Megan Phillips, Deputy Director for Planning
NYS Adirondack Park Agency
P.O. Box 99
Ray Brook, NY 12977

Re. Third Comment Letter, Proposed Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) amendments

Dear Ms. Phillips,

During the Agency’s public comment period, Agency and Department staff have made the public statement that the proposed APSLMP amendments on Accessibility, including the Motor Vehicle definition’s exclusion of Other Power-Driven Mobility Devices (OPDMD), are made necessary because the existing Master Plan “pigeonholes accessible opportunities into certain land classifications, and therefore is not reflective of the spirit of the ADA.”

Behind this statement are two false assumptions. First, the agencies are assuming that accessible opportunities must be mechanized or motorized to be in the spirit of the ADA; second, they assume that the Master Plan’s 52-year-old restrictions on motorized uses in Wilderness, Primitive, and Canoe areas violate the spirit of the ADA.

Neither assumption is true, as pointed out by Janet Zeller, a quadriplegic and former national accessibility program manager for the U.S. Forest Service. Ms. Zeller visited New York and advised NYS DEC, my organizations, and other Adirondack stakeholders during her time with the U.S. Forest Service. She wrote the following in 2008 concerning the National Wilderness Preservation System, but her statement applies equally to state-run Wilderness systems, inclusive of New York’s Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve:

“The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) ensures an opportunity for challenge, solitude, and self-renewal for each person who is willing to make the effort it will take to pursue those goals. Through the Wilderness Act we all have the right, regardless of ability, to enjoy a wilderness experience in an area untrammeled by modern motorized and mechanized civilization. The effort it takes each of us to visit a Wilderness area is an essential part of this experience. People with a wide range of significant disabilities value their right to that same opportunity to challenge themselves and, thereby, to gain the unique experience wilderness offers, either on their own or with the assistance of family or friends.”

Ms. Zeller’s article goes on:

“There are devices that might make it easier for a person who has some limitations to their ability to walk long distances or over rough ground. However, the use of such mechanized devices would go beyond the minimum necessary requirement. A study by Lais et al. (1992) confirmed that the vast majority of people who have disabilities are not seeking to expand mechanized use to make access to Wilderness areas easier. Wilderness is not about what is easy, wilderness is about “solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” as stated in the Wilderness Act, and the challenge it takes in order to experience those outcomes. If a person is seeking easier access, there are a wide range of other federally managed lands to choose from where motor vehicles are allowed, and yet the look and feel of the area may be the same as in the NWPS. The result of adhering to that tightly written ADA legal direction within the NWPS, and other areas not designated for motor vehicle use, is that the person who is dependent on a mobility device for locomotion is not denied the opportunity to enter those areas, and can do so without impinging on the challenge, solitude, and self-renewal that wilderness offers to each person seeking that more difficult NWPS recreational opportunity. People with disabilities go to wilderness for the same variety of reasons as do people without disabilities, including to challenge themselves.”

Ms. Zeller went on to describe and quote a number of persons with disabilities who access Wilderness without motorized use:

“Wilderness Inquiry, an outfitter whose motto is bringing people together in the wilderness. All of their trips are inclusive, people with and without disabilities working together to reach a common goal. That made sense to Kris. She knew that although she couldn’t carry gear, she could help with the camp cooking and in other ways. Kris says it takes more effort for a person with a disability to overcome the obstacles en route, but “I want to live life and have new experiences. With teamwork we all succeed.” The assistance she needed served to bind the group together in a mutual effort to ensure they all reached their goal. It is the working together and sharing of the wilderness experience that is the highlight for Kris.”

Finally, Ms. Zeller wrote this about the choice people of all abilities make in deciding to enter designated Wilderness areas or similar, adjacent areas that are not so designated:

“The different forms of access is the person’s choice. Were he/she allowed to use a motor in the Wilderness area, that action would fundamentally alter the wilderness experience. The law (ADA) expressly prohibits any fundamental alteration to a program, solely because
the participant has a disability.”

Ms. Zeller’s quotes are taken from her article “Wilderness and Accessibility,” International Journal of Wilderness, April 2008, Volume 14, No. 1.

Thank you for including this additional comment letter in the comment record.

Sincerely,

David Gibson, Managing Partner
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve

P.O. Box 9247
Niskayuna, NY 12309
www.adirondackwild.org
518-469-4081

Cc: Agency Members and Designees
Barbara Rice, Executive Director, APA
Sean Mahar, Acting Commissioner, DEC
Governor Kathy Hochul
Executive Chamber