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Land by the Numbers

This little graphic is pretty interesting. It shows the amount of land preserved over the last 38 years in the Adirondacks. The total forest preserve has grown by 348,575 acres and the total conservation easement lands have grown by 580,443 acres. That’s an increase of almost a million acres of land over the last 38 years. That’s almost twice the size of the state of Rhode Island. Now that’s growth. Let’s just hope the state of NY keeps paying its property taxes.


1970
Adirondack Forest Preserve

2008
Adirondack Forest Preserve

2,404,536 acres

2,753,111 acres

1970
Adirondack Conservation Easement Lands

2008
Adirondack Conservation Easement Lands

0 acres

580,443 acres

* Source – Adirondack Life Magazine January 2009

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Budget Deal Reached

Gov. David Paterson and Democratic legislative leaders have reached a deal to reduce the state’s budget for the current fiscal year. This $1.6B deal closed the deficit for the current fiscal year.

With this year’s budget finished, the Governor and state legislators will start on the 2009-2010 budget that begins with a roughly $13 billion difference between spending and projected revenue.

The proposal to cap the amount the state pays in real estate taxes on forest preserve land was not not being considered for this years budget but has been proposed by the Governor for next year’s budget.

“We will pretty much be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this budget deficit,” Gov. Paterson said in a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

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What a Black Swan Means to the Governor’s Tax Cap Proposal on State Land

In his 2007 best selling book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, explores an idea which is relevant to the current debate on whether NY state should pay their full share of taxes on their forest preserve land.

“The book explores one big idea: that history is dominated by rare, unpredictable and extreme events. The author calls these black swans, alluding to the fact that Europeans had seen only white swans until black swans were found in Australia. The Great Depression, the 1987 stock market collapse, and the current financial crisis are examples. Black swans don’t have to be negative. Biotech firms that stumble upon breakthrough cures are black swans.

The human mind, evolved to cope with everyday tasks, deals poorly with rare but consequential events. People assume that the future will be like the recent past but in fact, the most consequential events may not have recent precedents.”

For example: NY state attempting to change how it has paid taxes on its public forest preserve land since the 1880’s. If they stop paying their full share, property taxes will go through the roof. No one really understands the consequences of this because it has never been tried before. However, all readers of the Huletts Current; if this happens, you’ve seen the black swan here already. This will be devastating to the private property owners of the Adirondacks. Please contact your downstate, state representatives. Don’t let the Governor get away with this proposal.

*Book Synopsis – Forbes Magazine February 2, 2009

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You Won’t Find These on the APA Website

9 Counties and 11 Towns Sue Adirondack Park Agency

Nine counties and eleven towns have filed suit against the Adirondack Park Agency to try to reverse new rules that have been implemented, including shoreline building prohibitions on structures that pre-date the APA. Shorefront property owners take note. Hear about it here.

Lewis Family Farm v. APA

“At 1,200 acres, Lewis Family Farm has conserved hundreds of acres of organic soils and removed thousands of tons of accumulated waste, including 15 decrepit, moldy, broken farmhouses. The documents on this site tell how the APA, a regional land use board within the blue line, violated New York State law, and engaged in an abusive, aggressive and frequently dishonest strategy to intimidate the Lewis Family Farm.”

Read about the whole case here. The Lewis family just won their case, but the APA has appealed.

Nothing about either of these on the APA site.

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Bits of Everything

The Governor Doesn’t Want to Pay Taxes Either

While upstate legislators and groups are fighting the proposed cap on NY state paying property taxes on its forest preserve, the Governor for the time being is standing behind the proposal.

GOP Chairmen Weighted Votes Explained

The Governor will also, sometime soon, issue a proclamation calling for a special election to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat being vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand who will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to replace Hillary Clinton. In a special election, like this, there will be no primary. Republican chairmen from the 10 counties in the 20th Congressional District will meet this week to discuss how they will select the Republican nominee. Here is an look at how each County Chairman will have their vote weighted.

See Some Great Stuff This Summer

Here is an interesting story about the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake getting a surprise donation to put on a show, starting in May, where some of the earliest known pictures, paintings and artifacts of the Adirondacks will be on display. The Adirondack Museum is a great day trip from Huletts.

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She Beat Them Out of the Gate

With the announcement today that Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) has been appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, this in turn opens up the Congressional seat which Huletts is a part of. Within hours of this announcement, we received this press release from Senator Betty Little’s (R) office announcing her candidacy for the House of Representatives.

Senator Little has always been a fierce advocate for lower taxes in the Adirondacks, and while we are not endorsing a candidate for Congress at this time, the fact that the Huletts Current was notified so quickly bespeaks a winning campaign operation that is organized and up and running already. You heard it here first, because Senator Little was the first. The Current likes people who move.

SENATOR LITTLE ANNOUNCES CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDACY

State Senator Betty Little (R,C,I-Queensbury) today announced she is a candidate for the 20th Congressional District. The popular upstate senator well known for her accessibility and hands-on approach has a strong record of experience in local and state government.

“I have a proven record of fighting and winning for the people I represent,” said Little. “I am eager to put that experience to work for the residents of the 20th Congressional District and look forward to traveling the district and talking with voters to earn their support over the course of this campaign.”

Prior to first winning election to the State Senate in November 2002, Senator Little served in the New York State Assembly for seven years. Little is a proven vote-getter and has consistently led the ballot on Election Day.

Little’s legislative successes include: creation of a program that encourages greater government efficiency to save tax dollars; reform of the adverse possession law to protect private property rights; and an affordable housing program to help low- and middle-income families.

