The Adirondack Common Ground Alliance (CGA) has a “Blueprint for the Blue Line,” a set of legislative priorities for the Adirondack Park that is meant to persuade state elected officials to look at what they believe is important to the people of the Adirondacks.

The CGA polled several groups that focus on the present and future of the Adirondack Park to devise their “blueprint.”

Over the last seven years, “CGA has strived to bring together government, nonprofits, and businesses to make a collective impact on the Adirondacks,” said Cali Brooks, executive director of Adirondack Foundation. “This updated Blueprint calls for legislative action that impacts all of our communities.”

At more than six million acres, about the size of Vermont, the park includes private and public land in parts or all of the St. Lawrence County towns of Hopkinton, Parishville, Colton, Clare, Piercefield, Clifton, Fine and Pitcairn, and land in 11 other New York counties, comprising the largest park in the 48 contiguous states.

CGA has brought together a diverse collection of stakeholders to foster an open dialogue and seek collaborative solutions for the complex problems Adirondack communities face, a news release from the organization said.

The updated list of priorities grew out of a legislative poll of CGA participants. It calls for increased infrastructure funding and restoration of operational budgets for state agencies that serve the Adirondacks, as well as policy innovations that support renewable energy, smart growth, and more, the news release said.

One who partook in the effort said “We are making progress.

“Among the CGA participants, we have evolved from agreeing in simple areas, to developing a shared vision, and we have now moved on to prioritizing action items," said William G. Farber, chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors. "From my perspective, this couldn't come at a better time for the Adirondacks, as we have communities which are facing real challenges, while we are fortunate enough to have a governor who is committed to making a difference. For the Adirondacks, Governor Cuomo's balanced leadership, and commitment to the Park, is the perfect complement to our CGA effort."

For instance, one major aspect of Adirondack life is its myriad waterways.

According to William C. Janeway, executive director of the Adirondack Council, “the Common Ground agenda gives us something to fight for together so that the Adirondack Park's wilderness, clean water, wildlife, visitors, communities, and economy all win.

"The Adirondack Park draws 10 million annual visitors and hundreds of thousands of seasonal residents, all of whom require clean water and effective wastewater treatment facilities,” Janeway said. “Most Adirondack communities have only a few hundred households to pay back the multi-million-dollar costs of building and rebuilding modern water and sewer systems. Low-interest loans aren't good enough. Grants are needed to protect the Park's environment and economy."

The blueprint asserts that infrastructure for clean water, tourism, roads, and bridges is either in disrepair or severely lacking, with small, rural communities in the Adirondacks in need of assistance from the state to address the problem. The plan proposes capital fund grants for preventing and combating invasive species; buried broadband communications lines and well-screened functioning cell service; state-land infrastructure, trails, bridges, signage, and ecological restoration; and farmland protection funding distribution.

CGA believes Adirondack communities would benefit from an increase in operational funding for state agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation and Adirondack Park Agency for outreach, stewardship, and community support.

The blueprint also recommends continued and expanded I Love NY funding; increased resources for Forest Preserve stewardship; and greater emphasis on promoting local farm products and increased support for local food production and young farmers.

The plan proposes a series of policy updates, such as passage of community net metering legislation for local electric power production; a closer look at APA policies that promote “smart growth”; and a closer look at the State Land Master Plan.

To read the updated Blueprint for the Blue Line, visit www.adkfutures.org.

For more information, contact Cali Brooks at (518) 523-9904 or cali@generousact.org.