Government Land Acquisition —
New York

New information added on April 5, 2008

Email Us   “Before Leaving Office, Gov. Pataki Announces Preservation of More Than One Million Acres; Northern Counties Suffer Population Declines”-News Brief, PRFA, March 2007 February 6, 2006 Open Space Plan Public Comment Time Extension Denied - Letter from Susan Allen, Editor & Publisher, Adirondack Park Agency Reporter, to Francis Sheehan, N.Y. State Dept. of Environmental Conservation April 23, 2004 260,000-acres of International Paper Co. in Adirondacks to be “Protected” In celebration of Earth Day, April 22, 2004, Gov. George E. Pataki announced the biggest acquisition of land in the Adirondacks yet - 260,000 acres of International Paper Co. forest in 9 counties and 34 towns within the Adirondack Park, nearly all of IP’s Adirondack holdings. In a deal involving the Conservation Fund, the State will own 2,000 acres in fee simple and will acquire conservation easements in 255,000 acres. Full story “Gov. Pataki’s State of the State: The Land Acquisition Threat Among Platitudes & Promises” - PRFA, January 2004. Gov. Pataki announced that the State has now “protected 500,000 acres,” of his targeted ten-year goal of one million acres of land. September 2002: “Governor Pataki Announces Plan to Preserve an Additional One Million Acres of Land” November 2001: “Open Space Plan Reveals the Same Old Illegalities—DEC Fails to Reveal Full Extent and Impact of its Land Acquisition Plans” - Press Release (PRFA, November 13, 2001) October 2001: DEC Open Space Conservation Plan The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation have revised the land acquisition plan, “Conserving Open Space in New York State 2001.” The 485-page draft plan and generic environmental impact statement describe the philosophy of the two agencies and their wish lists for new government land acquisitions, and gives the regional advisory committee reports. February 2001: “Pataki Wants to Increase Funds to Buy Land” See Also “Vermont Study Affirms Short-term Protections for Champion Leaseholders but Rejects Perpetual Protection for the Camp Culture”   Additional Resources New York State Open Space Conservation Plan New York State Department of Environmental Conservation address French-Canadian Residents Ousted from Their Land in Indian Lake - Historian’s report, posted March 2005, originally attached to New York State’s 1987 management plan for Siamese Ponds area. The “Report of the Town and County Historian of the Area Known as ‘Little Canada’in the Town of Indian Lake” by Ted Aber, Historian, January 25, 1982, tells how the French-Canadian residents were, “without exception, ousted from their land” when it was sold to New York State. In 1987, the APA Siamese Pond “Wilderness” designation threatened access to the cemetery and abandoned settlement on historic John Pond Road. The State closed the old road anyway. Essential Books & Publications Conserving Open Space in New York State—1997 promulgated by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (This is the latest revision of the Open Space Conservation Plan.) The Property Owner’s Experience—New York’s Arbitrary and Excessive Environmental Regulation of Private Land and Resources - Observation and Recommendations for Reform by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA 1998) Publication Order Form

In-Depth Information “Stop Strangling the North Country” - by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, March 18, 2008) The Governor should reject the privately negotiated land deal between the DEC and The Nature Conservancy to acquire 57,699 acres of productive land that was formerly owned by Finch, Pruyn and Co. of Glens Falls for the “forever wild” Adirondack Forest Preserve and 73,627 acres of conservation easements, the bulk of the rest of the Finch, Pruyn land. Adding these vast acreages to the 3 million acres of Forest Preserve and nearly 700,000 acres of DEC conservation easements will further squeeze the economy and future of the North Country “Taxes on State Lands,” excerpt from Report of the Comptroller to the New York State Legislature, 1885 Assembly Document #36, (January 23, 1885, pp. 21- 24) This excerpt, entitled “Taxes on State Lands,” from the Report of Comptroller Alfred C. Chapin to the Legislature is the result of the work of a commission appointed pursuant ty the Legislature in 1884 to “investigate and report a system of forest preservation” related to the “forests covering the Adirondack Plateau and the relations which these forests bear to the commercial and industrial interests of the State.” The recommendations of the commission, known as the Sargent Commission, were of paramount influence in establishing the state’s Forest Preserve policies, including that for State payment of taxes on the Forest Preserve lands. The commission’s principle concern was the effect of forest devastation on “the water-sheds of the principal streams of the State.” “Dillenburg v. State of New York, Threat to Adirondack Tax Base” - By Peter LaGrasse, Chairman, Board of Assessors, Town of Stony Creek (March 3, 2008) This paper shows the results of Peter LaGrasse’s research into the history and law involving the case