New York approves Proposal 1, the Adirondack Park land swap

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — New York voters narrowly approved Proposal 1, a statewide constitutional amendment on the November 4 ballot to address past unauthorized development at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in Essex County. The amendment constitutionally protects at least 2,500 undetermined acres of the park as part of the forever wild Forest Preserve.

State Senator Pete Harckham, chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, called it a suitable resolution “that shows why we must adhere to the letter of the law and respect our state’s Constitution.” Even so, despite this broad support from environmental groups and bipartisan lawmakers, the ballot proposal passed by relatively slim margins.

The forever wild clause—Article XIV, Section 1 of the New York State Constitution—declares that public lands in the Forest Preserve “shall be forever kept as wild forest lands.” It prevents lease, sale, or development without voter approval through a constitutional amendment.

Jessica Ottney Mahar, New York Policy and Strategy Director for the Nature Conservancy, was pleased the proposal passed because it “protects the integrity of Article XIV of the New York State Constitution.” She called the clause one of the “strongest wilderness protections in the world,” adding that the unique Forest Preserve contributes “incredible wildlife habitat, wilderness experiences, economic benefits and carbon storage to New York, the United States, and the world.”

But the entire park isn’t a preserve. Today, the Forest Preserve covers about 2.6 million acres or more, almost half of the six million-acre Adirondack Park. The rest, about 56% of the Adirondack Park, does not actually represent public park grounds.

An imaginary, historical marker called the blue line surrounds unprotected private lands owned by individual homeowners, businesses, and even entire towns. According to John Sheehan, Director of Communications for the Adirondack Council, some 130 communities or private estates are within park boundaries.

The Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in North Elba, which hosted events for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, operates on a 1,039-acre site run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority. Much of it was on land leased from the Town of Elba, but new roads, buildings, and parking lots built since the 1980s spread into the Forest Preserve.

The amendment let the Olympic complex remain on the 323 acres of protected land they already developed for Nordic skiing and biathlon trails. It also imposes new management conditions and bans hotels, rental cabins, zip lines, and commercial buildings above 2,200 feet in elevation.

That’s how the measure brought the existing facility into compliance with the state constitution. The land swap nets 2,177 acres for the Forest Preserve, but it doesn’t actually expand Adirondack Park.

Katie McNamara, Deputy Executive Director at Environmental Advocates NY, called the trade an “unprecedented exchange of acreage” that “represents a powerful commitment to both environmental protection and responsible recreation.”

So far unidentified, the 2,500 exchanged acres will be private land already within the blue line. The newly protected lands will automatically become Forest Preserve once purchased by the state, confirmed Claudia Braymer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will find and buy the new acreage, which will then need legislative approval. They have not yet designated that land, which Braymer theorized “was part of the confusion or why some of the voters voted no.”

Statewide, only 145,006 yeses decided the measure, out of over 3.6 million ballots cast. Of the state’s 12.6 million active registered voters, only about 33% cast any vote on the proposal. About 12% of the ballots cast statewide on the proposal left the question blank or filled in the circles for both yes and no.

North Country counties closest to the complex, like Clinton, Essex, and Franklin, supported Proposal 1 by roughly a 2-to-1 margin. But further downstate, the margins shrink.

County	Yes	No	Total votes
Albany	64%	32%	66,439
Allegany	59%	38%	5,681
Bronx	40%	43%	225,898
Brooklyn	36%	46%	665,917
Broome	58%	38%	34,405
Cattaraugus	55%	37%	9,172
Cayuga	56%	39%	13,038
Chautauqua	57%	37%	20,822
Chemung	58%	42%	9,103
Chenango	48%	41%	5,742
Clinton	67%	30%	22,141
Columbia	57%	37%	22,739
Cortland	57%	36%	7,708
Delaware	50%	38%	10,006
Dutchess	53%	42%	74,748
Erie	48%	34%	186,792
Essex	63%	30%	11,390
Franklin	63%	32%	10,776
Fulton	54%	37%	7,306
Genesee	55%	41%	7,849
Greene	53%	42%	10,280
Hamilton	58%	35%	1,822
Herkimer	50%	44%	6,976
Jefferson	55%	32%	14,376
Lewis	53%	42%	4,832
Livingston	51%	43%	11,678
Madison	61%	34%	11,070
Manhattan	44%	43%	526,078
Monroe	56%	33%	146,957
Montgomery	55%	36%	6,496
Nassau	47%	41%	309,824
Niagara	54%	40%	36,220
Oneida	59%	34%	34,944
Onondaga	58%	35%	91,530
Ontario	57%	38%	24,627
Orange	46%	41%	74,346
Orleans	45%	45%	4,189
Oswego	56%	37%	16,826
Otsego	56%	36%	11,418
Putnam	54%	40%	21,938
Queens	37%	47%	509,294
Rensselaer	56%	35%	40,184
Rockland	46%	38%	51,736
Saratoga	62%	31%	56,319
Schenectady	60%	34%	29,330
Schoharie	57%	36%	6,740
Schuyler	53%	43%	3,794
Seneca	61%	35%	6,604
St. Lawrence	61%	29%	12,019
Staten Island	30%	55%	150,113
Steuben	52%	42%	13,245
Suffolk	51%	49%	225,297
Sullivan	50%	38%	15,821
Tioga	56%	40%	7,128
Tompkins	67%	27%	17,327
Ulster	54%	38%	48,287
Warren	64%	31%	15,103
Washington	54%	41%	8,607
Wayne	56%	40%	13,334
Westchester	51%	40%	136,569
Wyoming	45%	44%	5,226
Yates	59%	37%	3,186
All	46%	42%	4,159,362

