A vast stretch of Hamilton County forest land donated to the state by International Paper Co. ensures Don White's wheelchair will never again hamper his Adirondack vacations.
LONG LAKE, N.Y. — A vast stretch of Hamilton County forest land donated to the state by International Paper Co. ensures Don White's wheelchair will never again hamper his Adirondack vacations.
White, an accessibility engineer from Ballston Spa who suffered a spinal cord injury in 1992 after a car accident, helped build John Dillon Park, the first campground in the state to fully accommodate the disabled.
At the park's dedication ceremony Monday afternoon, White said other disabled people finally will be able to make the same memories he made in the Adirondack Mountains before his accident, gazing up at the stars and breathing the fresh air on Saranac Lake.
"I had such a personal connection to this," White said of the park. "In comparison to all the other projects I've worked on so far, this has been the most unique project, in the way that it's been universally designed from the ground up."
When it opens next spring, Dillon Park will be the first and only wilderness park in the state to comply fully with the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The 300-acre, $2.6 million park is part of a 15,800-acre conservation easement International Paper donated to the state. The land outside the park will remain working forest land, International Paper officials said.
Paul Smith's College will manage the park through a $1.5 million endowment that creates a hands-on park management program for students studying forestry and recreation.
At Monday's dedication, International Paper Chairman and CEO John Faraci presented the completed easement documents to Denise Sheehan, commissioner of the State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The document represents the largest conservation easement ever in the state, Sheehan said.
The easement forever locks in both the economic benefit of working forests to the community and increased tourism from a "specific segment of society that doesn't have a lot of opportunity in this area yet," she said.
Dillon Park complies with Americans with Disabilities Act standards "down to the smallest detail," said International Paper Vice President of Environmental Affairs John Struhs.
The park's bear-proof food boxes, picnic tables and nine lean-tos are all designed for wheelchair accessibility.
Since the park has no power lines, solar panels power a charging station for motorized wheelchairs. The three miles of gravel paths are angled so people can manually travel in their wheelchairs without getting tired.
The park is named for former International Paper CEO John Dillon.
"I'm proud of the opportunity to make this available to so many people who find it difficult to experience these places," Dillon said.
Ted Galusha, a Warrensburg resident who won a settlement that granted people with disabilities access to vehicle-restricted forest land in 2001, said he was proud to be involved in making the park a reality.
"The biggest thing we accomplished in that settlement was changing people's thinking -- that just because you're disabled doesn't mean you can't go to the woods," he said. "And this park is a great example."
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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
