SARANAC LAKE -- The proposed statewide burn ban got doused with furor here.

Outrage came mostly from those who don't equate burning household trash with safely burning forest debris.

Both would be banned by new conservation regulation 215.1.

The Department of Environmental Conservation held its sole public hearing in the North Country on Thursday at Harrietstown Town Hall, the fifth of 11 sessions planned around the state.

At issue is a proposed outlaw of all outdoor fires, barrels, brush piles and farm burning with exceptions made for a dozen specific circumstances including firefighter practice fires, ceremonial burning and campfires 3-by-3 feet square.

Jim McCulley, a North Elba landowner, called the proposed burn ban another assault on people who would then be forced to truck or pay for brush disposal.

"Here's a thought, why don't we ban burning plastics?" McCulley said.

Most people living near the forest have to contend with brush and tree clearing, especially after storms and winter snowfall.

Greg Wallace, supervisor of Long Lake, said they have a town burning pit to help landowners and highway crews keep roadways and yards clear of downed trees and brush.

It's common sense to not burn plastics, he said, "but what's going to happen with municipal burning?"

Wallace urged DEC to rethink parameters for Adirondack communities.

"I don't think one size fits all."

Arthur Lussi, an Adirondack Park Agency commissioner and proprietor of the Crown Plaza Resort said they operate three golf courses in Lake Placid surrounded by woods.

"What's going to happen to all the brush if we can't burn it anymore?" he asked. "This new policy encourages chipping, but when you run a chipper it burns 2 to 3 gallons of gas per hour."

Clearing the golf course by moving brush to the edge of the woods creates a "perfect storm," Lussi said, "for forest fires fueled by acres of brush."