Dillenburg v. State of New York. The historical documents demonstrate the motivation of the framers of the 1886 legislation providing for the state payments of taxes on the Forest Preserve land on the basis of statewide benefit. However, LaGrasse expresses concern with the State Supreme Court Chautauqua County (which is under appeal) decision because this court precisely followed a State Court of Appeals case. “A Sound, Consistent Policy” - “Worth Commenting” By Carol W. LaGrasse, PRFA, January 2008 Since 1886, the State has paid real estate taxes on its Adirondack Forest Preserve, now amounting to three million acres contained within the six million-acre “Blue Line” of government and private land in northern New York, because the State-owned lands provide a statewide benefit of, first, watershed protection, and, additionally, more recently, environmental preservation envisioned by statewide residents. The economic sacrifice of the 100-plus towns and villages in the Adirondacks has been recognized for over a century, as well. Legal action to end these tax payments, in Dillenburg vs. State of New York, is not justified. “‘Smart Growth’ to the Rescue” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, July 27, 2007) The Spitzer Administration announced on July 17 that it was setting aside $1 million for “smart growth” planning to revitalize the economy of the Adirondack region. But the Adirondack region already suffers from the groundbreaking 1973 smart growth-style Adirondack Park Agency Act. The economic difficulty of the of the 12-county Adirondack region is caused by the State Adirondack Park Agency’s radical land use controls and the State’s voracious appetite for land, driving up the price of real estate beyond local means and leaving little land for any practical use. “Unbridled Radical Preservation” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (Reprinted from New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Vol. 11, No. 2, Spring 2007) New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, known as DEC, has (with the State parks office) finalized its new Open Space Conservation Plan, dated November 2006, but available only during spring 2007. The plan reveals that the State currently owns 4,327,000 acres in fee simple plus 731,000 acres in conservation easements to save “open space,” or a total of 5,058,ooo acres. All government “open space” land ownership in New York, in both fee simple and conservation easements, totals 5,486,500 acres. In 424 pages plus nine appendices, the plan describes the means of government ownership and control to preserve open space and the countless new goals to acquire and control more land. “Table 1 - Mandated Open Space Protection” — Open space land in New York State protected by government ownership, regulation, and pre-zoning regional designations according to the 2006 New York State Open Space Conservation Plan “Table 2 - Inaccurate, Confusing Data” — DEC “Forever Wild” Adirondack & Catskill Forest Preserve land as reported in NYS Open Space Conservation Plan 1991-2006 “Table 3 — The Explosion of Conservation Easements” — DEC & NYC Conservation Easements & NYS Agriculture & Markets Purchase of Development Rights (PDRs) as reported in NYS Open Space Conservation Plan through 2006 “Exponential Growth” — DEC Conservation Easements as reported in NYS Open Space Conservation Plan 1991-2006 “New York Property Rights Directions”-Speech by Carol W. LaGrasse, Cato Institute Conference-“Property Rights on the March: Where from Here,” December 1, 2006, Washington, D. C. An overview of where property rights stand in New York, what the directions are, and where the work for our cause has been effective: focusing on the battle to keep land in private hands, holding off extreme land-use regulation, the issue of conservation easements, regional preservationist land-use battles, ubiquitous zoning conflicts; and eminent domain. “Open Space Plan Announces Another Feeding Frenzy on Private Property”-By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, February 2006) DEC’s 2005 Draft Open Space Conservation Plan is based on unjust treatment of rural New Yorkers, insider relationships with land trusts, and violation of environmental law. The plan should be revamped and reissued in draft form to comply with environmental law, revealing government land ownership and protection inventories for each political subdivision and with the full extent of the ultimate acquisition plan divulged for the state and each political subdivision. Photo Gallery “Illegal, Unjust, and Irresponsible” - by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, January 17, 2006) DEC 2005 Draft Open Space Plan fails to reveal full extent and impact of its land acquisition plans, violates the principles of environmental justice and good government. “Bill would create Highlands Stewardship Area - $25 million fund would tie up land in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, September 2003) Wealthy New York interests, non-profits, recreationists, and preservationists have been working for over ten years on a grandiose greenway from the Delaware River across northern New Jersey, southern New York just north of the metropolitan