Benz Pond Hunting Club

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 17 December 17, 1999

Suit attacks Champion land purchase

By JONAH BRUNO

Enterprise Staff Writer

CANTON - St. Lawrence County and several hunting clubs recently joined a lawsuit protesting the state's $24.9 million acquisition of 139,000 acres of land in the Adirondack Park.

The land, originally owned by Champion International, a Connecticut-based timber company, was purchased by the state in June. As a condition of the purchase, 110,000 acres will be granted to Heartwood Forestland Fund III, LP, a timber investment group, for harvesting and development. This land will eventually be returned to the state through a conservation easement. The state will keep the remaining 29,000 acres. Along with the county, three hunting clubs - Benz Pond Hunting Club, Potsdam; the Azure Mountain Club, Ogdensburg; and the Quebec Brook Hunting Club, Lisbon — also joined the suit. The clubs all lease land on the property formerly owned by Champion.

As a condition of the purchase, the clubs will be denied exclusive access to their land from January to September and, within the next 15 years, will have to remove their camps. Their leases will all be reduced to one acre surrounding the camps. The Franklin County Board of Legislators Thursday passed a resolution endorsing the suit, although it did not choose to join at this time.

The suit is based on charges by the Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc. (PRFA) that the state violated its own laws in the purchase of the Champion lands.

"The state failed to abide by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), requiring social and economic impact analysis of major actions," said Carol LaGrasse, president of PRFA.

The plaintiffs hope to have the sale reversed through to suit. LaGrasse hopes that the processes of land acquisition and easement granting by the state would become more public in the future. She feels it is fairly secretive, and she would like to see the processes subject to public hearing. Jennifer Pose, press officer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, one of the parties named in the suit, said the DEC was hesitant to comment in depth because the case is currently in litigation. "We're still studying the allegations," said Post. "The Department views this purchase as a magnificent step in our continuing effort to preserve our natural resources for future generations." William Manning, president of the Benz Pond Hunting Club, would also like to see the sale reversed. "We are very upset with the way the state and Champion handled this," said Manning. "They didn't go to the townships."

The plaintiffs also contend that the state violated the 1993 Environmental Trust Fund legislation and the 1996 Clean Water/ Clean Air bond Act. These regulations require local approval for large purchases. The Champion purchase is the largest state land acquisition in the state's history.

Part of the SEQRA process also requires the state to consider the opinions of local municipalities before making any large land purchases. Part of environmental quality is the economy, and SEQRA is intended, in part, to protect the economic stability of municipalities affected by this type of purchase.

The DEC feels that it did adhere to the proper regulations in the acquiring the land for the state.

"We are confident that the transaction was handled appropriately," Post said. Ray Susice, D-St. Regis Falls, chairman of the Franklin County Board of Legislators, fears the economy of the county will suffer greatly as a result of the Champion land acquisition.

"I believe that we're going to lose a lot of revenue due to the loss of the revenue from the camps in our county," said Susice.

People with camps in the North Country buy supplies from area stores, including gas for cars, snowmobiles, four-wheelers, and generators; food; and hunting and fishing supplies.

Susice is also concerned because land use restrictions that apply to state land do not apply to private land. Snowmobilers, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, and people who ride four-wheelers come to the area to use land leased by hunting clubs…