|
State and local officials will be
meeting with environmental organization representatives and
floatplane operators today in Albany to discuss alternative sites
for floatplane operation in the park.
Officials from the Adirondack Park
Agency, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the
Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages will be meeting in
Albany with representatives from local floatplane carriers Helms
Aero Service and Payne’s Floatplanes.
Joining them will be officials from
the Adirondack Council and Protect the Adirondacks in an attempt to
find locations in the park where floatplane operation is acceptable,
feasible and profitable.
The talks come after the APA passed a
measure that will ban floatplanes from Lows Lake as of January
2012.
Floatplane operators reported that
flights to Lows Lake account for as much as 40 percent of their
annual revenue.
APA spokesman Keith McKeever said that
the talks represent the agency keeping its pledge to floatplane
operators.
“The agency is committed to find a
place for floatplanes in the park and we are following through with
that commitment,” he said.
-Jon
Alexander, 8-25-09
|