Adirondack Park Agency Approves Classification For 51K Acres

RAY BROOK, N.Y. (AP) — The Adirondack Park Agency has approved land classifications that expand the High Peaks Wilderness Area to a size rivaling Rocky Mountain National Park.

The parcels include 51,000 acres scattered throughout all 12 Adirondack Park counties and include the 20,543-acre Boreas Ponds tract south of the High Peaks.

In the Boreas tract, more than 11,000 acres are classified wilderness, where motor vehicles are prohibited, and 9,000 as wild forest, where motors may be allowed.

Public use will be determined by management plans to be drafted by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Motor vehicles potentially could be allowed to within a tenth of a mile of the dam creating the ponds.

The state purchased the Boreas Ponds tract for $14.5 million in 2016. It was previously part of Finch Pruyn timber lands.