Management
The SMWA, like all lands in the state's Forest Preserve, is managed by the Division of Lands and Forests within New York's Department of Environmental Conservation. DEC is the successor agency to the Conservation Department, Conservation Commission and Forest Commission, all of which managed the lands in prior eras.
The forest rangers of DEC's Office of Public Protection provide law enforcement services to the unit.
New York's wilderness-area management guidelines are similar to, if a bit looser than, those followed by the federal government. Any development of new facilities within the unit requires a change to the Unit Management Plan (UMP), or is added only at the UMP's periodic updates, both of which require public comment and extensive review. The UMP is itself governed not only by the state's Environmental Conservation Law but Article 14 of the state constitution, which requires that the Forest Preserve be kept "forever wild" and free for public use beyond any reasonable fee required for a particular activity.
In a departure from the usual practice of most American public land management, the state pays full property taxes on the lands to all local governmental entities as if it were a commercial landowner.
Read more about this topic: Slide Mountain Wilderness Area
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