For Immediate Release
October 21, 2025
Contact: David Gibson, 518-469-4081
[email protected]
Adirondack Wild Urges “Yes” Vote on Prop. 1
Lake Placid, NY – On November 4, 2025 Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, the nonprofit advocate for the public’s “forever wild” Forest Preserve, is encouraging state voters to vote YES on statewide Ballot Proposal 1 authorizing the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid.
Voting YES on Prop. 1, says Adirondack Wild, would constitutionally authorize work that has already been done to construct Biathlon and Nordic ski trails on 323 acres of Forest Preserve classified as Intensive Use near Lake Placid. In exchange, by voting YES New Yorkers would receive at least 2,500 acres of wild forest to add to the Forest Preserve.
“Prop 1 is a beneficial constitutional amendment, and we encourage its passage,” says Adirondack Wild’s David Gibson. “The benefits are two-fold. First, in exchange for the 323 developed acres the public will receive 2,500 acres of wild forest to add to the Adirondack Forest Preserve benefiting the climate, protecting wilderness forests, streams, and wildlife – and that benefit will last indefinitely, forever wild. Second, international standards for Biathlon and Nordic ski trails have proven necessary to attract world athletes to Lake Placid. This amendment provides a public benefit on the 323 acres that can not be legally provided in any other way than by amending Article XIV.”
Gibson added: “the construction work for the intensively used and managed recreational trails, including tree removal, was done in 2019 in violation of the State Constitution’s mandate to preserve wild forest character. Nonprofit advocates including Adirondack Wild documented the damage, met with state officials in 2020, and demanded that the Olympic Regional Development Authority (or ORDA) come clean by sponsoring a land exchange whereby the state would acquire at least 2,500 wild acres near Lake Placid to add to the public’s Forest Preserve in exchange for the 323 acres of forest that were damaged by construction of the Olympic trails. ORDA agreed to this exchange.”
As a result, two separately elected state legislatures in Albany have approved the amendment, and now it is on the ballot for the voters to consider. “The amendment is necessary to authorize prior construction on 323 acres, after-the-fact, of facilities attracting international athletes in Nordic and Biathlon competition,” added Adirondack Wild’s Gibson.
“While after-the-fact constitutional authorization is never desirable, voting YES now will finally bring the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg near Lake Placid into compliance with Article XIV in the same way that the Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre Mountain Ski Centers were long ago approved by the voters as constitutional amendments.”
Since 1894 the public has supported nineteen site-specific amendments or exceptions to Section 1 of Article XIV, NYS Constitution, known as the “forever wild” clause. The last amendment of Article XIV approved by the voters was in 2017 authorizing a land exchange for the Public Health and Safety Land Account.
“The related implementing legislation adds additional safeguards by prohibiting ORDA from constructing facilities unrelated to Nordic skiing and Biathlon, such as tennis courts, zip lines, swimming pools, or ATV trails,” adds Adirondack Wild.
Article XIV, Section 1, NYS Constitution, first approved in 1894, reads: “The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. 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.”
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is a not for profit, membership organization devoted to the protection and stewardship of wilderness and other wild lands through advocacy and education. The organization protects wild lands from threats, holds officials accountable and proposes policy reforms. More on the web at adirondackwild.org.