Posted on 11/01/2013 1:32:54 PM PDT by NYer
NEW YORK – When New York State voters go to the polls next Tuesday, besides choosing candidates in their local and county elections, they will be asked to vote yes or no on six constitutional amendment propositions, two of which are land exchanges.
Proposition 4 would amend the the state Constitution to authorize the Legislature to settle longstanding disputes between the state and private entities over ownership of certain parcels of land in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County. In exchange for giving up its claim to disputed parcels, the state would get land to be incorporated into the forest preserve that would benefit the forest preserve more than the disputed parcels currently do. The proposed amendment would permit the state to settle the so-called “Township 40 claims” and clear local land titles in exchange for funding to purchase land the state has long wanted to add to Adirondack Park.
Proposition 5 would allow NYCO Minerals, Inc., a private company, to continue its mining operations in the town of Lewis, Essex County. The state Constitution generally forbids the lease, sale, exchange, or taking of any forest preserve land. But the proposed amendment would allow the state to convey approximately 200 forest preserve acres to NYCO Minerals for mining. In exchange, NYCO Minerals would give the state at least the same amount of land of at least the same value, with a minimum assessed value of $1 million. This land would be added to the forest preserve. When NYCO Minerals finishes mining, the company would restore the condition of the land it received in the exchange and return it to the forest preserve.
The proposed amendment also would allow NYCO Minerals to test to determine the quantity and quality of the mineral to be mined on the land before the exchange occurs. It would require NYCO Minerals to give the state its test results so that the state can use them to determine the value of the land to be conveyed to NYCO Minerals. The proposed amendment also would require that if, after testing, NYCO Minerals does not want the forest preserve land, the company still must give the state at least the same amount of land of at least the same value of the land that was disturbed by the testing. This land would be incorporated into the forest preserve.
Former Governor George Pataki has endorsed both propositions. In an op/ed piece for The Journal News, he said Proposition 4 would “end over 100 years of costly legal disputes and bring into the Forest Preserve a beautiful parcel of land.”
Pataki called Proposition 5 “a rare opportunity to expand the Forest Preserve near Lake Placid while helping to protect 100 jobs that are extremely important to the region.”
However, while Protect the Adirondacks! Inc. a nonprofit dedicated to the protection and stewardship of lands in the Adirondack Park, supports Prop 4, it opposes Prop 5.
“It sets a terrible precedent for the Forest Preserve,” the group states on its website. “The bill language is vague with too many uncertainties. The Forest Preserve lands to be exchanged with NYCO are old growth forests, and NYCO has long planned to move from its Lewis mine to a new fully permitted mine nearby called Oakhill, which ensures its long-term mineral supply.”
If someone has a NY ping list, please ping it!
According to Wikipedia ... The park covers some 6.1 million acres (2.5×106 ha), a land area roughly the size of Vermont and greater than the National Parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains combined.
Does NY really need to grow this park?!! What about the cost of maintaining the existing land? Your thoughts?
Ping!
They would`ve been able to come right into your own private stand of woods on your own property without notice nor warrant to declare it part of the PARK if they hadn`t gotten sued and lost to an Oneida (?) county homeowner few years back-
The govt does not need this land and has no right to it-
- It`s just an excuse to put more NAZI/Cuomunista trooper rangers everywhere in the woods so they can spy and arrest you.
Up here they have 2 park rangers west of us every 500 yards in Town Land jurisdiction just sitting there watching everyone that comes thru hiking etc.
Never had them before recently- DEC has its own armed military force here complete with armored vehicles, dogs, aircraft and automatic weapons- FOR WHAT????!!! NIP IT IN THE BUD!
Confucious Say:
Beware of Democrats Offering To Help You Or Make Things Better.
I don't know what to make of these votes....I hope the state isn't just getting away with some sleek deals for "friends"...
IIRC, King George is the largest private land owner in the Adirondacks. If George is for it, these propositions will enrich him even more.
I hate these things, they always sound so good. I am against the growth of the parks, they control too much land already.
I am against anything that this God-forsaken state legislature puts forward. It always means more power in the hands of the government and the citizens get screwed.
Agreed. Perhaps I am confusing this with something else but doesn't park maintenance necessarily include some type of controlled burn of dead wood to prevent forest fires? Is this done in the Adirondack State Park?
I don’t know anymore, the enviro wackos have stopped in many places.
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