Adirondack Mountain Club

New York - New Jersey Trail Conference

Testimony on the 2008-2009 OPRHP Budget

October 30, 2007

The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC) are here today to advocate for additional resources for the stewardship of New York State’s magnificent state park system. Together, ADK and the NYNJTC represent over 100,000 hikers, paddlers, skiers and backpackers.

New York’s state park system provides visitors with a near wilderness experience that is often more accessible than the more distant lands of the Adirondacks and Catskills. State parks are also family friendly places for the public to learn more about how to safely recreate in the backcountry before they venture to the Adirondacks and Catskill.

Additional funds are critical to providing the public with an enjoyable backcountry experience. There is a great need for a hiking trail system in the magnificent lands of Sterling Forest State Park. Also, several of the hiking networks in state parks are in need of repair. For example, many of the old-style hiking trails lead straight up a mountain. Because of this design, water washes down the mountain like a stream and the trails becomes severely eroded. These trails then become dangerous and unappealing to the public. There are many examples of this problematic trail design in Harriman, Letchworth and Allegany State Parks. Funds are needed for professional trail crews, such as the ADK and NYNJTC crews, to relocate the trails using modern switchback designs to minimize erosion. These switchback trails are easier to protect and provide hikers of all ages with a more enjoyable experience.

There is also a great need to improve public access to hiking trails in state parks. For example, on NYS Route 9D near the Bear Mountain Bridge, there is limited and dangerous shoulder parking for the public to access Anthony’s Nose and the Breakneck Ridge.

Expanding public access opportunities for paddlers is also important. For example, at Castleton State Park, there are now kayak and canoe friendly facilities. It would be desirable to have such facilities all along the Hudson River, along the Erie Canal west to Buffalo and along the Finger Lakes and the Champlain Canal. Expanding public access to the state’s waterways would greatly boost tourism.

Lastly, additional resources are needed to enforce against ATV trespass on state park lands. Adequate enforcement is critical to protecting these lands from the devastating environmental impacts of illegal ATV use on protected lands.

Overall, for the reasons mentioned above, additional funds are essential for a state park system that is both environmentally sound and accessible to all New Yorkers.