There are probably not two different public lands in the Northeastern United States that are more different then the Adirondack Park and the Allegheny National Forest.
The Adirondack Park’s Forest Preserve is one of the country’s largest wild forests, which basically is a wilderness area with very limited roads and motorized recreation or activity. Over half of the forest is totally free of motors of all sorts, from cars, trucks, boats, ATVs, and snowmobiles, to even generators used up at camp. No trees can ever be cut in Adirondack Forest Preserve, most uses and recreation are limited to current uses, and only are to become more restictive in the future. All use is strictly controlled by detailed regulations created by the State Department of Environmental Conservation and AdirondacK Park Agency, and public use is very restricted.
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The Allegheny National Forest has extensive road system, is extensive logged, and used for oil and natural gas production. It offers extensive developed recreation, including dozens of campgrounds, several ATV trails, hundreds of miles of truck trails and other roads, boat launches, and basically any other use one can imagination for a public lands. It literally has more oil and gas wells then all other USDA-administer National Forests across the nation, combined. The land is largely on a grid, and where it’s not, the land has many roads following natural contours. Wilderness areas are a relatively small portion of the area.
Which philsopohy of land management is better?
Environmental purists would prefer the park, because the landscape is more prestine, and vastly less trambled by man. Man-made uses, such as roads and roadside-campsites are limited largely to near roads, and wilderness areas have limited trails, with only a few lean-tos and backcountry campsites.
Conservationists in many cases would prefer the Allegheny National Forest. They would note the diversity of land uses, and that while it’s a largely wild landscape, with people primarily coming to visit, it also provides our economy with valuable products, such as timber, oil and gas. Recreational activities like all-terrian vehicles, scenic driving, and camping are offered, far more extensively then in New York Forest Preserve.
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I sometimes cringe when I look at the aerial photographs of Allegheny National Forest, or study the road maps. It looks like the entire ecosystem and forest is engineered. You can see the impacts of oil and gas drilling, and timber production — both which require a lot of roads, that don’t exist in Adirondack Park.
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However, due to lack of roads, and lack of facilities in most of Adirondack Park, use of land is largely limited to areas within 5-10 miles of existing public roads. A lot of true backcountry is too far back to pratically expect most people to ever go. Some activities — like ATV riding on public lands is non-existent. Camping activities are fairly restricted to designated spots along roadsides, at state campgrounds, and certain back country locations.
While there is a lot to like about having some wilderness areas — like the Adirondack Park, when you review the regulations and policies the state has created for the goverence of the park, you have to wonder if they have gone too far. Some true wilderness areas are wonderful, but are there too much wilderness? Do restrictions on development of public lands leave too much restricted?
I don’t know. The Adirondack Park is a delight, a great wild space, but it does seem sometimes that are state goes too far in restricting public use, and walling off all the lands from ever having any timber cut, or any new facilities developed under public demand.
A secret of the Adirondack State Land Master Plan is that well over 90% of the lands officially dedicated as Wild Forest are actually forever: wilderness, even though it’s not called that.
Here is why from Adirondack State Land Master Plan:
4. Public use of motor vehicles will not be encouraged and there will not be anymaterial increase in the mileage of roads and snowmobile trails open to motorized use bythe public in wild forest areas that conformed to the master plan at the time ofits original adoption in 1972.
That language basically makes it clear that no new roads or truck trails will be created in Adirondack Forest Preserve. Therefore, except for a handful existing roads, the vast majority of lands of Adirondack Forest Preserve will forever remain free of motor vehicles and snowmobiles (in winter). The milage of snowmobile trails and truck trails will only decline in coming years, strictly fitting into defination of “wild forest”.
Moreover per the consitution:
The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.
Therefore per the consitution, no timber may be removed or destroyed in the forest preserve, which means the consitution explicitly prohibits any new road from being constructed in the forest preserve, except where an existing road exists. You can’t build a new road through the forest without cutting timber.
The only constraint from designating all of Adirondack Wild Forest as wilderness, is some of the parcels are smaller, and there a minimal roads going to campsites, lakes, destinations, and private lands throughout the park, mostly low-speed forest preserve roads, with minimal use.
… no roads, no timber cutting = wilderness area
The Little River offers some interesting kayaking opportunities, and can be part of a roadside camping experience at Streeter Lake in Aldrich. Here is a map, you can click to expand and print up.
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Streeter Lake is a smaller pond, but offers some interesting fishing and kayaking opportunities when camping along Streeter Lake Road.
Near Number 4 is Francis Lake on Stillwater Road. It’s not the world’s largest lake, but it does offer some interesting kayaking with good views, as you paddle around this lake. There are some private inholdings along the lake, but most of the lake is pretty wild.
Click above to download the high resolution version of map for printing…
Pictures of the Trip…
To get to Woodhull Lake, you have to take McKeever Road from NY 28 in McKeever (1/2 mile before it crosses the Moose River, then drive back about 6 miles on a dirt truck trail known as Wolf Lake Landing Road. You put in at Wolf Lakes Landing, which is named after one of the lakes that Woodhull Lake covered when it was dammed up to form a larger lake to provide water supply to the Erie Canal.
While the road is fairly well maintained one-lane gravel truck trail, one creek crossing is a bit eroded from the rains of 2011. There are roughly 6 designated roadside campsites along the road, with minimal to no facilities that you can camp at. You can drive all but an 1/8th of a mile up to Woodhull Lake, where the road is gated off, from there you have to carry your kayak or canoe to the lake on the gravel road. Consider using wheels on your kayak to assist on this portage.
Here is a map of Woodhull Lake. Consider clicking on it, for a high-resolution map that you can print up, put in a plastic bag and use on the trip like I did. It works really well like this, and I think this map prints out to be nice and high resolution, especially if you have a color printer.
Here are two different maps of Powley Place, the portion of the East Canada Creek that is navigable for a couple of miles, bar the beaver dams you’ll either have to portage around or go right over.
