New model emerging in Adirondacks
Planning is underway for an integrated trails and lodging system in the nation’s largest park and largest state-level protected area . The Adirondack Community-based Trails and Lodging System (ACTLS) has received a $220,000 grant from the New York State Department of State, with funds provided under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund Act. This grant will be matched by ACTLS’s. ALCTS home page states:
the unique assets and amenities of the Adirondack Park can be leveraged to attract a global marked of outdoor recreators and provide recreation opportunities that improve the quality of life for Adirondack residents. We hope you will join us in planning a world-class trail and lodging system.
The initiative builds on existing trails and lodging infrastructure and will “connect the dots” among trails, lodging, scenic wonders, and recreation opportunities. ACTLS worked in collaboration this winter with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry on the College’s Great South Woods (GSW) Project. SUNY-ESF, with assistance from ACTLS, held a series of five community workshops where the public gathered in small groups around maps and provided information on “what exists” and “what could/should exist” in terms of trails, lodging and recreation in the southern part of the Adirondacks. ACTLS will hold 16-20 more such meetings throughout the summer in all other regions of the Park. A slide deck on Great South Woods Project presents early results from the community meetings held since January.
ALCTS plan of work for 2o15 is to:
Create an accurate inventory of existing trails, lodging, and associated amenities on both public and private land in the Adirondack Park.
Identify gaps in existing lodging that by filling will provide lodging to self-powered users within a reasonable day’s travel.
Identify and map potential circuits (round trips starting and ending at the same trailhead) and traverses (trips starting and finishing at different trailheads) that start, pass through, and/or finish in Adirondack towns and villages and contain both frontcountry and backcountry lodging.
Prioritize and make recommendations for the development of select circuits, traverses, and places of lodging.
Make recommendations regarding the implementation, administration, and support of the trails and lodging system.
This system is envisioned as connecting a wide range of existing commercial and non-profit entities, and interpolating as necessary with new infrastructure. In its aim to shape existing non-profit and for-profit lodging enterprises into a coordinated network, this initiative is similar to the Colorado Hut and Yurt Alliance.
Among the many challenges identified so far are: cost of maintaining new connecting trails; exploring the potential for locating connecting lodging on public land; and addressing potential “bottlenecks” in a trail system, such as varying room capacities in lodging and making the system affordable to everyone when lodging costs vary greatly.
We’ll keep you posted periodically on progress in this venture, which seems to be developing a model community-based planning process and a rich set of partnerships for a regional hut system.
–Sam Demas, Editor, h2h