Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve Encourages a Yes vote on Proposal 3. Group Encourages No on Proposal 1.

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1 For Immediate Release October 17, 2017 Contact: David Gibson, Or Dan Plumley, or Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve Encourages a Yes vote on Proposal 3. Group Encourages No on Proposal 1. The nonprofit wild lands advocate and educator Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve encourages a Yes vote on Proposal 3, the Forest Preserve Public Health and Safety Land Account, to be found on the November 7 ballot. The organization also encourages a No vote on Proposal 1, the question of a State constitutional convention. Proposal 1: Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution, and amend the same? The legislative process is much preferred to a convention because of the time two legislatures allow to consider if exceptions to our irreplaceable Forest Preserve are in the public s interest. A convention simply doesn t allow enough time for proper debate and deliberation, states Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve s resolution in opposition. While we entrust Article XIV, the so-called forever wild clause, to the people, the rules governing election of delegates to a convention favor the well-

2 connected and the well-funded who may not appreciate or be inclined to enthusiastically support the vital watershed and other non-commercial values of the Forest Preserve in both the Adirondacks and the Catskills, said Adirondack Wild s David Gibson. Article XIV, Section 1, NYS Constitution "New York already has a process for amending Article XIV when deemed necessary and in the public interest, said Adirondack Wild s Vice Chair Chris Amato. In stark contrast to a constitutional convention, the current amendment process requires passage by two successive legislatures followed by a public referendum. This type of transparent and considered process is far superior to the one-shot political wheeling and dealing that would characterize a constitutional convention.

3 The cost of a convention also cannot be justified given that constitutional questions and amendments can be considered through the annual legislative process, added Adirondack Wild s Dan Plumley. Proposal 3: The Forest Preserve Public Health and Safety Land Account enables public utility Improvements along local highways bordered by the forever wild NYS Forest Preserve. Currently, Forest Preserve frontage along local highways in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks can hinder or block highway and bridge improvements needed to enhance the safety of the traveling public as well as the location of public utilities, including broadband communications, important to local communities in rural areas of these parks. The amendment to Article XIV, Section 1 creates a 250-acre land account for withdrawal of very small acreages of forest preserve in both Adirondack and Catskill Parks needed to eliminate dangerous highway curves and grades and for bridge improvements, and to locate water supply wells and bicycle lanes where justified. It also authorizes public utility lines limited to electric, telephone, broadband, water supply and sewer lines to be buried or co- located along such highways where forest preserve currently hinders these improvements. Proposal 3 is a narrowly defined and compelling amendment with important public purposes of health, safety and improved utility and telecommunications, says Adirondack Wild s managing partner David Gibson. We strongly endorse it and encourage a yes vote on Proposal 3 come November 7. Proposal 3 will solve urgent, longstanding problems along rural highways in both Adirondack and Catskill Parks in an environmentally responsible way, added Adirondack Wild s Dan Plumley, a resident of Keene in the High Peaks region.

4 Middleton Bridge across the Schroon River in Horicon must be replaced, but State Land currently blocks its relocation. A Yes vote on Proposal 3 would allow the Town to apply to the Forest Preserve Public Health and Safety Land Account to relocate the bridge without the need for a separate constitutional amendment Adirondack Wild cites the two years of intense negotiations that it took to define and limit what would be allowed along these highways to just the most compelling health and safety purposes as one reason why it opposes a constitutional convention. Adirondack Wild s policy is that amendments or exceptions to forever wild, including land exchanges should be narrowly defined, specific in purpose, limited in scope and serve a documented need for public facilities or public services that cannot be provided in ways other than through an amendment. Amendments should never be for the purpose of benefiting a private or public corporation and should never take public land for corporate or commercial purposes. Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is a not-for-profit, membership organization which advances New York s Forever Wild legacy and Forest Preserve policies in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks, and promotes public and

5 private land stewardship consistent with wild land values through education, advocacy and research. Much more is on the web at www. adirondackwild.org. -30-