Proposition on Mount Van Hoevenberg usage on ballot

Voters in New York may have noticed, or will notice, a special proposition on the ballot this year. It has to do with Lake Placid and its Olympic sites allowing land in the Adirondacks to be used for sport, in exchange for land added to the forest preserve.

“This area is a destination not only for people around the state, but for people around the world,” Olympic Regional Development Authority Board President Joe Martens said.

From youth sports, World Cups and the 1980 Winter Olympics, Mount Van Hoevenberg has been a big part of the legacy of Lake Placid and the Adirondacks.

“Going back all the way to the 1932 Olympics, it was constructed on town land. Over time, the activities here and the improvements have expanded,” Martens said.

That expansion has encroached on protected forest preserve land. An amendment to the state Constitution, Proposition One on the ballot this year, would allow for that land to continue to be used.

It houses ski trails, the biathlon stadium, parking lots and more. There are approximately 323 acres in all.

“It allows those kind of activities, recreational activities, to continue here. Super important, not just for the area but for New York state as a leader in athletic events,” Martens said.

In return, the state will search for and purchase around 2,500 acres elsewhere and add them into the preserve.

“We need to continue adding to the Forest Preserve for climate purposes. Really, it’s one of the major threats to the Adirondacks,” Protect the Adirondacks Executive Director Claudia Braymer said.

Braymer supports this amendment, though she does so with one major concern. It’s what recently happened at another ORDA run facility — Whiteface Mountain.

Whiteface recently hosted a World Cup event for mountain bike racing. However, the track that was built in time for the games, Brainerd believes, was done so in violation of the state Constitution.

“All of that terrain alteration and the tree cutting was really in violation of Article 14,” he said.

The 6 million-acre Adirondack Forest Preserve is protected by section 1 of article 14 of the state Constitution, known as the “forever wild” clause, adopted in 1894. It states that state forest land “shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.”

And while ORDA says it did not violate the law, “activities are already authorized by Article 14 at all of our facilities, except for Mount Van Hoevenberg,” Martens said.

It does admit procedural errors.

“We got out in front of the unit management plan that we’ve had to prepare and have [state Department of Environmental Conservation] approval, for which we shouldn’t have done,”  Martens added.

In the end, both parties do support the amendment, but say they want to see it done right.

With this proposition, voting “yes” gives permission for the activities at Mount Van Hoevenberg to continue with the land swap. Voting “no” means it would not happen.

Amendments to the state Constitution require approval by a majority of the state Senate and Assembly in two consecutive sessions and then approval by a majority of New York voters.

Election Day is Nov. 4. Early voting runs through Nov. 2.