Details on the beginning of a TREMENDOUS letter writing campaign to save the Remsen-Lake Placid rail corridor.

I asked Amy Catania from Historic Saranac Lake where I could be the most helpful with writing letters to the agencies that are required to perform a historic consultation under NYS Section 14.09 and the federal Section 106 review for this historic railroad corridor. She responded with a short list of bullet points that these agencies should be addressing BEFORE NYDOT moves forward with any changes to the rail corridor. Letters about the need for the preservation review to the SHPO, the DOT, the FHWA, the APA, and the Governor’s Office would be “very helpful to make these departments aware the of public’s understanding of Section 106 and help them realize it is in their best interest to do so,” to quote Amy.

Railroad and historic preservation supporters should consider these points when writing letters to the agencies noted above:

>>The historic review process should have been considered as early in the planning process as possible; it has not.

>>The SHPO has not submitted any recommendations to mitigate any adverse impacts on the rail corridor from Alternate 7. (revised 1996 Unit Management Plan)

>>The NYDOT and NYDEC has made no response to any recommendations by the SHPO, and they are required to provide a factual basis for their position.

>>There has been no public participation process specifically addressing the historic preservation issues.

>>There has been no letter of resolution between the commissioner and the undertaking agency concerning the rail corridor.

Letters to the APA might address the railroad with respect to the status of the travel corridor and this is defined in the SLMP between pages 54 and 57. Please note that according to the SLMP, only the existing two-lane roads in the AP are to be improved and no 4-lane highways will be constructed.

As far as I know, the Remsen-Lake Placid Rail Corridor was chartered by Dr. Webb as a RAILROAD and not a “travel corridor”. The RAILROAD holds the historic designation and the track structure is specifically noted in both the state and national historic registers. Without the track the “travel corridor” is not distinguishable from any other trail or highway.

Railroad advocates need to write letters to these agencies and PREVENT trail boosters from REDEFINING the historic designation to this rail corridor. We must not allow history to be rewritten.

This issue is also much bigger than the Adirondack Park; feel free to share and engage as many rail supporters and railroad history organizations as possible to express their views on this subject. Thanks Keith Gorgas, for clarifying the agencies listed and providing contact information (at "Friends of the Rails"FB page and below) If we missed any, I am sure a follow up post will clear it up.

In this age of social media and electronic correspondence it still may be a good idea to follow up with a good old fashioned letter with a hand-written address and a stamp after you click "send"; it is surely easy enough to print your email draft to mail it.

NYSHPO- NY State Historic Preservation Office Mailing Address New York State Division for Historic Preservation Peebles Island State Park P.O. Box 189 Waterford, NY 12188-0189 Phone: (518) 237-8643 - See more at: http://nysparks.com/shpo/contact/#sthash.kHERpW6A.dpuf

NY DOT- Department of Transportation NYSDOT Main Office 50 Wolf Road Albany, NY 12232 Email contact: https://www.dot.ny.gov/main/feedback-fo ... ot/contact APA-

Adirondack Park Agency SLMP_Comments@apa.ny.gov phone: 518-891-4050 fax: 518-891-3938 address: NYS Adirondack Park Agency P.O. Box 99 1133 NYS Route 86 Ray Brook, NY 12977

FMWA- Federal Highway Administration Mailing Address Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 email : execsecretariat.fhwa@fhwa.dot.gov<execsecretariat.fhwa@fhwa.dot.gov>;

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo https://www.governor.ny.gov/contact (I would suggest sending redundant messages, changing topics, including Transportation, Upstate Economy, and Disability Assistance. Perhaps that way someone will actually read the messages. Contact us by phone 1-518-474-8390 Office hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Contact us by mail The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224

I will second James' commentary; this campaign will be won in Albany, Waterford, and Ray Brook, not in the editorial pages of Adirondack Daily Enterprise or on Facebook. Both of those other media are important, and it's a good idea to work to sway public opinion, but the real fight is elsewhere.

Let us also take inspiration from Galen Halasz, age 10, who submitted this editorial cartoon to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, apparently drawing inspiration from Benjamin Franklin's "Join or Die" cartoon of 1754:

http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/pa ... l?nav=5041