The Adirondack Park is a spectacular natural
resource. Six million acres of pristine public and private land ensure that we and
our descendants have forever wild lands in a world where wild space is rare and
in peril.
Despite considerable protections afforded by our state
constitution the Adirondacks Mountains are under attack. But, in this case it’s
not by development, deforestation, or mining. Instead, they are under attack by
the very people for whom the Park is an asset and who claim to believe the
vision of the Park: Outdoors enthusiasts, experienced and inexperienced, are
overusing and misusing the Park to the point of putting Mother Nature – and themselves
-- in peril.
More specifically, it’s the High Peaks Wilderness
Area that is being abused. That territory covers just 5 percent of the Park but
it contains 36 of the High Peaks (mountains exceeding elevations of 4,000
feet), making it the destination of a destination. Perhaps thanks to all of the
free advertising, sense of community, or culture of one-upmanship of the social
media age, more people than ever before are tackling the High Peaks. Registration
records at various trailheads show that. In 2016, approximately 35,000 hikers
hit the Cascade Trail, 3 times as many as 2010. In 2016, more than 25,000
hikers registered at Ausable, almost twice 2011’s total. Those are just 2 of
many trails facing similar challenges.
Rather than spreading mankind’s increasing numbers throughout
the park -- thus minimizing impact while still affording everyone the chance to
appreciate Mother nature’s awesomeness -- this increase in tourism, as welcome as
it may be for the economy, small businesses, and residents of an area that
sorely needs it, has funneled humanity on the same trails and the same
mountaintops creating environmental and public safety hazards.
It has led to erosion and destruction of trails and
accompanying watersheds, an increase in the amount of litter found in forests, trampling
of rare and fragile alpine space that took decades to reclaim, harassment and
habituation of wildlife, and the loss of solitude that was once the crown jewel
of the Adirondacks experience.
Humans are equally in danger as parking lots are
overflowing and vehicles line county and state roads for miles creating significant
traffic hazards while too many (dare I say a majority?) of hikers are
ill-prepared for the physicality of the jaunts and the weather conditions that
can dangerously change in an instant.
Take some time to go online to research recent incident
reports for carry-outs, first aid, support and correction of environmental hazards
undertaken by overworked NY Forest rangers in the High Peaks area. They will
blow your mind -- some of the incidents border on the comical, though in all
actuality they are frustrating, highlighting the inexperience and ignorance of
visitors and the resources the state has to devote to them. Realize, too, that
in all those day-to-day activities, those Rangers had to complete 98 significant
search-and-rescue incidents in the High Peaks in 2016. Four years earlier,
there were just 62 SARs there.
What can be done to fix these problems while still
allowing the world to appreciate this unique wilderness?
For starters, the Department of Environmental
Conservation should hire many more forest rangers (something this writer already
championed in a July 2018 column).
Secondly, I think it is critical that the State institute
systems of permitting and licensing for use of the High Peaks.
A free permitting system, whereby only X number of
hikers would be able to use a specific trail during a given period, should be
put in place to cut down on the overuse and force, through the invisible hand,
use of trails less travelled but rewarding in their own way. It would be no
different than user permits already in play at state campgrounds throughout the
Park – if, say, the Eighth Lake campground is full, potential customers are
sent away. So, it’s not as if quotas or caps are new things to the outdoors
experience.
And, neither is licensing. For decades now, hunting
and fishing licenses have been required, not only to help fund conservation and
game management efforts, but, in the case of the former, also to ensure competency
and safety, the same reasons New Yorkers now have to be licensed to use motor
boats and jet skis.
A simple, free licensing system -- yes, free; this should not be a cash grab --
could be implemented using online tools, like any college or corporate
training course. Knowledge and capability are powerful tools. The licensing process would educate users of
the High Peaks on critical aspects of environmental safety (Leave No Trace,
what to do with bodily waste, why we stay on trails) and personal safety (what
to wear, what to bring, what to do in the event of…). This certification would have
to accompany a use permit.
Permits and licenses may all seem antithetical to
the typical libertarian bent of this column, but we’re talking about a public, not
private, asset that needs protection to ensure healthy outcomes of the forests
and waters and the people who are using them. Failure to address the issue of
overuse and misuse will ignore the vision behind the Park and destroy the
Adirondacks, a natural wonderland that belongs to all of us and deserves our stewardship
accordingly.
From the 23
September 2019 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Batavia Daily News
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