In New York's Catskills and Adirondacks there are very large areas protected from development by an act creating the "Forest Preserve".There is agency knnwn as the Adirondack Park Agency
which controls decisions controling the park, and the park is administered by the NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation. Different sections have different classifications, such as "wilderness" or "Wild Forest". The wilderness areas are so restricted that all motorized vehicles are prohibited, seaplanes have been prohibited,and you can not cut dead or down trees.The regulations
are dominated by environmentalist organizations.Access to these large areas is only on foot.
My resentment is that existing structures are burned to the ground when the property is acquired and existing roads are closed. Things that could be utilizes are prohibited.
Last year the state acquired lands formerly leased by a hunting club which I had permission to trap.There are existing dirt roads and sections were heavily logged years ago.Soon after the state got the land signs went up prohibiting motor vehicle use. The area is wild forest, not wilderness..Old people like myself, and disabled folks are now restricted in enjoying these lands.
I trap fisher and beaver on these lands now I will have to greatly cut back because I will have to walk, all because of a bunch of nonsense.
While I'm on the subject of NYSDEC, my opinion is that they are all a bunch of people watching their butts to protect their jobs.For years I tried to work with them, now I don't care. Biologists that can't get seasons straight, and will not compromise.Look at the otter restoration and the secret deals made. Season still open in western New York. I could go on and on.
By the way I used to work for DEC so I know how they operate.

I meant to say the otter season is still NOT open because of secret drals made by NYSDEC

And not opening goose season till a week after duck has opened sucks too.

The same thing is happening to Wildlife Management areas over here in Region #6, AL.

The closing down of long time, traditional access points close to the water
for the hand launching of small, non-motorized boats & canoes for trapping.

DEC wants to make sure it takes a 200 to 300 yard drag through the brush
to get your trapping vessel & gear to the water.

That's fine if you are young & strong, & 20 years old but if you are
old & handicapped with a bad heart you are shut out from accessing the resource.

You would think DEC is in violation of the "Americans with disabilities ACT"
for this wholesale restriction of reasonable access for seniors & handicapped trappers.

w

Maybe it might change when the Gov. CHANGES but your loss because it's NY AND THE CITY C ONTROLS the state.

Will not change , if anything it will get even worse. What really torques me is, the DEC keeps stocking trout in remote lakes and ponds in wilderness areas, like the West Canada Lakes, 5 ponds, wildernesses. And since float plane access is prohibited and hiking distances to many of theses lakes can be upwards to 10 miles one way, many of these lakes and ponds receive little if any fishing pressure. And even if you are physically fit , or dumb enough to hike 20 miles for a brook trout, if you do not have a boat or canoe to fish these bodies of water, you will have little success.

I’ve argued for years , why cannot there be a 1 hub lake in these vast wildernesses to allow float plane access for fisherman, hunters , campers, hikers whatever and spike camp from there ? Example , West Lake in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness, that would put anyone in the middle of a series of lakes and ponds.

You aren't suppose to fight Forrest fires in these parks either.

I am surprised you didn’t t mention the ridiculous dates for the fisher season in the Adirondacks …. My cabin is just inside the blue line for the Adirondack park so i am well aware of the stupid laws … I have seen these trails closed to atv’s as well and it’s a shame to see these beautiful areas inaccessible ….

Perry much the same out here in the west. They DO NOT fight the fires they manage them in the name of firefighter safety. Close roads and allow them to become overgrown instead of keeping them open and cleared as firebreaks. We East and West now have a bunch of book smart idiots managing our forest state and federal

What about the otter management plan in the Catskills......20+ years in the making and still going strong!

64 years hunting fishing and trapping in NY. Retirement in 15 months and I'm leaving. NYS gets worse and worse, death by a 1000 pin pricks.
It's too bad, upstate was a nice place to enjoy the outdoors. Between taxes, political climate, restricted rights and catering to the illegals I've had enough.
I'm taking my hard earned pension and all my disposable income elsewhere. No wonder to me the population of NY is going down.

I'm staying and fighting them tooth and nail till I die. Too much good hunting fishing and trapping to just cede over to the antis.
I'm trying to turn as many kids on to the outdoor life as I can. Teach, preach and educate. Give of oneself to turn the tide.

I feel sorry for you guys when I hear that.
There are a few provincial parks that have some restrictions here but most do not restrict trappers.

I have argued for years that the Adirondack fisher season is too early. I was one of the trappers that had to alert DEC of the decline in fisher, they were too busy radio collaring pine marten, a species that is increasing. So how did they react? By shortening the season, but on the wrong end!!!.No concern for setting the season would be best to harvest this renewable resource.
Then they opened a very short season in the state's southern tier counties, but in October!Long gone are biologists like Gary Parsons and Mark Brown that properly managed fisher.
DEC completely ignored their own St.Lawrence County study that showed a later fisher season had no negative affect upon the population.
They did a reintroduction program of otters into western New York with otters trapped in the adirondacks and catskills. In the catskills they closed the very areas where some of the reintroduction otters came from. Why? Because of the recommendations of a long gone biologist that did not know squat. They had very strict regs for the cages used to catch the otters, but then took them to Cornell and fed them chemically contaminated Lake Ontario salmon. BRILLIANT ! The release was well over twenty years ago and there are now otters every where in western New York, but still no open season in the Catskills or restocked areas>. WHY? Because of SECRET DEALS with finanical contributors!
DEC refuses repeatedly to take advice of trappers wildlife observations. They know it all. I know of one, possibly two biologist that actually trap, the rest are desk jockeys.I could go on and on.

Al ,thanks for the post , they are very welcome heads up on how the DEC works . I am in total agreement on the season dates in WNY they are way to early and not long enough.

Fisher Man, I agree hunters, trappers, fishers, foresters, etc., with boots on the ground and years of observation data mean little to today’s DEC biologists. I had a long phone conversation with a dec biologist about changing a boundary of a wildlife management zone, because of regulations and season length conflicts in a known deer wintering yard. He told me using, bureaucratic mumbo jumbo that it was all but impossible.

And don't think for a minute that the automobile insurance companies don't have a say in how many Doe tags are handed out.

The release was well over twenty years ago and there are now otters every where in western New York, but still no open season in the Catskills or restocked areas>. WHY? Because of SECRET DEALS with finanical contributors!
Al, not that the Kennedy compound in Lew Beach in the Catskills would have any bearing!!!

No otter season areas is why the 330s have to be modified for beaver trapping.

And DEC had people sneaking around to see if trappers complied.