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Conservation Update

Sept. 4, 2008

Plan Protects Catskills While Enhancing Recreational Opportunities

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has completed its revision of the Catskill Park State Land Master Plan, which balances new  outdoor recreation opportunities with better protections for one of New York's greatest natural resources.

The final plan, which creates a new Catskill wilderness area and expands existing wilderness, is a major victory for the Adirondack Mountain Club. Under the plan, the vast majority of hiking trails on the Catskill High Peaks will be in wilderness and be reserved exclusively for hiking.

At the same time, the plan will expand mountain biking opportunities in the Catskills with the creation of four primitive bike corridors on old roads through existing and new wilderness areas. New mountain bike areas will also be developed near Windham and Kingston. The plan will keep mountain bikes off steep and narrow hiking trails such as the Devil's Path and the Escarpment Trail. ADK does not oppose these primitive bike corridors as long as no additional corridors are created.

Under the plan, mountain bike use will be prohibited in all Catskill wilderness areas, which is consistent with the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. In areas of the Catskill Forest Preserve designated wild forest, mountain bikes will be permitted on all roads and trails unless such use is deemed unsuitable through the unit management plan (UMP) process.

Under the revised plan, the West Kill Wilderness will be expanded to include most of the Hunter Mountain Wild Forest, which will protect the summit of Hunter Mountain. In 1996, a proposed constitutional amendment would have taken the summit out of the Forest Preserve and allowed it to be developed as a private ski resort. ADK successfully opposed that plan, and the creation of the 27,000-acre Hunter West Kill Wilderness will make any future attempt to develop the summit much more difficult. The Spruceton Trail and fire tower were not included in the expanded wilderness area, but were added to the Rusk Mountain Wild Forest.

The plan also creates a new wilderness area, the 17,000-acre Windham Blackhead Range Wilderness, which combines the Blackhead Range and North Mountain wild forests with portions of the Windham High Peak and Black Dome wild forests. Seven named peaks over 3,000 feet are included in this new wilderness area: Black Dome, Blackhead, Thomas Cole, Acra Point, Windham High Peak, Stoppel Point and Burnt Knob. The wilderness classification will prohibit bicycle use on the narrow and steep Windham High Peak-Escarpment hiking trail.

In revising the plan, the DEC eliminated the so-called 2,700-foot rule, under which wild forest areas above 2,700 feet were managed as wilderness. Most of these areas have been designated as wilderness.

The revised plan also requires a camping permit for groups of more than 10. In wilderness areas, camping permits will not be issued for groups of more than 12 people. Additionally, the revised plan recommends that day users voluntarily limit their group sizes to 12 in wilderness areas and 20 in wild forest areas.

"In developing this plan, DEC carefully balanced the needs and desires of different recreational communities and the need to better protect the Catskill ecosystem," ADK Executive Director Neil Woodworth said. "The plan provides numerous opportunities for mountain biking in the Catskill Forest Preserve, but protects the most environmentally sensitive areas."

Read a pdf version of the final Catskill Park State Land Master Plan.

Read the DEC press release.