Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club, said the tax freeze would have severely undermined local support for state land acquisition, an issue already simmering in hot water.

“The freeze would have crippled the state’s open-space program at a time when so many critical parcels are available,” he said.

John Sheehan, spokesman for the Adirondack Council, heralded the concerted effort made by Adirondack stakeholders.

“We had the pleasure of working very closely with local government officials, the Common Ground Alliance and the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages to persuade the legislature not to pursue what could have been a disastrous change in the state’s financial support for the Forest Preserve and the communities that help to protect it.”

Woodworth noted that in 1886, the year after the legislature created the Forest Preserve, it “allowed these lands to be taxed because lawmakers recognized the problems that would be created if large tracts of land were removed from the tax rolls of these small rural communities.”

Last year, New York paid nearly $70 million in local taxes on Adirondack Park lands.

Some towns, such as Arietta, are more than 90-percent state-owned land.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:

kdedam@pressrepublican.com