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Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest

The Department of Environmental Conservation has developed a Final Unit Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (UMP/EIS) for the Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest (VMWF), and has submitted the UMP/EIS to the Adirondack Park Agency for determination of Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan compliance. The UMP/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;
  • possible management alternatives and the Department's preferred alternative for each issue;
  • a schedule and estimated budget for implementation of the preferred management alternatives.

Following is a summary of the issues addressed in the Final UMP/Draft EIS.

Summary

The Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest (VMWF) is located in the central Adirondack Park and is made up of almost 2 dozen non-contiguous parcels, covering almost 92,000 acres. VMWF borders or contains 44 ponds and small lakes, as well as portions of the Hudson River and much of the Boreas River. The unit's namesake measures 3,386 ft., making it the fourth highest peak in the unit and the highest with a developed foot trail. Other popular trails within the unit lead to Stony Pond, Lester Flow, and the Boreas River. Typical public uses in the unit include hiking, snowmobiling, nordic skiing, hunting, camping, canoeing, and fishing.

The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) describes the area in this way:

The Vanderwhacker tract lies both east and west of Route 28N in western Essex County.

The three primary attractions of the area are the lakes and ponds, the Boreas River and Vanderwhacker Mountain. The latter, by virtue of its isolated location, provides perhaps the best view of the High Peaks from the south in the Park. It is also possible to trace the course of the Hudson River from this peak and gain an appreciation of that river's majesty.

The Boreas River, a designated scenic river, is one of the most beautiful of the Adirondack rivers. White water stretches interspersed with still waters provide a variety of scenes to hold one's appreciation. The Wolf Pond, Durgin Brook and Lester Flow sections of the upper Boreas are well known to bird clubs. These are plant and bird life communities of unusual interest, particularly in the more boreal forms.

Proposals within the Unit Management Plan include those related to:

  • Hiking Trails - The construction of hiking trails to Moxham Mountain and Wolf Pond, the official designation of the currently unmarked trail to Vanderwhacker Pond, the construction of hiking trails that will connect the Visitor Interpretive Center at Newcomb to the Camp Santanoni Historic Area, and the reopening and rehabilitation of nordic ski trails connecting to Little Gore near the village of North Creek are all proposed in the Unit Management Plan.
  • Snowmobile Trails - The construction of trails facilitating snowmobile access between Minerva and Newcomb as well as between Pottersville and Schroon Lake are proposed in the Plan. The redesignation of the Linsey Marsh trail for non-motorized use only is also proposed.
  • Camping - The construction of lean-to's on Cheney Pond and Wolf Pond is proposed in the Plan. The closure of a handful of campsites in order to bring them into compliance with separation distance guidelines in the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan is also proposed in the Plan.
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - The Plan contains proposals to upgrade two existing primitive campsites along Northwoods Club Rd in order to make them accessible to persons with disabilities and to construct new accessible primitive campsites at Muller Pond and along the Roosevelt truck trail.
  • Hand Carry Launches - The construction of an accessible hand carry canoe launch at Balfour Lake is proposed in the Plan.
  • Fisheries - Efforts to preserve, enhance and restore native Adirondack strains of brook trout in selected VMWF waters are proposed in the Plan.

A map of the Vanderwacker Mountain Wild Forest (pdf, 651 kb)