Some reviews to continue into 2025
By Gwendolyn Craig
The Adirondack Park Agency, which oversees development in the 6-million-acre mix of public and private lands, reviewed some of the park’s most significant projects in recent years, with some unfinished business bleeding into 2025.
Private lands
The agency approved the expansion of Barton Mines, a sixth-generation garnet mine in Indian Lake and Johnsburg, located next to the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. The expansion was a win for a long-time community employer, as well as local government officials. Environmental groups and some neighbors thought the APA could have required stronger natural resource protections.
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NYCO Minerals, a subsidiary of the French company Imerys, also applied for an expansion to its mining operations at Oak Hill in Lewis. It hopes to blast and dig underground in a room-and-pillar setup. The project had not yet been approved by the APA board.
Also in Lewis, an engineering firm looking to test military canons contested the agency’s latest inquiries of its permit application, which has been in the works for more than three years. The APA board denied the applicant’s appeal. The permit, as of this publication, remained incomplete.
Large-scale solar projects continue to crop up, especially in the Champlain Valley. The APA approved this summer a 10-megawatt facility in Crown Point.
Public lands
The APA is in the process of revising the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, a policy document governing forest preserve. The agency proposed adding climate change mitigation, expanding accessible opportunities for people with disabilities, removing deadlines for unit management planning and for state use of motorized vehicles for removing non-conforming structures, among other things. The proposals received mixed feedback from the public, particularly concerning accessibility. Environmental groups worried the language could open the door for motorized access in wilderness, primitive and canoe areas.
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The park agency is also considering upgrades to the Olympic Regional Development Authority’s Mount Van Hoevenberg multi-sport complex just outside of Lake Placid. ORDA proposed several safety upgrades for athletes, maintenance crews and visitors, and enhanced mountain biking opportunities. The plan was out for public comment from October to November.
APA headquarters
The agency’s own headquarters remained in the news this year. The 2022 state budget designated $29 million for the agency’s headquarters, which currently sit on state administrative land in Ray Brook between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. In June 2023, APA Executive Director Barbara Rice spoke with the Explorer about her tentative plans to move the agency’s headquarters to the village of Saranac Lake, despite pushback from former and current staff. The Explorer filed a Freedom of Information Law request in April for a feasibility study that has been underway on the headquarters move, but the agency denied it this summer. It remains unclear when the study may be released, or when a decision will be made.
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