State agencies have finalized and approved plans for the Rollins Pond Public Campground. The Unit Management Plan (UMP) for the campground proposes infrastructure improvements to comfort stations, rehabilitating roads and bike paths, and providing better accessibility and improvement to the boat launch. UMPs are individual management plans for each unit of state land within the Adirondack Park.
The Upper Saranac Foundation (USF) and others provided input to the proposed UMPs last summer in hopes to direct the DEC into revising the draft plan. The Foundation did not feel the UMP was explicit regarding managing and educating the public on aquatic invasive species (AIS). The USF feels that Rollins Pond, as an AIS-free waterbody, should have the highest degree of protection from invasive species.
The USF comments focused on the introduction of AIS and the need to better address preventive strategies to thwart their spread — specifically, the need for an AIS boat decontamination station. The USF feels there is no better opportunity than a gated, secure entrance for over 600 campsites (Fish Creek and Rollins Pond) to inform campers about AIS and the associated risks, and provide a convenient and effective way to decontaminate watercraft.
Unfortunately, other than updated clarification on parkwide AIS regulations, no additional preventative measures were added to the revised final plan. While the lack of additional AIS spread measures was questioned by APA Board members, agency staff assured the board that “efforts to control AIS at Rollins Pond are sufficient.”
In his comments, APA Board member Arthur Lussi stated that “knowing that Fish Creek is one of the busiest campgrounds in the park I don’t understand why we don’t have one (decontamination station) at Fish Creek, then it would be easy for Rollins Pond.”
APA staff conveyed to the board that it was the DEC’s intent to provide a decontamination station at Fish Creek Pond. In 2023, the USF offered to assist in securing funding through grants to pay for the unit, and assist in the funding for watershed stewards to staff and manage the decontamination station. At that time, the DEC’s Invasive Species Section Chief informed Adirondack partners, including the USF and the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, that DEC’s operations staff do not support the placement of a decontamination unit at Fish Creek Ponds Campground. The 2021 Fish Creek Campground UMP does indicate if a new boat launch at Fish Creek Ponds is ever designed, the DEC “may take into consideration” a boat washing station as part of the design.
The need for an assessment of carrying capacity was also expressed in the public comments. The USF and other environmental organizations emphasized the need for a carrying capacity analysis as required by the State Land Master Plan (SLMP). A carrying capacity study would assess the water body’s physical, biological, and social carrying capacity to withstand impacts of public use on the resources, ecosystem, and public enjoyment of the area.
The DEC did revise the final UMP that included utilization of a Visitor Use Management Framework (VUMF) tool to address our comments and the SLMP’s requirement for a “periodic review” of boat launch sites. Staff developed desired conditions, indicators, and thresholds for Rollins Pond and included these within the proposed final plan. While the VUMF addresses the social carrying capacity of the pond, the UMP lacks specific guidelines of the SLMP to assess the physical and biological impacts of the campground and its launch. The USF feels it’s important to identify the appropriate balance between environmental protection and access development.
The final Rollins Pond Public Campground Unit Management Plan can be found here.
Click here to view the APA Agency Meeting.
Discussion on the Rollins Pond UMP begins at 1:03:40 of the video.