ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) — Election Day is less than a week away, and this year there’s just one statewide measure on the ballot in New York— Proposal 1, a constitutional amendment aimed at resolving a decades-old land issue deep in the Adirondacks.
The measure centers on the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex, a state-operated facility near Lake Placid that has hosted world-class winter sports dating back to the 1930s.
Over time, portions of the complex expanded onto protected Forest Preserve land within the Adirondack Park — land safeguarded by New York’s “Forever Wild” clause in the New York State Constitution, which prohibits logging, sale, or development of state-owned forest lands.
That means parts of the complex have technically been in violation of the state constitution for years.
“Mount Van Hoevenberg has long been the site of cross-country skiing, bobsled, luge, and other skiing activities,” said Joe Martens, chairman of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA). “This amendment very simply would authorize the activities that have been going on there for a very long time.”
Proposal 1 amends the constitution to allow the state to use up to 323 acres of Adirondack Forest Preserve land for Nordic skiing and biathlon trails.
In return, New York would be required to purchase and add 2,500 acres of new land to the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
“I want voters to understand that much of this has already been built,” said Claudia Braymer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks. “The state is also required by the proposal to purchase 2,500 acres to add to the state Forest Preserve. We don’t yet know where those lands will be located.”
Environmental organizations, including Protect the Adirondacks and the Adirondack Council, support the measure, calling it a common-sense fix that brings the Olympic training site into compliance and expands protected wilderness.
“We have a goal in New York to protect 30% of our lands and waters by 2030,” Braymer said. “We’re falling short of that goal, so we do need to add more land to our protected assets.”
Martens said the state already has several dedicated funding sources for land acquisition, including for projects outside the Adirondacks.
“These are pre-existing approved pots of money for land acquisition,” he said.
If voters reject the measure, Martens said the state may try again in the future.
“If the amendment is not approved, I’d like to think we’ll go back to the voters again and try to better educate them,” he said. “But it does sort of put a cloud over our continued use of that facility and particularly any improvements that we might want to or need to make in the future.
Although the amendment directly affects only Mount Van Hoevenberg, it appears on every ballot across the state because the Forest Preserve belongs to the people of New York — and any constitutional change requires approval by voters statewide.
Election Day is November 4.
PROPOSAL 1:
Amendment to Allow Olympic Sports Complex In Essex County on State Forest
Preserve Land
The proposal amends the State Constitution. It permits new Nordic ski and
biathlon trails in the forest preserve. Development there requires Constitutional
permission. That is because the facility is in the Adirondack forest preserve. It is
part of an Olympic Sports Complex in North Elba. North Elba is in Essex County,
New York. The project touches up to 323 acres. The facility covers 1,039 acres.
This use is offset. 2,500 new acres are added to the forest preserve. The New York
Legislature must approve the offset. If not, the project will not happen.
