Adirondack Explorer

Backcountry system opens woods to debate

Hopes of changes to forest preserve policy and management are informed by the sweater weave of three downhill backcountry ski trails and one uphill track on Jenkins Mountain. It is where a band of Adirondack Park enthusiasts joined forces and built a demonstration project, though they’re now butting heads on what it is demonstrating.

The Adirondack Powder Skier Association, through its leader Ron Konowitz, hopes the mountain trails will show backcountry ski routes are possible on forest preserve.

Adirondack Wilderness Advocates and Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve used Konowitz’s expertise to build the trails, but they’re not necessarily in support of his project. They view the trails purely as examples of visitor use management (VUM), a tool for making project decisions on forest preserve—state land with “forever wild” protection. Some backcountry trails run through the forest preserve, though the state doesn’t directly maintain them or address them in park policies.

The management and the policy demonstrations on the same mountain shared the same audience: the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Adirondack Park Agency. The DEC manages forest preserve lands; the APA is charged with protecting them.

The groups worked

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