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Current News:
Public meeting June 7.
Last update 6/1/01. Click reload/refresh
to check for update if you have visited before.
[What You Can Do] [Link to sample letter text] [Colton UMP Info Contact:
Bob Gleason]
About the Colton State Forest Unit
management Plan.
A Unit Management Plan
("UMP") is under development by DEC in cooperation with the public for
a 11,046-acre Colton State Forest Unit which is comprised of 8 separate parcels
in central St. Lawrence County. Public input from ATV users is necessary to
ensure that draft UMPs for this unit contains authorization of new and/or
existing access for ATVs and off-highway motorcycles where appropriate and sustainable.
Ensuring final UMPs retain off-highway vehicle (OHV) access proposals will be
an ongoing process and should be a priority for all OHV enthusiasts since this
is an excellent opportunity to get a ATV access officially developed and
maintained on New York State's (your) public land.
Your participation in this process is
essential.
Because, as has been
demonstrated time and again in recent years, anti-OHV groups have effectively
stopped every public land OHV access proposal from becoming a reality. We can
stop the opposition from winning again by participating in the UMP process,
advising our politicians that OHV enthusiasts have been shut out of state lands
for too long, and standing up for our rights as residents and taxpayers. At the
same time we must recognize that there are legitimate environmental
concerns that need to be addressed as part of any ATV access proposal, and
simply attacking opponents and their concerns is not constructive; in fact it
is harmful to our cause.
Here's what's going on: A
"Unit Management Plan" is part of the official process the DEC uses
to designate acceptable activities on parcels of state land, including
recreational activities. The UMP process is open to the public in meetings and
by written comment. Even though some of the ATV routes may be currently
established in any of these units, we can count on some measure of opposition.
And if we don't ask that this access be part of any UMP, we may well lose it,
to the great satisfaction of the anti-OHV groups.
Here's
what we all need to do:
- Attend the Public Meeting: A public Open House meeting to
discuss these units is scheduled for June 7, 2001, from 5-8 pm, in the cafeteria
at Colton-Pierrepont Central School in Colton. Click
here for a Mapquest location map.
- Now, and again when the Draft Plan is released,
submit your written comments regarding the Colton SF UMP. State that you are
strongly in favor of ATV access where appropriate in these units. The DEC
will be looking for short, informed, sensible commentary. (Basic sample text
is provided below if you are not sure what to write.)
Send
your positive comments to:
Pat Whalen
NYSDEC
6739 US Rt. 11
Potsdam, NY 13676
Phone (315) 265-3090
Or e-mail r6ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us. (Note “COLTON SF” in the title please.)
- Advise your State Assembly Member and Senator so that your views can shape
their position on UMPs. Please encourage them to help you fight to ensure
that ATV access is included in this UMP by asking them to send an
affirmative statement of support to Pat Whalen. (These land units don’t
have to be in your district for your representative to have influence over
the outcome.) To look up your State Senator and Assembly Member on the
Internet using your zip/zip+4 postal code, go to Project Vote Smart. For those without Internet
access, your Town Clerk or possibly the post office can give out the names
of the State Senator and Assembly Member for your area. The main
switchboard numbers for the Legislature are 518-455-2800 for the Senate,
and 518-455-4100 for the Assembly.
Remember, this is an
excellent opportunity to get some reasonable, legal OHV access to state land.
Just as important, we need to demonstrate that maintaining OHV access on state
land is consistent with the state's interest in serving it's residents and
wisely managing the public's resources. Please do your part to ensure the UMPs
contain an OHV access proposal by speaking out!
Also, please pass this page
or link on to as many people as possible, and check back on it from time to
time for updates on the effort for getting ATV access designated in these units
(remember to reload/refresh the web page on each visit).
Thank you for you help in
this matter.
For more information,
contact Colton SF UMP Coordinator, Mr. Robert Gleason, Pres., Tri Town ATV Trailriders,
Inc at (315) 769-3269 or email Bob Gleason.
Sample E-mail Text for
the DEC UMP Team Leader:
Select and copy the text
(CTRL+C), click on the e-mail link, past into the body of the message (CTRL+V),
and complete your personal information. Be sure to give your message a subject
that identifies your position such as "In support of ATV Access in Watson’s
and adjacent Easement UMPs."
UMP Teal Leader: r6ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us (Remember to include “COLTON SF” in the
title.)
Dear Forester Whalen,
I respectfully request that DEC include
in its unit management plan (UMP) for Colton State Forest, development and
maintenance of public access for all terrain vehicle riders where determined to
be appropriate.
Please see to it that DEC's drafts and final UMP documents contain ATV access proposals so that the routes can be designated as soon as is practical. Doing so will be a good regional accommodation and a good response to the many requests by New York's more than a quarter-million ATV riders. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
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