State Land
The Adirondack Park has approximately 2.9 million acres of publicly-owned state lands. Many of these areas include vast tracts of protected forests, pristine waterways, and rare ecosystems, as well as recreational opportunities that draw millions of visitors annually. To protect and manage these lands, the Adirondack Park Agency conducts state land planning and administers the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. This is done in partnership with the Department of Environmental Conservation, which carries out the day-to-day management of state lands in the Park.
From wilderness protection to trail building to camping opportunities, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan guides decision-making for nearly 2.9 million acres of state land in the Adirondack Park.
The unifying theme of the plan is that the protection and preservation of the natural resources must be paramount. Human use and enjoyment of those lands should be permitted and encouraged so long as the resources in their physical and biological context as well as their social or psychological aspects are not degraded.
Flowing from this, the master plan guides decision making about how land areas are protected, where trails can be built, and so on and so forth. If you’ve visited the Park to hike, paddle, camp, or otherwise enjoy state lands, then you’ve seen the results of this document in-action.
State lands in the Adirondack Park are defined as “lands held in the name of, owned by or under long-term lease to the State of New York or a state agency’. This includes:
- Substantially all of the approximately 2.9 million acres of land administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation, which form part of the Adirondack forest preserve and are protected by the "forever wild" clause of Article XIV, §l of the State Constitution.
- Travel corridors owned in fee, easement, or right-of-way for state and interstate highways and certain railroad corridors within the Park, including administrative headquarters, storage areas and maintenance facilities.
- A variety of developed uses such as State Police substations, the Adirondack Correctional Facility, the Dannemora Correctional Facility, Camp Gabriels and the Lyon Mountain Correctional Facility, and the Sunmount Developmental Center.
These lands are managed by the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, which the Agency administers.
State lands in the Adirondack Park are classified by the Agency according to "their characteristics and capacity to withstand use." Simply put, when reviewing a land unit, a combination of physical, biological, human, and pre-existing factors are considered to determine what sort of uses that area can handle.
This could include, for example, considering the depth of soil, the potential effects of hikers or campers near the habitats of endangered species, or the accessibility of a tract of land to a public highway.
From this, there are nine state land classifications:
- Wilderness
- Primitive
- Canoe
- Wild Forest
- Intensive Use
- Historic
- State Administrative
- Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers
- Travel Corridors
The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan provides descriptions for each land classification.
The Adirondack Park Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation work together to ensure that these lands are managed and protected.
On a basic level, the APA oversees state land planning and administers the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, while the DEC carries out day- to-day management of state lands. This relationship is defined by the State Land Master Plan and a memorandum of understanding between the agencies.
In practice, this plays out like so: when a new parcel of state land is acquired in the Park, the first step involves the APA classifying it based on a variety of characteristics, including acreage, soils, slopes, elevation, and water resources, all of which inform the land’s capacity to withstand use. The Agency also takes into account “intangible” characteristics, things like remoteness and opportunities for solitude. This determines what sort of use is allowed based on what that area can handle environmentally, how it was used before, and so on.
Once this is established, the DEC develops a unit management plan (UMP) that matches this classification, which in turn determines everything from trail building to lean-to placement to conservation strategies. The APA must review each new and revised UMP for conformance with the State Land Master Plan before it can be finalized.
When the DEC encounters a state land management need or issue that isn’t covered in a UMP, they may consult with the APA to determine a solution that aligns with the Master Plan. This relationship allows both Agencies to support one another while working to protect and manage the Adirondack Park.
Memorandum Of Understanding Between The Adirondack Park Agency And The Department Of Environmental Conservation Concerning Implementation Of The State Land Master Plan For The Adirondack Park