What started as a $50 ticket for illegal snowmobiling on the Forest Preserve has led to a direct challenge of state conservation tactics.



Earlier this spring, Essex County Judge Andrew Halloran tossed out the ticket and ruled a centuries-old road had never been officially abandoned and conveyed to the Forest Preserve.



Question Of Abandonment



Two years ago, Jim McCulley was ticketed for riding his snowmobile on Old Mountain Road, which cuts through the woods to link the towns of North Elba and Keene.



According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, the road had been abandoned and was made part the Sentinel Range Wild Forest Area and off limits to motorized use.



McCulley thought differently. Refusing to pay the ticket, he argued that the state never had the right to condemn and acquire the town-owned road, a position he argued first in Town Court and then, on appeal, in Essex County Court before Halloran.



On March 23, Halloran issued a 27-page ruling siding with McCulley.



Citing legislation from the early 1800s, Halloran wrote:

"The prosecution’s argument that the road was a highway by use which has been abandoned is rejected. The evidence is clear that it is a highway created by law, i.e., by the New York State Legislatures, and that the public continues to use it extensively for hiking and cross-country skiing, and less extensively for snowmobile riding, ATV riding and rock climbing. ...

"The state had the burden at the trial of proving abandonment by non-use by the public for six years. It failed to meet that burden."

That means the use of that road, which has long been known to cross-country skiers as a leg of the Jack Rabbit Trail, is to be determined by the towns, not the state, opening the possibility for the return of motorized use.



DEC Appeal Urged



It’s an attractive route to Lake Placid snowmobilers because it connects Lake Placid to Keene and, from there, to the Champlain Valley.

DEC declined to comment on the ruling in March, saying the department had not yet fully reviewed the decision and considered its options.

Tony Goodwin of the Adirondack Ski Touring Council, and others, urged DEC to appeal the decision, adding that it would be hard for snowmobilers and skiers to share the road, which is at times very narrow.

McCulley, meanwhile, considered the ruling a clear victory.

"There’s a principle here," he said. "This is a road open to the public, and the state does not have the right to take it away. This was done more over principle than snowmobiling."

McCulley is president of the Lake Placid Snowmobile Club. While he looks forward to the increase in snowmobiling opportunities the ruling may allow, he said, the significance of Halloran’s decision is that it shows "the state won’t follow its own laws."

"The bottom line is they were not following the Constitution," he said.



Cited 1885 Law



Halloran’s ruling referred to the 1885 legislation that established the Forest Preserve and cited a clause aimed specifically at protecting the free use of roads in the Forest Preserve.

The judge briefly touched on the constitutionality of the issue. But, after referring to a state law that gives the commissioners of DEC and the Department of Transportation authority to abandon a highway that passes through state land, Halloran wrote, "No evidence was presented at the trial that the commissioners of either the DEC or the DOT issued an order abandoning or discontinuing the road."



Impact Uncertain



What impact, if any, the ruling will have on the rest of the region is unknown.

Peter Bauer, executive director of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, said that, because every closed road in the park has its own specific history, Halloran’s decision won’t likely be sweeping in its effect.

Nor, Bauer hopes, will it stand for long.

"I certainly hope the DEC will challenge Mr. Halloran’s decision," he said.

Meantime, McCulley said he’ll advise other Adirondack towns with Forest Preserve land within their borders to re-examine the status of roads thought to be abandoned.

"There is no way the state has the right to take away the free use of our roads."

wont that just piss off a tree hugger or to :smilielol: hope more roads get reopened :div20:

that's a nice slap in the face for them. :div20:

I like the verdict, but was it worth the effort? I think I would have just paid the fine and saved myself some riding time.

Yes!!! It set a legal precedent, that all snowmobilers and ATVers will benefit from!

Thank You Jim McCulley for taking a stand, for all of us, and not rolling over!

Its about time someone stuck it to the state. The state has been sticking it to the residents for years. God knows how many old roads the state has closed to use that they should not have. Its nice to see that when someon does their homework the law just may be on their side. I'd like to thank Judge Halloran and Mr. McCulley for researching this issue and making the state aware that they are not God. 'Up yours NY'!!

Would be nice to meet him some time. I'd shake his hand. In an age of closing trails and unsympathetic public it's nice to see someone actually care and take a stand. Kudo's to him.

Im not sure if Jim McCully is posting on here or not, But I can tell you it has been a true treat to work wth him ( throw the Essex County Snowmobile Association). Now with any luck his club and ours ( MT Lakers Snowmobile Club ) Will be able to complete this connection. Which my I add the state asked our club and others in essex county to do about four years ago. :div20: THANK YOU JIM & ALL SNOWMOBILERS WHO INSIST ON MAKING A DIFFERANCE.
Mike Ashline