If an amendment is not pursued, we’re left with two choices: 1) accept continued blatant violations of the Forever Wild provision by the State of New York; or 2) go to court and sue the State. Adirondack Forest Preserve because it seemed to them contrary to the ' forever wild ' clause in the New York State constitution (currently, Art. It protects the Forest Preserve of the Adirondack Park (and Catskill Park) from logging, lease, sale or development. Velmanette Montgomery. See All News about Forever Wild Act. Their main worry is that the "forever wild" clause of the state constitution - Article XIV - could be amended without proper deliberation or scientific study. Article XIV of the New York State Constitution (1894) declares that the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves will be “forever kept as wild forest lands.” The State of New York has interpreted this “forever wild” clause to mean that most structures are inherently incompatible with the wilderness values of the preserves. Alexander MacDonald was the Commissioner of the Conservation Department (DEC’s predecessor) in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and as such was in … NY Constitution, article XIV, § 1 states, in relevant part, that "[t]he lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the [F]orest [P]reserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. Neither option is appealing. Article 14, Section 1 — the “Forever Wild” clause of New York’s constitution — has been amended 16 times since 1938, and talks have been under way about three new amendments that could be put before voters. It is recognized as one of the strongest land protection laws in the world. Building on language from the original 1885 law that created the Forest Preserve in the first place, the proposed amendment constitutionally required that all state-owned Forest Preserve land, “now owned or hereafter acquired,” must “be forever kept as wild forest lands. It also bans destruction or removal of the timber and requires the state to protect the Forest Preserve’s wild character. ALBANY — New snowmobile trails being carved through the Adirondacks violate the “forever wild” clause of the state’s constitution because tens of thousands of trees are being cut and the 1,621,438 people voted in favor of the amendment and 1,261,769 voted against. The camp was built for six friends: Elias Asiel (Asiel & Co.), George Blumenthal (Lazard Freres), Max Nathan, Abram M. Stein, Daniel Guggenheim (American Smelting and Refining), and Louis Marshall (noted constitutional lawyer and framer of the "Forever Wild" clause in the NYS constitution). It also has a Conservation Bill of Rights in Article XIV, §4, declaring a state policy of protecting natural resources and scenic beauty, but it has been held to be unenforceable, Leland v. Moran, 235 F. Supp. The Adirondack Council thanked voters for amending the NYS Constitution to create a small land bank to help communities in the Adirondack and Catskill parks. September 28, 2017. The history of the Forever Wild Act and the environmental protections guaranteed in the New York State Constitution . Editor’s note: This is Part 2 in a five-part series that will run over the next few weeks, exploring amendments to the “Forever Wild” clause of the NYS constitution. The New York Constitution “forever wild” clause facilitates and protects over three million acres of Forest Preserve in both the Catskills and Adirondacks. There are no upcoming … Van Hoevenberg the site of the most important legal decision upholding Article XIV, Section 1, the forever wild clause, known as Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks vs. MacDonald. On January 1, 1895, the new Constitution went into effect. In the early 1960s, Howard Zahniser, Executive Secretary of The Wilderness Society, completed his final draft of the National Wilderness Preservation Act. The Adirondack Land Trust will work with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to transfer the land to the state to close a gap in the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, which is protected under the “forever wild” clause of New York's constitution as part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. If an amendment is not pursued, we’re left with two choices: 1) accept continued blatant violations of the Forever Wild provision by the State of New York; or 2) go to court and sue the State. It has been amended five times since 2007, making this period the most active and intensive in Forest Preserve history for amendments. In 1894 the "forever wild" clause, preventing timber cutting and the sale or lease of any of the state lands (between 2.6-2.8 million acres) in the forest preserve, was approved and added to the New York State Constitution. Adirondack Forest Preserve because it seemed to them contrary to the ' forever wild ' clause in the New York State constitution (currently, Art. Go back to Events Prior to the 1894 Convention. They 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." Shelter Island, New York (4,054 words) case mismatch in snippet view article find links to article about 17 acres of woods around the former farm have been preserved as forever wild. In the Almanack, Peter Bauer, Executive Director of Protect the Adirondacks, has been working on a five-part series about these proposed amendments. There is no legislation associated to this issue . 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