Over 150 citizens gathered for a public meeting at the Town of Webb Park Avenue Building in Old Forge on Monday, September 9 to discuss the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor with officials representing the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Transportation.

The purpose of the meeting was to gather comments from the public and stakeholder groups about “where we’ve been and where we might go” in regards to the corridor, a 119-mile rail line that runs from Remsen through Thendara, Big Moose, Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake to Lake Placid.

Rob Davies, Director of Division of Lands and Forests for the DEC and co-chair of this initiative, told the audience that their objective was to review the 1996 Unit Management Plan and determine whether it should be revised, amended, or remain as is.

He said the process was initiated due to communities in the North County reaching out over the last few years—in particular to DOT and DEC—expressing interest, one way or another, in the corridor.

“The UMP process provides a way to have this public discussion,” he said.

Ray Hessinger, Freight Rail Bureau Director for the Department of Transportation, and the other co-chair of this initiative, then presented a history of the corridor and development of the UMP.

He finished by summarizing key features in the existing UMP:

• Title to Corridor lands will remain with New York and the Corridor will retain ‘Travel Corridor’ status.

• Rail trackage will remain over the Corridor’s 119-mile length.

• Private enterprise can establish tourist, excursion, passenger and freight rail services along the Corridor. Rail development largely will depend upon privately secured funding sources.

• DEC will pursue recreational trail development, including hiking, bicycle and snowmobile trails compatible with rail use and with the environment, including deterring trespass on adjacent private land and preventing Corridor misuse.

Public comment will help to determine if these features are still valid, he said.

The officials then allowed for a limited amount of questions from the floor on the process of creating and revising a UMP.

Jennifer Potter Hayes, an Old Forge resident who participated in the development of UMP, noted that since the plan was completed a lot of positive things have happened on the corridor.

“What has changed to make you review this UMP that seems to be working in a very positive way?” she asked.

Her comment received a round of applause from the audience.

The response from officials that the “UMP process requires periodic reevaluation” was followed by a question about how much influence Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates (ARTA) had in opening up this process at this time.

“The dialogue going on between ARTA and rail supporters has been one of the factors that has brought us to review this. But at the same time, we are taking an independent look,” Davies said.

(ARTA, according to its website, is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to creating a world class recreation trail from Lake Placid to Old Forge, with a first implementation between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake.)

People were then asked to provide comments at one of four tables set up around the room with DOT and DEC representatives on-hand to answer questions and receive comments.

“What if the rails are taken up? Is it a given that snowmobiling would continue to be allowed on the corridor?” I asked.

“That’s an open question,” answered Davies.

Comments were also written on flip charts and posted on the wall while others were transferred to a slide and projected on a screen—with a number of different perspectives reflected.

“The railroad provides good opportunities for families, especially with young children. Big Moose has had a good economic boost with the rail company. Keep plan as is,” wrote Tom Bissell of Thendara.

“A trail would be a much greater economic engine than a railroad,” posted Clinton Thompson of Beaver River.

“Too much taxpayer money has been spent on maintaining a large portion of the rail that is not used. It provides no economic benefit,” read another. While another stated, “The current UMP is appropriate. Leave the rails and develop trails where possible.”

Other comments were offered randomly by those in attendance, many who were dissatisfied with the meeting’s format and disappointed they didn’t have a chance to hear other people’s comments.

“They should have given us an opportunity to speak to the group,” said Greg Clark of Inlet, adding that the state ought to provide some financial facts regarding both options.

But Ted Christodara of Inlet thought the meeting went well and was well attended from both sides of the issue.

“To me, it’s an economic factor as to why the rails should be ripped up and turned into trails. It becomes a multi-community trail connector vs. a trail connector that only stops where the railroad does,” he said.

If the Commissioners do decide to revise the UMP, a structured process would follow which could potentially be wrapped up in a year or two depending on resources put into it, according to Stephen Litwhiler, Citizen Participation Specialist with the DEC.

A second public meeting was held in Ray Brook on Tuesday, September 10 to an audience of similar size.

Two other meetings are scheduled for next week. One will be held on Monday, September 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Utica at the State Office Building, 207 Genesee Street and the other will be on Tuesday, September 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Wild Center, 45 Museum Drive, in Tupper Lake.

Written comments can be submitted until September 25th by email to NYSTravelCorridor
@dot.ny.gov, or faxed to (518) 457-3183 or mailed to Raymond F. Hessinger, Director, Freight & Passenger Rail Bureau, NYS Department of Transportation, 50 Wolf Road, POD 54, Albany, NY12232.