Republican State Senator Dan Stec, ranking member of the Senate Environmental Committee, blamed the close vote on the state for doing a bad job of informing voters. He said, “It was poorly worded and again, not really relevant to people on Long Island or New York City.”

Stec added that voters misunderstand the urgency, leading to low engagement or guessing based on an uninformed coin toss. Or, if they did understand the timing, they bristled at being asked for permission once the constitution had already been violated. “You’re asking me after you already let the cows out of the barn,” he mused on the possible perspective.

The wording on the ballot asked voters to authorize “skiing and related trail facilities on state forest preserve land.” Dave Gibson, Managing Partner of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, said that language made it “very difficult for voters to discern if this was good for the Adirondack Forest Preserve or not.”

Sheehan said that many who voted no told the Adirondack Council that they were trying to protect the Forest Preserve from development without realizing that it had already happened.

Ottney Mahar agreed that the ballot language was “legally correct but hard for the average voter to understand.” She speculated that voters left with uncertainty voted no because they thought it was the best course of action, especially if they already voting against other contested local ballot proposals.

Democratic Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who chairs the Assembly Environmental Committee, suggested the amendment may have also gotten caught up in a general anti-amendment sentiment. In the population powerhouse of New York City, many voted against local ballot proposals, so they may have voted against Proposal 1 reflexively. Either way, Glick said the acquisition will help the reach the goal of preserving 30% statewide by 2030.

If the proposal had failed, Stec said, the trails would not have been bulldozed. But lawmakers would have “gone back to the drawing board with another constitutional amendment,” though he said the legal issue was “staring you in the face” nonetheless.

As of November 5, the results of the vote are still considered unofficial. Some districts have yet to fully report. Final, official tallies won’t available until county boards of elections complete a full recanvass of all votes, including early, mail, absentee, military/overseas, special, and affidavit or provisional ballots.

Counties have until November 29 to certify results, and the state has until December 15, according to Kathleen McGrath, Director of Public Information for the New York State Board of Elections. “Void” ballots mean the voter filled in both the “Yes” and “No” options, McGrath explained.

The amendment lets the Olympic Regional Development Authority maintain existing paved training trails and snowmaking technology, plus an open-air stadium on the 323-acre parcel. The complex helps drive the regional economy, especially in the winter around Lake Placid.

The constitutional amendment appeared on the ballot only after the bipartisan S5227/A7454 passed in the State Legislature during two consecutive legislative sessions. But final ballot language came from the Board of Elections.

Environmentalists and lawmakers called it critical for keeping state agencies like ORDA accountable. McNamara argued that Proposal 1 came from almost five years of dialogue, calling it a “model of conscientious policymaking.”

ORDA President and CEO Ashley Walden celebrated the passage of the amendment. “This amendment allows the Olympic Authority to continue to provide high-quality cross-country ski and recreational experiences for the general public and athletes alike,” she said.

And ORDA Vice President Tait Wardlaw said their intent is delivering world-class Nordic skiing while still adhering to the Forever Wild clause, meaning many trails used for up to 45 years without snowmaking or adequate grooming will be improved. He confirmed that the measure doesn’t move the blue line.

This was not the first time New Yorkers approved a land-use amendment. Similar constitutional changes previously passed for the state-owned Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre ski areas.