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NATURE ISSUES FOR KAYAKERS
Your Letters and Faxes needed to Protect Primitive and Wilderness Lands and Waters.

We must act now to Save Lows Lake!
Respond by September 9th, 2008 Tuesday by FAX (518) 891-3938 to let the Adirondack Park Service know you support the Lows wilderness plan or it may be lost for another ten years! Open the Action Alert from AFPA PDF file to learn more about the history of this issue, and find out how to make your views known to Park Commissioners.

Urge them to Secure the State Land Master Plan Goals for the Lows Lake Primitive Area. Urge the APA to Safeguard the State Land Master Plan’s Commitment to Keep the Lows Lake Primitive Area Free of Commercial Float Planes and Damaging Motorized Use!

A message from Paul Sanford, Director, Stewardship and Public Policy, General Counsel American Canoe Association

This message is for paddlers everywhere who enjoy boating in the Adirondack region of upstate New York, or plan to travel to that region in the future.

The ACA is joining with one of its regional conservation partners, the Association for the Protection of Adirondacks (AFPA), in urging the State of New York to protect quiet, wilderness paddling experiences on Lows Lake, the eastern gateway to the Five Ponds Wilderness Area. To protect these experiences, we are urging the Adirondack Park Agency to end float plane and other motorized use of the lake, and reserve it exclusively for non-motorized use.

In 2002, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) made a commitment to phase out public motorized use of Lows Lake by 2008. DEC now wants to renege on that commitment and allow float plane use for another ten years.

Lows Lake needs your help! The Adirondack Park Agency will consider DEC’s proposal at its September 11-12, 2008 meeting. ACA and AFPA urge paddlers everywhere who care about wilderness experiences in the Adirondacks to write letters and send faxes to the Agency telling them to end motorized use of Lows Lake. Tell Park Commissioners not to allow DEC to backtrack on its prior commitment!

Open the Action Alert from AFPA PDF file to learn more about the history of this issue, and find out how to make your views known to Park Commissioners. The Action Alert contains all the information you need to speak out for the protection of this wonderful wilderness area, including a list of talking points that you can use to craft your own letter. Personal letters are the most effective, so be sure to include some of your own experiences, and let Commissioners know that motor-free wilderness in the Adirondacks is important to you. Also, if you spend money in the area, be sure to let them know how much the availability of wilderness paddling experiences contributes to the local economy.

The formal comment period is closed, but Park Commissioners will still consider your letters if they are submitted before the close of business September 9, 2008. However, you must FAX or MAIL your letter using the information contained in the Action Alert, because the Park Agency is not accepting emails during this phase of the proceeding. - TopKayaker.net both faxed and mailed a letter with our concerns to:

Curt Stiles, Chairman and all Agency Members
Rick Weber, Assistant Director of Planning
NYS Adirondack Park Agency
P.O. Box 99, Ray Brook, NY 12977

Fax: (518) 891-3938

If you submit a letter, send a copy of your letter to the ACA at stewardship@americancanoe.org. Also copy the AFPA’s Director of Park Protection, Dan Plumley, at dplumley@protectadks.org.

Thanks in advance for your help in protecting Lows Lake!

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