A forestry program would be awesome. There should be plenty of room on 36K acres for that and many other sustainable land use and outdoor recreation programs. A blend of conservation and preservation would be ideal. IMO of course
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The BREIA trail system is a nice example of a wealthy benefactor setting up and maintaining multiple tracts of land for the general population to use as well as foster outdoor education experiences for our youth.
BREIA is a not-for-profit corporation funded by Butler Conservation Inc., as a gift to the people of New York. Access to the trails and facilities is free, and donations are not accepted. The trails remain open throughout the year and offer hiking / biking opportunities during the warm seasons, and snowshoeing / cross-country skiing in the winter months.
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BREI is not just about the groomed trails and hut system, which are totally free for all of every exprerience level to use by the way. The original benefactor also paid for and established the very nice facility the local SAR team continues to use, and BREIA provides funding and equipment for free X-C ski rental each year on the trails from the SAR building. Each week during the winter there is a ski program for school kids from many area schools, and a summer kayaking education class during the summer. There is also a farm with exotics to see, and a bike trail system as well."Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman
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While I love BREIA and their facilities, they are not immune to issues with the public. One of their huts was burned down a few years back. They rebuilt, but if that was on state land John Q. Public would be pointing the finger at someone.
Also, and in this instance, the hope is that this tract would be added to the existing wilderness to create a much larger wilderness, or at least that's been the goal for many years. BREIA is not constrained to such things as wilderness areas are and they groom trails with snowmobiles, so it's not motorless.
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Originally posted by montcalm View PostBREIA is not constrained to such things as wilderness areas are and they groom trails with snowmobiles, so it's not motorless."Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman
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Originally posted by Wldrns View PostWhile I am definitely not pro snowmobile or ATV by any means, sometimes you have to just grit your teeth and concede a little to get a specialized job done with the tool best suited and necessary for the job at hand. I am not above riding on a DEC UTV at the direction of a Ranger to get into a SAR incident scene either. BREIA trails are not in any designated wilderness areas, and the XC trails are beautifully maintained and track groomed.
This property is a prime wilderness paddling connector, as I'm sure you know.
I'm trying not to let my personal want for more long distance canoe trips in the park cloud my vision but I can't not mention it.
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Back to the idea of a private owner allowing public access:
Yes, it's been done before and it's actually awesome i.e. BREIA. But I'm not sure BREIA makes any money except through grants, so I'm really not sure how long it'll be around. There's no information in that regard - we don't know who owns it, that's private information and not disclosed. We can see the board members, but I'm not sure they're able to discuss that. Anyway, point being, it could be sold or closed at any time.
I also don't think that you could even break even with that kind of thing as a private owner. Many of these types will not want to simply donate their time and money into running a business that they have to dump money into every year, and it certainly won't be sustainable.
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It's very doable if it could become a multi-use area. The owners would have to be forward thinking and flexible with their plans. The agencies would need to be the same in their review during the approval and permitting process. The public would also have to learn to compromise and be willing to give and take. There would be no room for hard liners from any side. A multi-use area could be like a microcosm of the Adirondack Park..a blend of features that are attractive to a variety of users. Imo, smart planning, with a mix of preservation, conservation, and low impact development components would be pretty cool
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Yeah...
I don't get it. Seems just like pipe dreaming. Do you have the actual ideas on how this could work in reality? Do you have the means to purchase the property and make it happen?
Saying things like it will have to have "smart" planning doesn't really do much for me. That's subjective and the only smart idea is the one that works.
Speculating that someone "could" do this, when there's no prospect of anyone actually doing it isn't really productive in conserving the land and making it accessible to the public.
Personally, I'm not against it being purchased by a private individual. That very may well happen and I'll go back to my world as it was when this was off the table.
What I'd hate to see is anything turned to development, which I doubt will happen... but it's always a possibility in private hands.
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So St. Regis, not to poo-poo your ideas, but here's a number of things small groups can do to make a big difference:
Organize volunteer groups to help clean, repair and build
Set up a not-for-profit that does fund raising that goes directly to hiring Stewards to educate and assist Rangers in issuing violations (they cannot, but they can direct the Ranger's attentions).
Support advocacy groups that donate money into improving the existing infrastructure i.e. trails, lean-tos, latrines and educating the public on LNT
These things all work and make our public lands better for everyone, and help to conserve these areas.
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Originally posted by TCD View PostI hope Jack Ma or some other private buyer gets this. If it ends up with the state, they will take my money to buy it (and I don't really want it). And they will destroy the beautiful, historic buildings, open it to the public, and let it become a mud pit.
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