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April 10, 2010
A Denton Publication
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Local governments not ready to endorse land acquisition By Jon Alexander denpubs@denpubs.com LAKE PLACID — Despite pleas from the environmental community, Adirondack local governments were hesitant last week to drop their calls for a moratorium on state land acquisitions. At a panel discussion on the future of the Adirondack Park Economy, Open Space Institute Board member Joe Martens said Gov. David Paterson chose to strip $67 million from the Environmental Protection Fund tagged for land purchases not because of budgetary constraints, but because Albany is sick of the constant ranker caused by the land buys. “Is it just because the state’s broke? Maybe. I would be the first to admit that land acquisition is a tough sell when the state has a $10 billion deficit,” Martens said. “But I think it’s more than that. Could it be that some of the contentiousness about snowmobile plans, agency appointments and UMPs have soured Albany’s appetite for buying more land in a place where people would rather fight than win?” The state Senate has proposed to reinstate the EPF funds. Environmentalists argue state land acquisitions are the essential component of the region’s economy and the resource that draws people and cash to the park. But Hamilton County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Farber noted the chances of local officials jumping on the “buy Forest Preserve bandwagon” isn’t likely in the near future. “That would be a heavy lift, it’s not to say it would never happen,” Farber said. “Right after the proposed moratorium came out we met with the environmental groups and I said look, if we don’t stop fighting over everything and start to break down to the pinch points, it’s always going to be absolute opposition – your side versus our side.” Adirondack Local Government Review Board Executive Director Fred Monroe lauded the Nature Conservancy’s 2007 purchase of 161,000 acres of former Finch Pruyn property because significant local government input was taken into account. Because of the wants of the six county boards and over a dozen towns involved with the massive parcel, nearly 100 miles of snowmobile trails are to be constructed and scores of hunting and fishing cabins will be spared. And Martens said acquisition-based green groups are still learning. “We try in every case to work with the communities and we are learning more along the way,” he said. Leases are not allowed on state-owned Forest Preserve.
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Pendragon show benefits WCS SARANAC LAKE — The Wildlife Conservation Society, Pendragon Theatre, and the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts will present a reading of Stephen Svoboda’s award-winning comedy, “The Penguin Tango” on Sunday, April 18 at the Pendragon Theatre. In this side-splitting, screwball comedy, inspired by actual events at the Bremerhaven, Brooklyn, and Central Park Zoos, a community of penguins is hilariously turned upside down by sex, stereotypes, and soggy sardines. The play is based on the controversy about Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins living at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo, which flared in 2004, leading to an international debate about gay behavior in a variety of animal species. The performance is a fundraiser for WCS’ Adirondack Program, located just next door to the Pendragon Theater in Saranac Lake. The cast will feature Steve Hayes and John Bixler, two actors from the award winning Off-Broadway production, and performers from around the region including Jordan Hornstein, Jamie Strader, Ben Strader, Ryan Leddick, Brian O’connor, and Jenn King. This event is free; an optional donation to WCS’ Adirondack Program will be collected at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the staged reading will begin at 7 p.m. Please arrive by 6:45 p.m. to be seated for the start of the production. Seats will be first come, first served. After the play, head next door to WCS’ Adirondack offices, where light refresh-
Chris Teutsch and Steve Hayes are performing in the original 2006 production of “The Penguin Tango” in the New York International Fringe Festival. Hayes is one of two stars from the Off-Broadway production joining a local cast that will read the play April 18 at the Pendragon Theatre. The show is a benefit for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Photo Courtesy of Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts
ments will be served, playwright Stephen Svoboda will offer a talk-back about his creation, and “Birds of a Feather,” a short Daily Show clip
featuring the gay penguin controversy, will be shown. For more information contact the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts at 352-7715
or visit www.adirondackarts.org. Learn more about the Wildlife Conservation Society at www.wcs.org.
Momentum gaining for Adirondack ‘economic zone’ By Chris Morris denpubs@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — The notion of establishing an economic zone within the Adirondack Park is gaining momentum. Several weeks ago, the newlyformed Adirondack Caucus began floating the idea of an in-park economic development program, something akin to the now-defunct Empire Zone program. The caucus, which consists of state Senators and Assembly members representing districts either wholly or partially in the park, said the Empire Zone program had features that could work if applied on a smaller scale. Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward belongs to the Adirondack Caucus.
“What we envisioned was taking some of those ideas that came through various economic programs across the state – like tax credits and other things that are already out there,” she said. “But almost everything that’s available out there is premised on the creation of jobs. And many, many times you have to add 25 or 50 jobs to take part in any of these economic benefit programs; and that just doesn’t fit in our area.” When Sayward and state Senator Betty Little first introduced the Adirondack Caucus and the notion of an Adirondack economic zone, the group only had support from fellow upstate Republicans. But last week, the caucus got backing from the Common Ground Alliance – a large, park-wide coalition of elected officials, environmental groups and private stake-
holders. Ross Whaley of the Adirondack Landowners Association pushed the notion of an “Excelsior Zone” program for the park at the Adirondack Local Government Conference in Lake Placid. “What if we had the equivalent of Empire Zones that worked for rural areas, so the focus was on businesses of four or five people instead of businesses of a hundred or more people?” he asked. “If the power was an economic power in that term ‘Empire Zone,’ as opposed to a political power; that makes sense. Let’s pass it because it makes a difference, rather than because it seems to be the politically correct thing to do.” John Sheehan is spokesman for the Adirondack Council. He said there’s no conflict between boosting small businesses and continu-
ing to protect environmental resources. And, like Whaley and Sayward, he thinks an Adirondackspecific economic zone would benefit everyone involved. But for Sheehan, the most exciting aspect of the discussion is the chance for historically at-odds groups to work together toward a common goal. He notes that the last time different organizations got together, the results were positive. “I think it’s already proven to be effective in that we already defeated the Governor ’s proposal to stop paying taxes on the Forest Preserve a couple years ago,” Sheehan said. “That was the first time we saw that working together was for the benefit of everybody. Given the fact most of the leadership in Albany is run by folks south of Westchester County, it makes it im-
perative that groups in the Adirondacks get along in order to reach common goals.” Sayward notes the Empire Zone program wasn’t a complete failure – so as the legislation is drafted, she doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel. “We’ll certainly look at the Adirondack Council’s ideas and the ideas that come out of the Common Ground Alliance as we move forward with this bill, and we’ll pick the best ideas and downsize them to fit the park’s needs,” she said. As the Adirondack Caucus continues drafting its bill, the Common Ground Alliance has sent a letter to Governor David Paterson’s office calling on him to create a new economic development program for rural areas.