Your Voice in the Politics of the Adirondacks

Salt Petition On-line

As previously reported, AdkAction.org and the Adirondack Council Co-sponsored a conference on May 17th at Paul Smith's College attended by environmental, advocacy, lake association, state and county transportation departments, and the state agencies responsible for the environment (DEC, APA).  The meeting was a follow-up to AdkAction.org's underwritten publication, Review of Effects and Costs of Road De-icing with Recommendations for Winter Road Management in the Adirondack Park.  Minutes of the meeting, its conclusions, an an attendance list are available here.   Many hand-written petitions have been collected, and now the petition is available on-line.  Please click here to sign up!

Rail Corridor Study Back in AdkAction.org's hands

North Elba's Town Board gave up on working out its conflicts with the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) over the release of unused funds from the year 2000 rails-with-trail study grant that was aborted more than two years ago.  After nearly three months of back-and-forth over whether these funds could be released for the study proposed in AdkAction.org's Request for Proposals (RFP), the AdkAction.org Steering Committee voted unanimously to take back the project and directly contract with the vendor selected, Camoin Associates. Work should begin work soon with results expected early in 2011. The Press Release issued on this change in control is here.  Coverage by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise is also here.

Protect! has released a critique of the Adirondack Park Regional Assessment Program (APRAP)

Protect! has released an analysis that rebuts the claims made based on the APRAP report that public ownership of lands is responsible for the financial woes of the Adirondacks. 

The Sequel, Paul Smith's magazine, has published "Cutting Back on Road Salt"

AdkAction.org's underwritten publication, Review of Effects and Costs of Road De-icing with Recommendations for Winter Road Management in the Adirondack Park received prominent coverage in the recent Paul Smith's magazine.   You can read a copy here.

The Center for Governmental Research (CGR) Has Released a Web Tool for Tracking Government Spending Across the U.S.

One of AdkAction.org's goals is to improve government efficiency.  For individual state and local governments, Govistics shows amounts spent, where the money goes, and how peers measure up.  Here is a link to their press release.

Milfoil Appropriation Moving through House

AdkAction.org joined with the Adirondack Council in sending a delegation to Washington last December to lobby our congressman and senators for funds to first map and plan the attack, and then bring the 54 lakes with Eurasian Water Milfoil under control.  The funds would go to the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith's College who have extensive experience in controlling milfoil using hand harvesting (divers) and benthic matting, i.e., without chemicals.  This spring our Water Quality Co-chair, Lee Keet, met with Congressman Owens to press the case further.  Congressman Owens then  sponsored a $1 million appropriation to do the first phase of the project.  On July1 The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee approved $500,000 of  Congressman Bill Owens’ funding request.  You can access Congressman Owens announcement here.

T/Rails Study RFP

AdkAction.org provided technical and logistical assistance in the preparation of a Request for Proposal (RFP) that went to six experienced consulting firms.  The RFP asked for a study of the relative benefits of converting the rail bed between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake into a multi-use (hike, bike, snowmobile, etc) trail and full restoration to a scenic railway.  Bids were received on May 13th and a preliminary winner was selected, to be made public shortly as contract terms are finalized.  The most recent Upper Saranac Lake Association Newsletter had a feature on this study.

Road Salt Conference

AdkAction.org and the Adirondack Council Co-sponsored a conference on May 17th at Paul Smith's College attended by environmental, advocacy, lake association, state and county transportation departments, and the state agencies responsible for the environment (DEC, APA).  The meeting concluded that a task force on the use of road salt and its alternatives should be appointed by the governor, and that the parties at the meeting would all sign a petition to that effect.  Minutes of the meeting, its conclusions, an an attendance list are available here.  The petition is also  attached.  The petition will be presented to the attendees at the Adirondack Council's Forever Wild Day annual meeting on July 10th and to the assemblage at the Common Ground Alliance meeting in Long Lake on July 14th.  Website visitors who care abut this issue are encouraged to print the petition and send signed and completed signature pages to us at PO Box 655, Saranac Lake NY 12983. 

Q1 2010 Newsletter available

If you did not receive our Q1 E-Newsletter you can get a copy here.  Send your email address to info@AdkAction.org and we will add you to the quarterly mailing list. 

The Governor Paterson has announced plans to raid the Regional Greenhouse gas Initiative and to once again raid the Environmental Protection Fund.