region, and western Connecticut. A new bill in Congress will direct money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to buy up land. “New York State Open Space Conservation Plan — Social-engineering Bureaucrats and Their Insatiable Appetites and Packrat Mentalities” — By Nate Dickinson, Wildlife Biologist (PRFA, October 3, 2002) The joint land conservation plan just issued by the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation “leads thinking readers to believe that they are confronted with a blueprint for the progressive nationalization of all open space and other choice real estate in the State of New York.” “The Nature Conservancy is Quietly Acquiring ‘The Bob’ for the State” (Reprinted from the New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, PRFA, Summer 2002) The Twenty-First Century Commission’s 1990 wilderness plan was defeated by locals, but land acquisition goals are fast being executed. “Open Space Institute Pledges $12 Million to Rescue Land Trusts–First Grants are for The Nature Conservancy in the Adirondacks and Trust for Public Land in New Hampshire”-By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, January 2002) New York State’s acquisition funds seem to be tied up since September 11, hindering the consummation of the flip of The Nature Conservancy’s $10.5 million buy of 26,500 acres from International Paper Company. OSI to help meet holding costs. “At Hearings on DEC Open Space Conservation Plan, Environmentalists Upset about State’s Tightfistedness” (PRFA, November 2001) “Open Space Plan Reveals the Same Old Illegalities—DEC Fails to Reveal Full Extent and Impact of its Land Acquisition Plans,” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (November 28, 2001) Final comments on the draft New York State 2001 Open Space Conservation Plan. Statement points out that the plan violates the State Environmental Quality Review Act, SEQRA, by failing to reveal the current statistics of government land ownership and the full extent of future land acquisition plans. PRFA pointed out many other violations and inadequacies. “They’ve Got a Little List” - An original poem by Susan Allen. The poem was read at the DEC hearing for the Open Space Plan at Ray Brook, New York on Nov. 14, 2001. Inspired by The Mikado, with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan. “Governor Announces Acquisition of over 26,000 acres of International Paper Company land in Adirondacks” - PRFA Bulletin, October 6, 2001 In early October, DEC circulated Governor Pataki’s announcement that the State and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have agreed to preserve 26,562 acres of land in the Adirondacks primarily in Hamilton County, that TNC recently acquired from International Paper Company (IP) for $10.5 million. The land deal appears to be a mix of fee simple and conservation easements, modeled after the Champion International acquisition. “Governor Announces Preservation of Adirondack Tracts” - Reprinted from New York State Environment, published by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, October 2001 (dated “Spring/Summer 2001”) Official press release about deal to acquire 26,562 acres of International Paper Company land. “Town of Altamont Vetoes State Purchase of Forest Land —1999 Lawsuit Against DEC Acquisition of Champion International Lands Sparks Reform” - by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, June 2001) Responding to a DEC’s new policy to request local approval for land purchases, the Altamont Town Board passed a resolution on May 21 to veto the DEC acquisition of 2,800 acres of productive timber land owned by the Oval Wood Dish Corporation. May 21, 2001: “A Resolution Opposing the Acquisition by the People of the State of New York of Forest Lands Reputedly Owned by Oval Wood Dish Corporation - Town Board, Town of Altamont, State of New York, County of Franklin,” - unanimously passed “Environmental Justice in New York State—Statement to the DEC Environmental Justice Advisory group, July 12, 2000, Albany, NY - by Carol W. LaGrasse, President, Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc.” This statement, which was presented in Arbor Hill, Albany, called attention to the DEC policy of deliberately pursuing policies in the Adirondack North Country of massive land acquisition that are eliminating the economic resource base and serving to accomplish the extreme environmentalists’ aim of de-populating the area. In response to questions posed in the public invitation to testify, the statement includes recommendations for environmental justice. “Recommendations for Reform of the DEC Open Space Conservation Plan,” Chapter 16, The Property Owner’s Experience - by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, 1998) “Recommendations for Reform of the State’s Use of Non-Government Entities Such As Land Trusts in Land Acquisition,” Chapter 14, The Property Owner’s Experience - by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, 1998) “Environmental Pac Man—National Forest Becomes the ‘Core Area’ to Re-Wild the Countryside” - by Carol W. LaGrasse, from Positions on Property, Vol. 2, No. 3 (PRFA, July 1995)

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