In December, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the state Office of Parks and Recreation presented a proposal - years in the making - to reconfigure snowmobile trails and use in the Adirondacks.The 404-page plan, called the Snowmobile Plan for the Adirondack Park, hasn't fully satisfied either constituency, and it is a long way from implementation. But feelings on both sides of the issue run high. The Post-Standard asked a snowmobiling advocate and an environmentalist to present their sides of the debate.Snowmobile use in the Adirondack Park is a legitimate recreational activity in the forest preserve. Snowmobiling also has a positive economic benefit for some communities in the Adirondacks, such as Old Forge. Yet, in the past few years, snowmobile use in the preserve has become a controversial activity due to changes in the design and operation of snowmobiles, which the snowmobile lobby argues require new methods for snowmobile trail construction and maintenance.Make no mistake: The current controversy surrounding snowmobiling in the Adirondack Park is not about the "right" to snowmobile. It's not about favoring one recreational user over another, and it has nothing to do with class warfare. This is not about "green" (muscle-powered recreation) or "brown" (pollution-powered recreation) tyranny. There are only two real issues here. One, the way snowmobile trails are managed in the forest preserve. Two, the level of public transparency and accountability for how changes to the regulations and policies that govern snowmobile use on the preserve are made by the state.Over the past 40 years snowmobiles have grown from machines that averaged 2 feet in width to more than 4 feet, from machines that could largely drive anywhere there was snow to machines that primarily require a groomed surface, and from a toy used in the backyard to a toy one uses on an extensive trail network. Whereas once a snowmobile could groom a trail by pulling a 3-foot wide drag, today Ford Explorer-sized tracked groomers are widely used to groom a 6- to 10-foot-wide surface.Snowmobiles today also reach much greater speeds. And snowmobile riders seek a touring experience where in one day they can ride 100 to 200 miles and find various services (gas, restaurants, bars) at regular intervals along the way.The Adirondack Park comprises roughly 2.7 million acres of public, constitutionally protected "forever wild" forest preserve lands. That includes 1.1 million acres designated as "wilderness," where motorized uses are prohibited, and 1.3 million acres designated as "wild forest," where mountain bikes, motor vehicles and snowmobiles are regulated. Snowmobilers want wider, flatter trails on the wild forest areas that link various services. Resistance arises when "snowmobile trails" are changed in such a way that they become de facto "roads." There are no real laws about how trails should be designed on private lands in the Adirondacks, where more than 70 percent of the snowmobile trails are located, but there are for the public forest preserve.The great majority of the "snowmobile trails" in the forest preserve are shared trails which in the winter months accommodate snowmobiles, but during the other three seasons are used by hikers. Where once a stepping stone bridge was needed to cross a small stream, snowmobiles require a long, 10-foot wide bridge. To accommodate the large groomers, all rocks protruding over 6 inches are removed from the trail, trees along the trailside are de-limbed up to 12 feet, and the trail surface is graded smooth for a width of 8 feet - up to 12 feet on hills or turns.River crossings require enormous bridges able to support the SUV-sized groomer, rather than cable suspension bridges common on hiking trails. Across the forest preserve, trails that once were hiked single file have been changed through "routine maintenance" so that now a group of four can walk shoulder to shoulder. These shared trails have become roads in violation of state laws. Compounding the problem is that all-terrain vehicles, which chew up trails, widely trespass on the snowmobile trails.Enter Gov. Pataki. Pegged as too green by Adirondack local government leaders because of his commitment to land protection, he did what politicians do and asked disgruntled local leaders what he could do for them in return. The response: Give us tourist trains and more snowmobiles. They could have had anything, but this is what was requested. In 2000, Pataki convened the "Snowmobile Focus Group" of local government leaders, snowmobile organizations, state officials and environmental organizations.The group met for three years but was unable to reach consensus. Then, in his last weeks in office, the governor released a final snowmobile plan for the Adirondack Park. It is largely a giveaway to snowmobile interests that would weaken the forest preserve while enhancing the snowmobile experience. The state officials who authored this plan tossed compromise to the winds of political expediency.The report makes a series of recommendations for wider, flatter snowmobile trails but does not say these changes can only be accomplished by changing state laws, policies or regulations. Such changes should be made through an open public process, not by an agency directive. It's now a mess for Gov. Spitzer to clean up.Peter Bauer is executive director of the non-profit group Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks.