On October 16th the governor announced a $90-million raid on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's (RGGI) carbon allowance auction proceeds.   This money was supposed to go toward energy conservation and clean energy development.   This may be the first time ever that a dedicated fund was actually raided for another purpose before one cent of it was spent on its intended purpose.

The Governor also proposed an additional $10-million raid on the Environmental Protection Fund.  The EPF provides much-needed funding for major environmental projects (and local tax relief) such as municipal landfill closure, municipal recycling facilities, new parks, conservation agreements with major private landowners, and expansion of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves. Roughly $500 million has been diverted from the EPF to non-environmental spending since 2003.  This adds to the $50 removed million in November 2008.  These funds are dedicated to land acquisition, including deals “sealed with a handshake”, like the Finch Pruyn and Follensby land acquisitions. Gutting the EPF funds makes the acquisition of these lands already in temporary holding pools (Nature Conservancy, Open Space Institute) by the state problematic.  Leaving these great organizations with huge debts and no clear exit could destroy them, to everyone’s detriment.

The Governor has also said that he will cut the budgets of the Adirondack Park Agency and Department of Environmental Conservation by 10 percent.  Both agencies are already critically understaffed and underfunded. 

2009 Q3 & Q4 Newsletters available

Our 2009 Q3 and Q4 E-Newsletters were emailed to all members and friends.  If you did not get either and would like them, click here for the Q3 newsletter and here for the Q4 newsletter.  If you want future editions send your email address to info@AdkAction.org and we will add you to the quarterly mailing list. 

 

The Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages (AATV) has published its Adirondack Park Regional Assessment Program results.

 The executive summary is linked here and the full report can be ordered on the AATV website.  The results are fascinating, including these summary findings:

We won!

More than 700 people logged onto our petition to  protest the proposed tax freeze on State lands.  Signatures were then sent to the Governor and to key legislators.  Other groups, including the Common Ground Alliance, Adirondack Council, Association of Adirondack Towns and Villages, and the Catskill Center joined in collecting petitions.  On 3-29-09 the tax freeze was  dropped from the final budget package. This victory demonstrates the 'megaphone effect', where a minority of dedicated people can educate and sway their fellow citizens.

Steering Committee Election

The 2010 Steering Committee election is over. Click on Steering Commitee and Advisory Committee to read the bios of our 2010 panels.   

2010 Survey now online!

After Thanks to your feedback and a refined view of the issues a totally new survey of issues that affect the Adirondacks is now online.  Click on "Survey" at the left to register your opinion.

Undervaluation of State Land Conference

As a result of the surveys returned (see below), the AdkAction.org Steering Committee chose one key issue to focus on for 2008: the undervaluation of State land in the Adirondack Park.  The Committee organized a seminar for Town, Village and County officials and all interested citizens, advocacy groups, news organizations, etc.  This seminar was held August 22nd, 2008 from 10 - 4 at the Harrietstown Town Hall in Saranac Lake.  Town supervisors, assessors, advocacy groups, lake and homeowners' associations, and other public officials attended. A complete set of conference materials is to be found in the Tax Reform section of this website.

Register!

Thanks to the Upper Saranac Lake Association for a primer on how to register locally and what the legal considerations are for living in two places when you decide to vote in one or the other.

AdkAction.org's  survey for full-time and seasonal residents of the Adirondacks will be updated twice yearly.   The key issues to address which no less than 2/3 of all respondents replied "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" were:

·        Consolidation of overlapping village, town and county services

·        Broadband access throughout the Adirondacks

·        Improved state planning and oversight of water quality, control of invasive species, and  management of road salt and its environmental impacts

·        Fair and consistent property assessments for all residents, both local and seasonal

·        Strengthened enforcement of existing land and water use codes

·        Elimination of State-imposed and unfunded mandates

·        Property tax reform, including seeking alternative means to funding education and caps on property tax increases until a property is sold

·        More projects that generate jobs and attract visitors, like the Community Store, Adirondack Carousel, etc.

·        Control of boats moving from lakes with invasive species

·        State tax-equivalent support for State land, equal to private taxation levies

·        Control of “sprawl” through better planning and land use regulations, plus retail building and plaza size limits throughout the Park

·        Park-wide standards for personal watercraft use