Heart Lake Property Master Plan

Heart Lake Property Master Plan Review Working Group


HEART LAKE MASTER PLAN REVIEW WORKING GROUP
INTERIM REPORT
March 5, 2001

I. INTRODUCTION

Charge to the Working Group

At the Sept 9, 2000 Board of Directors meeting, President Sexton announced the formation of a Heart Lake Plan Review Working Group to undertake an independent review and evaluation of the June 2000 proposed amendments to the Heart Lake Master Plan and to report its findings and recommendations to the Board of Directors at the March 2001 meeting.

The Working Group was composed of a group of ADK members representing Chapters, Committees, Board members and resource persons. As an initial part of its charge, the Working Group prepared a detailed scope and terms of investigation.

Terms and Conditions for the Working Group and Subcommittees

There are important shifts in the proposed amendments that would impact the stewardship of the property.

  • The proposed merging of DEC and ADK visitor service facilities represents a logical move and affords the opportunity for an environmentally responsible solution to the user management issues at the South Meadow and Van Hoevenberg trailheads.
  • The proposal makes significant changes in the placement of guests on the property and envisions a greater number of principal buildings than had been present in the previous Heart Lake Master Plan.


This latter shift derives from the need to rehabilitate or replace the Loj structure, the perceived needs to provide improved accommodations for guests, and the need to respond to lodging cost and revenue trends at Heart Lake facilities. The Working Group considered the impact these changes might have with respect to their implications in the environmental community and the regulatory requirements these changes might encounter within the Adirondack Park Agency. It should also be noted that some within ADK expressed concern with the procedures that resulted in these proposed amendments.

Considering the size of the charge and the time for the investigation it was necessary to limit the scope of the review. The Working Group has made a best effort to fulfill the charge and has adjusted the extent and depth of the review accordingly. The work was subdivided, to allow several tasks or areas of review to proceed nearly simultaneously. A significant part of the Plan amendment deals with changes in visitor services facilities. Definition of these facilities was ongoing throughout the period of the review. The extent and form of lodging facilities depends upon roles to be served for member and public accommodation and for education and visitor outreach.

It's important to note that the Adirondack Park Agency unanimously approved the 1992 Heart Lake Master Plan with the appended conceptual findings and advice as set forth in the April 1, 1993 Agency staff Memorandum concerning the "Ten Year Master Plan". Given that the time span for the existing Master Plan runs out in April 2003, it is timely to begin the plan's review.

A Master Plan does not require the detail demanded of permit applications to modify existing or to construct new facilities. Rather, a Master Plan defines the envelope within which future facilities and resource uses may take place. The Plan defines limits such as the maximum numbers of structures and accommodations as well as the general location of facilities, for instance. However, the fundamental basis of a Master Plan for Heart Lake must be consistent with the Club's stewardship Mission and be fiscally responsible. For this reason, tests of operating feasibility and financial viability should be included in the evaluation of the Master Plan terms.
Any Master Plan for Heart Lake property must be consistent with the Club's Mission and with the Club's Strategic Plan. Of course, a successful Plan must satisfy Adirondack Park Agency Act requirements to be considered favorably by the Agency. In the possibility of conflict of purposes, state law and Agency interpretation do take precedence.

Basic Premises

As a matter of principle, and consistent with the Heart Lake Master Plan, development at Heart Lake should be coordinated with the minimum facilities necessary and appropriate to carry out ADK's programs. All development must be consistent with the Club's stewardship role at Heart Lake. Changes should be designed so as to minimize adverse environmental impacts. The level and type of development at Heart Lake should be of a nature that will not adversely impact ADK's credibility as an environmental advocacy organization.

The Club serves the following roles on the Heart Lake Property:

  1. Natural history and environmental education and backcountry skills programs
  2. Public Information and Outreach (Visitor Services parking and HPIC)
  3. Stewardship services (Trails and Summit Stewards housing)
  4. Public accommodation (Lodging and campsites for recreational users and for educational programs)

The proposed amendments to the Heart Lake Plan deal primarily with the change in visitor services facilities and change in the lodging for recreational and for educational programs. No change is envisioned in the stewardship services. The proposed changes would enhance lodging accommodations and food services. This latter change was envisioned in the 1993 Master Plan, but the scope of the enhancement proposed in the June 2000 amendments seems to be beyond that envisioned in 1993.

