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November Ballot Propositions Could Settle Adirondack Land Disputes

Jay Mountain Wilderness
Nancie Battaglia
/
adirondackexplorer.org

Access to land in the Adirondacks can pit private interests against the public, but a proposition on the November election ballots seeks to help ease tense situations near Raquette Lake.

Proposal Four on the ballot hopes to settle legal disputesbetween New York State and private land owners. 216 land titles would be cleared to private land holders, following the payment of a fee that the State says will help it acquire lands beneficial to the area's Forest Preserve.

Proposal Five would enact a trade in landbetween NYCO Minerals, which wants to operate a mine in the Forest Preserve Parcel known as "Lot 8," in the Jay Mountain wilderness, and environmental groupswho argue that the case could set a dangerous precedent for future development of wild lands.

Adirondack Club president Willie Janeway said his organization backs the two proposals during a conference with reporters:

NYCO says that if it cannot make trades for access to areas rich in wollastonite (a raw material in many ceramics, plastics, rubber, and other materials), it will be forced to close its current operations in the area. Currently, the company's mining operations have a few years of life left, but gaining access to the properties in question would extend its presence in the area for another eight to ten years, preserving more than 100 jobs. The land swap would give up about 200 acres to NYCO, in exchange for 1500 acres.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.
Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.