New York State Banner
D E C banner
D E C banner

Wilmington Wild Forest

The Department of Environmental Conservation has developed a Draft Unit Management Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft UMP/Draft EIS) for the Wilmington Wild Forest (WWF), and has released the Draft UMP/Draft EIS for public review. The Draft UMP/Draft EIS includes the following sections:

  • a description of the unit and overview of the its history;
  • an inventory of the unit's natural and cultural resources, man-made facilities, the public use of the unit and its capacity to withstand public use;
  • an overview of the unit's past management, as well as the principles, goals, objectives, policies, Constitutional provisions and other legal guidance that influence the management of the unit;
  • management alternatives and the Department's preferred alternative for each management issue;
  • a schedule and estimated budget for implementation of the preferred management alternatives.

A public meeting was held at 6 p.m. on May 12, 2005, at the Base Lodge at the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington.

Summary

The subject of this Unit Management Plan is those State lands designated as the Wilmington Wild Forest (WWF), formerly a sub-unit of the much larger Taylor Pond Wild Forest. The WWF was established in 1998 in accordance with Adirondack State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) guidelines which permits larger, widely dispersed Wild Forest units, such as the Taylor Pond Wild Forest (TPWF), to be divided into smaller units. The TPWF covers more than 50,000 acres across several towns and two counties making it difficult to administer. Some segments are more than 50 miles apart. Creation of a smaller and separate Wild Forest was desirable to facilitate management because of its location, physical features, ecological systems, and the public use patterns surrounding Whiteface Mountain and the hamlet of Wilmington.

The WWF sits in the shadow of Whiteface Mountain (elevation 4,867 feet), the fifth highest peak in the Adirondacks. Whiteface is unique in that it sits strikingly apart from New York State's other 4,000 foot high mountains that lie in a distinct group ten miles south. The mountain has been extensively developed with a two-lane highway to its summit and a large ski center, yet significant portions remain wild and undeveloped.

State Forest Preserve lands, north and south of the Whiteface Mountain Veteran's Memorial Highway are classified as "Wild Forest" and are known collectively as the WWF. The APSLMP defines, on page 32, a Wild Forest area as "an area where the resources permit a somewhat higher degree of human use than in Wilderness, Primitive or Canoe areas, while retaining an essentially wild character. A Wild Forest is further defined as an area that frequently lacks the sense of remoteness of wilderness, primitive, or canoe areas and that permits a wide variety of outdoor recreation."

The unit consists of 14,000 acres of state forest preserve lands in Towns of Wilmington, Jay and Keene in Essex County and the Town of Black Brook in Clinton County. The Department revised the original draft UMP to include a proposal to construct a 4.5 mile snowmobile trail on forest preserve lands.

The core area of the Wilmington Wild Forest is located on the east-facing slopes of Whiteface Mountain between the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center, the Whiteface Veterans' Memorial Highway, Route 431 and Route 86. Another large segment - the Stephenson Range Tract - lies north of Route 431 and Gillespie Drive and south of the Forestdale Road. Smaller, isolated segments include the Hamlin Mountain, Clements Mountain, and Beaver Brook Tracts, as well as a segment near the hamlet of Black Brook.

The area offers numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, mountain biking, rock climbing, fishing and hunting in the warmer months, and cross country skiing, ice climbing, trapping and snowmobiling in the winter months. The West Branch AuSable River - world renowned for trout fishing - runs adjacent to portions of the wild forest.

While the only new proposed management action is constructing the snowmobile trail, the second draft UMP also retains all of the proposed management actions from the initial draft of the UMP including:

  • Continuing maintenance on approximately 1 mile of snowmobile trail; Designating an additional 4.5 miles of snowmobile trail in the unit;
  • Closing approximately 5.0 miles of existing Cooper Kill Snowmobile Trail;
  • Establishing a 7 mile hiking trail system through the use of existing trails, relocation of substandard trails, and creation of new trails;
  • Posting various informational signs;
  • Establishing approximately 13 miles of mountain bike trails using existing roads that have been closed to motor vehicles, as well as existing herd paths and constructing new environmentally sound trails;
  • Constructing and/or improving 13 parking areas in order to provide safe parking and meet current and future access needs;
  • Closing one designated primitive campsite and establishing two new designated primitive campsites; and
  • Replacing and relocating the Cooper Kill lean-to so that it will conform with setback requirements.

A UMP must be completed before significant new recreational facilities, such as trails, lean-tos, or parking areas, can be constructed. The plan includes an analysis of the natural features of the area and the ability of the land to accommodate public use. The planning process is designed to cover all environmental considerations for the unit and forms the basis for all proposed management activities for a five-year time period.

UMPs are required by the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan for each unit of State land in the Adirondack Park. The plans integrate the goals and objectives of the Master Plan, related legislation, and resource and visitor-use information into a single document.