Mysteries of the forest

Red Tavern Road cuts through the forest of the northwest Adirondacks, with privately owned timberlands governed by a conservation easement on one side and the state-owned Debar Mountain Wild Forest on the other side.

The contrast is striking.

On the south side, the green wall of maple, beech, birch, and balsam is thick and dark, giving way only in the treetops to blue sky above the East Branch of the St. Regis River.

This is part of the Forest Preserve, guaranteed by the state constitution to remain “forever wild.”

On the north side, a narrow strip of hardwoods along the road hardly conceals the thinned-out woods behind. At one spot is a large clear-cut—a field of bleached wood chips, with a few stumps and a pile of short, thick leftover logs in the landing area where logs were delimbed, sorted, cut, stacked, and trucked away. Several cleared swaths extend from the opening up into the woods.

“One concern is how difficult it is for the public to get information on what is required of the landowner, and where there is what form of public recreation allowed,”
—Willie Janeway, Adirondack Council

This is part of the Santa Clara Tract, timberlands covered by an easement that authorizes “sustainable” forestry and provides for public recreation. New York has invested tens of millions of dollars in conservation deals like this one over the decades, paying willing owners to restrict land uses while keeping the land in private hands.

But has the state gotten its money’s worth? It’s hard to say, because there’s limited public accounting of all that goes on in these woods.

“One concern is how difficult it is for the public to get information on what is required of the landowner, and where