The mother of a combat veteran, active duty Navy pilot, Little was honored to sponsor Patriot Plans I and II, which expanded benefits and services available to New York’s military personnel and their families.

Little first began public service as a member and later Chair of the Town of Queensbury Recreation Commission. In 1986, she was elected to serve as an At-Large-Supervisor to the Warren County Board of Supervisors for the Town of Queensbury, where she served on various committees, including the Warren County Recycling Advisory Committee which she organized and chaired, and as County Budget Officer in 1990 and 1991.

Born in Glens Falls, New York, Senator Little has lived in upstate New York most of her life. The former teacher and realtor now resides in Queensbury and has six children and thirteen grandchildren

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Bits of Everything

How a Sunken Boat Became a National Treasure

Here is a piece from the Saratogian that details the story of the Forward, a boat which sank in Lake George in the the 1930’s, which was just added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is an interesting story.

Senator Little Fights NY Property Tax Cap Proposal

As a followup to yesterday’s post about the proposal to cap NY state payments on their forest reserve property, Senator Little has posted what she is doing to stop this on her website. Keep those emails and calls coming to our elected officials.

Clean Air Increases Longevity

Here is a short article from National Public Radio about something which seems so simple: breathing clean air lets you live longer. No wonder people like it in Huletts.

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$27 Million is Something to Know About

Previously I had linked to this story about the Governor’s proposal to cap property tax payments on forest preserve land in the Adirondack Park.

North Country Public Radio.

I checked and NY State has over $27 million in assessed property in the Town of Dresden.

This means that, if successful, the Governor will shift a percentage of the tax increases in the future on this land to us – the private property owners in the Town of Dresden.

Here’s what you can do:

Tell the Governor and our representatives that you know about this and it’s not fair and it’s simply not a good idea. NY State made a covenant with the people of NY to pay the taxes on this land when they added it to the forest preserve. It’s worked since 1884, and it shouldn’t be changed now. Tell the Governor when he’s up for reelection, this issue will mean a lot to you.

You can contact the Governor here.

More importantly, if you live in NY, contact both your downstate representative (lookup by zip code on the right) and our Huletts Representative, Tony Jordan, here. Also contact your downstate Senator and our Huletts Senator, Elizabeth Little, here.

Now is the time to speak up. If we don’t, our taxes will be whats going up.

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Bits of Everything

Still No Bars – Cell Phone Towers Approved Slowly by APA

Here is a piece from the Adirondack Express that details the Adirondack Park Agency’s policy on cell phone towers and explains the ongoing situation with cell phone towers in the Adirondacks.

Skiers Going Down the Slope – Expected To Go Up

Here is also a good article about the upcoming ski season in NY state. It’s expected to be a good one.

Budget Woes Mean State is Buying Less Land

Here is a short article from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise about how the plan to acquire more property by the state in the Adirondacks is being impacted by the state’s budget crisis.

Lake Ice Looks Good for Winter Carnival.

Here is an article from the Post Star about how the ice on Lake George should be good and thick for the Ice Festival in Lake George Village in February.

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Nine Counties to Sue APA

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

Attention Property Owners.

This is a story which you should pay attention to.

The Adirondack Park Agency has revised its rules and regulations to apply to the expansion of shorefront homes built before the APA came into existence.

The APA has been traditionally criticized for overstepping its authority but nine counties within the park all clearly feel this is an abuse of the APA’s statutory powers. What the Agency is seeking to do is to apply their shorefront restrictions to those shorefront structures built before the APA even came into existence.

Thankfully, nine Adirondack counties are speaking out in unison against this. After watching the goings on at the APA for 25 years, if the APA is successful, all property owners should be concerned because they will be coming for your property next.

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Bits of Everything

Here are some links which I thought people would like to know about.

Here’s a story about the completion of a deal to protect 104,000 acres of Adirondack forest. That’s a lot of land.

While they may be acquiring acreage, here is an update on how the state is at the same time proposing to not pay their share of property taxes on their Adirondack land. This issue is bringing together groups from both ends of the political spectrum.

Finally, this is something the Huletts fire department may want to consider in the future. The Hague fire department just purchased a new fire/rescue boat to protect shoreline property and make lake rescues. Perhaps something to consider for Huletts someday?

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Even the State is Sick of Paying High Property Taxes.

North Country Public Radio has a short radio spot which came out about 10 days ago which highlights that:

“For the first time since the 1800s, the state of New York wants to cap property tax payments on forest preserve land in the Adirondack Park.”

This would be absolutely devastating to property owners in the Adirondacks. Right now the state pays property taxes to local towns and school districts based on the land they own in that town. This would effectively reduce their share, shifting the burden to private landowners.

Listen to it here. It’s only about 3.5 minutes.

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Cruella DeVille Would Be Happy

Remember the cries of Cruella DeVille to “kill the puppies, kill ALL the puppies” in 101 Dalmatians? Well Governor Paterson is killing all the pheasants and closing the Reynold’s Game farm by the end of the year.

The Reynolds Game Farm, is the last-of-its-kind New York game preserve where pheasants have been bred and released into the wild since the 1920’s. You won’t hear much about this in the mainstream press but this is the type of thing that makes upstate sportsmen really mad. The reason is that this preserve is funded by excise taxes collected on all firearm and ammunition purchases. Instead of releasing the birds into the wild in the Spring, they will be slaughtered and given away in the city and the Governor will claim credit for a free holiday bird. Sad but true.

Read about it here.