What started as modest excitement over $1.2 million in funding for more hiker shuttles in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Park turned into much more when Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled new plans for the country's largest park outside of Alaska.

In his State of the State, the governor Wednesday outlined sweeping, although fairly general, plans to create what amounts to a comprehensive management plan for the Adirondack Park, a plan that advocates and local officials alike have been calling for for decades.

"The state will deploy sustainable trail crews to make trails more durable to increased use and analyze and develop new visitor flow solutions to better manage traffic and hikers," the proposal said, found on page 21 of the State of the State Book.

The broad proposal drew praise from officials in the Adirondacks.

“We applaud the Governor for recognizing the need to address overuse, preserve and provide access to popular wilderness trails and destinations in the Adirondack Park, and build much-needed 21st Century infrastructure,” said William Janeway, executive director of the Adirondack Council.

The group also highlighted Cuomo's proposal Wednesday to provide $9.4 million in state grants to help Lake George with a $25 million upgrade to its aging sewage treatment plant as well as other initiatives.

That is in addition to what is expected to be $1.2 million to help Essex County fund shuttles to limit hikers from parking along country roads, which has created unsafe driving conditions and overcrowding.

County officials told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that the money is expected to be part of Cuomo's budget proposal later this month, but the governor's office has yet to announce the funding.

More:Overhiking the Adirondack High Peaks: Plans to limit trail use falter

What is needed to help the Adirondacks?

Nevertheless, citing large increases in visitors to both the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Park as well as the Catskills, Cuomo's proposal calls for "a framework to balance public use needs, working in collaboration with the State’s newly formed Adirondack High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group."

The proposal also called for the creation of a second advisory group for the Catskills.

For Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks!, the governor's proposal for the Adirondack Park is the significant action he'd been waiting for.

"That the governor has determined this is a priority issue is certainly welcome news and a new day, potentially, for High Peaks management," Bauer said.

The advisory groups are in addition to an overarching plan announced by Cuomo on Wednesday that would ask New York voters in November to approve a $3 billion bond to create a statewide fund to pay for environmental improvements across the state.

The Restore Mother Nature Bond Act, Cuomo said, would establish a Conservation Corridors Program to restore up to 10,000 acres of freshwater wetlands and 10,000 miles of stream habitats across New York.

It would also seek to address invasive algae blooms that have plagued lakes and waterways across the state, including Lake George.

"We must develop the solution to the harmful algal blooms before they destroy our water source," Cuomo said Wednesday,

"We must restore fisheries and streams and wetlands. We must conserve more forest areas. We must replant more trees. We must filter drinking water. We must stop the nitrogen runoffs. And that's what the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act will do."

More:There's a parking ban in the Adirondacks. Few are abiding, and it's creating a mess

Past Adirondack policies got mixed results

A parking ban along sections of Route 73 in St. Huberts, Keene Valley as well as efforts to curb illegal parking on the highway in North Elba have gotten mixed results since being put in place in 2018.

A USA TODAY Network New York review last fall found that large numbers of hikers were ignoring the ban during the Labor Day holiday weekend in September.

The state responded with a massive enforcement effort rolled out in October for Columbus Day weekend which included Forest Rangers, county sheriff officers and State Police to enforce parking and traffic rules.

But the underlying issues of overuse had yet to be significantly addressed, according to advocates.

With the release of the governor's proposal Wednesday, the ongoing issues seemed to gain greater attention, officials said.

More:Overhiking the Adirondack High Peaks: Plans to limit trail use falter

In November, the governor announced a new task force to look at the issues surrounding overuse in the Adirondack High Peaks after the USA TODAY Network New York reported on overuse.

"It is a very real issue and a real concern for us," Cuomo told reporters in November.

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Ryan Mercer covers northern New York for the USA TODAY Network New York and is a staff writer at the Burlington Free Press. Reach him at rmercer@freepressmedia.com or at 802-343-4169. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmercer1 and facebook.com/ryan.mercer1.

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