the report shows some irregularities.
The monthly meetings of the group had been criticized in the past for a lack of transparency. None were open to the public, nor were recordings provided outside of bullet-point summaries of meetings on the DEC website.
This approach was inconsistent with guiding principle number 8, “A commitment to an open, transparent, and ongoing process that involves a broad range of stakeholders and the public.”
The closed door was necessary to build trust between the individual members of the group and allow them to perform most effectively, given the often at-odds nature of Adirondack management discussions, Weiss said.
“There is reason that there might be a lack of trust between individuals and groups when we’re talking about Adirondack policy,” Weiss said. “By creating trust within the group, we were able to negotiate more honestly and fairly.”
Nelson lauded the work the group performed and the help the state provided, and said that he felt the members were fully represented. However, more transparency in the process would have been beneficial, Nelson said.
“The very secretive nature, the confidentiality, that puts people on edge, that makes people hesitant, that introduces uncertainty and fear and doubt - shine a light on it, it goes away. And people will speak their minds anyhow,” Nelson said.
“By creating trust within the group, we were able to negotiate more honestly and fairly.”
The fourth guiding principle, “A commitment to social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of management in the High Peaks region,” is never directly addressed in the report or within any of the topical recommendations.
The lack of specific inclusive recommendations was an oversight of the process, Nelson said.
“It’s important to have those words as a statement of principles, but the strategies to change things are yet to be elucidated. They’re not there,” Nelson said.
Nelson pointed to his own separate work with the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, as well as programs with the DEC that are approaching diversity directly, as an alternative.
A trailhead information sign at Ampersand Mountain in the High Peaks. Continuing education of Leave No Trace principles is recommended in the report. Photo courtesy of Mary Rand.
Future outcomes
HPAG’s recommendations do not guarantee future steps in the planning process, but much of its core of research and understanding can be implemented now and in low cost, Weiss said.
“[Understanding] doesn’t necessarily need to mean more cost,” Weiss said. “There is some research and data collection that we could be doing that could help with the education and behavior side of things.”
Other recommendations are already being put into place. Over the summer, a message board was placed on I-87, a major highway into the Adirondacks, as part of a pilot program to give early warning for parking lot closures, Weiss said.
The future of the report hinges on the decisions of the state.
“I don’t know where the report is gonna go. I don’t know what kind of support from the governor that the report will get. The legislature is putting money in there, it looks like people are taking it seriously,” Nelson said.