Honor Adirondack Park Anniversary

Senate Resolution No. 2773 BY: Senator LITTLE COMMEMORATING the 125th Anniversary of Adirondack State Park WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that the continuing welfare of the citizens of this great Empire State is greatly enriched and reliably served by the good works and purposeful endeavors of those municipal facilities which remain committed to the educational and recreational needs of its citizens and visitors to the State of New York; and WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of Adirondack State Park; and WHEREAS, Of all the natural wonders about which New Yorkers can boast, the largest and most breathtaking is the Adirondack State Park; and WHEREAS, The boundary of the Adirondack Park, which occupies much of northern New York, encompasses more than six million acres, making it the largest park in the continental United States, larger than Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon and Great Smokey Mountains national parks combined; and WHEREAS, About half of the Adirondacks consists of homes, towns, camps, farms, timberlands and businesses that are in private hands; there are 120,000 permanent residents who live in numerous hamlets in the Park; the rest, an estimated three million acres, belongs to the people of New York, and always will, thanks in part to the determination of a man named Verplanck Colvin; and WHEREAS, In 1870, Colvin, a lawyer and naturalist from Albany, challenged himself to make the first recorded ascent of Seward Mountain, near Lake Placid; by the time he reached the peak, he was able to view the damage being left by the clear-cutting practices of the logging industry; and WHEREAS, Not only was the pristine forest being destroyed, but as Colvin learned through subsequent explorations, the clear-cutting threatened the viability the Adirondack watershed; this, in turn, threatened to disrupt the operations of the Erie Canal, the waterway that was essential to the state's economy; and WHEREAS, Verplanck Colvin, who devoted the rest of his life to mapping and preserving the region, argued for the creation of a state forest; almost two decades passed before Governor Roswell P. Flower established the boundaries of the Adirondack Park; and WHEREAS, On May 20, 1892, the Adirondack Park was created by the New York State Legislature; a blue line was drawn around this massive area, and now the Blue Line, synonymous with the park itself, encircles six million acres of public and private land; and WHEREAS, Two years later, the state constitution was amended to preserve the purity of the Adirondack Park region in perpetuity; and WHEREAS, Today this remarkable achievement is visible for all to see as this spectacular treasure encompasses 3,000 lakes and ponds, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, vast forested lands and astonishing peaks, including Mount Marcy, the highest point in the state; and WHEREAS, Furthermore, there are 53 species of mammals in the Park, including moose, bears, beavers, fox, skunks, and a wide variety of birds; there are 2,000 miles of hiking trails, 10,500 miles of snowmobile trails and ample opportunities for fishing, hunting, trapping, boating, camping, skiing, bobsledding, and snow tubing; and WHEREAS, In an effort to protect and preserve Adirondack State Park's Forest Preserve, a 20,758-acre Boreas Ponds Tract was added in

2016, the final transaction which completed the single largest land acquisition to the Adirondack Forest Preserve in more than a century; and WHEREAS, Throughout the seasons, Adirondack State Park is a destination much appreciated by the residents of northern New York and visitors who seek the historical, cultural, and recreational resources of the area; it is a source of pride and community heritage to all the people of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of Adirondack State Park; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to Basil Seggos, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.