The review of the proposed amendments was organized to test each assumption as to what would make the Plan viable:

  • First from the Club mission and environmental side, then
  • from the financial side, and then
  • from the permitting/political relations side.

The scope of public accommodation for recreational users and educational participants is not a hard boundary; a balance must be selected such that all three tests of viability are met.

 

II. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Specific findings and recommendations are addressed within the reports of each subcommittee. There are some findings and recommendations that warrant emphasis and will be listed in this summary.

  1. The Working Group supports the concept of a joint ADK-DEC Visitor Services facility located on Heart Lake Property, presuming suitable financial and operating arrangements can be made between the parties.
  2. The Working Group supports the 1993 Master Plan for the Heart Lake Property that links facilities expansion to the Club’s educational goals for stewardship of the wilderness. The Education Center was the mission-based justification for an additional 30 beds on the property (see 1993 Master Plan, pp. 26-28, 34, 38-39, 43). Both the Education Committee and the North Country staff have indicated that ADK would like to have facilities available to accommodate all participants in educational programs to be held on the Heart Lake property. Should the on-going Education Program Needs assessment conclude that school groups should also be accommodated, the facilities would have to support this need.
  3. The Trails Cabin should continue to be used on the property for its original intended purpose. Other uses of the Trails Cabin should be subordinated in priority to the ADK's conservation mission to protect and restore backcountry trails and facilities to afford the recreational user a backcountry experience that does not degrade the resource.
  4. The Loj structure will, within the next few years, require rehabilitation to conform to the applicable building, fire, and electrical codes. A detailed evaluation of the existing Loj should be performed in order to determine whether or not it can be renovated, in whole, or in part (e.g. preserving the “great room”) if financially and structurally feasible, so as to serve the educational and recreational purposes of the property.
  5. The Loj structure as presently configured is dysfunctional and provides woefully inadequate facilities. Office space is cramped, bathroom facilities are inadequate and storage space is insufficient. The large eighteen-bed bunkroom should be abandoned as a sleeping facility. Occupancy trend in bunk bed use is low.
  6. Facilities and services offered at Heart Lake should be defined and sized to be consistent with the Club's Mission at Heart Lake; this includes education, stewardship and recreation, and must be compatible with the constraints imposed by the unique location adjacent to the High Peaks Wilderness Complex. ADK should set a high standard for stewardship of a prize natural resource.
  7. The Heart Lake property is not and should not be construed as a traditional motel or Bed & Breakfast (B&B). Accordingly, any marketing of the facilities should focus on ADK’s mission. The Loj is not in competition with nearby lodging facilities for guests. The purpose of the Loj should be to provide accommodations for recreational users and for educational programs, with priority given to Club members. Planned accommodations offered at Heart Lake should include a mix of private rooms with bath, semi-private rooms with shared bath, and 4 to 6 bed bunkrooms. ADK should take into consideration the type of facilities and the form of services offered by other not-for-profit organizations such as at Frost Valley, Craftsbury Center and Madawaska as models for Heart Lake facilities and services.
  8. Facilities and services at Heart Lake should be within the capital and operating fiscal capabilities of the Club; facilities should be self-supporting. Operations support may be derived from lodging and participant fees, annual grants and donations for natural history education and backcountry stewardship, and from endowment sources.
  9. Adequate offices for the staff functions are required at Heart Lake. Provision should be made for staff offices in the Visitor Services Facilities, at the Education Center and at the Loj.
  10. Provision for staff housing should be included in the Master Plan.
  11. As a general position, it is recommended that only essential DEC administrative and field functions be at the proposed Heart Lake Visitor Services Facility. The rest should remain at the Ray Brook facility or at Mt Van Hoevenberg.