Some of you noobs may not know about this or even apreciate it but Jim is a great guy and knew he was in the right and pushed the issue with the state and adk park and WON!!!! We voiced our support for him some time back so i figured i would keep everyone up to date.



PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Publication

Lake Placid, New York

March 5, 2010





DEC Settles McCulley’s Federal Lawsuit and Agrees to Pay McCulley Attorneys’ Fees and Legal Costs





Name of case: McCulley v. N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation and several DEC employees



Statement of Matthew D. Norfolk, Jim McCulley’s attorney, in response to settlement of McCulley’s civil rights action:



DEC has agreed to pay Jim $58,000 as reimbursement of attorneys' fees and other legal expenses incurred to prosecute DEC and DEC officials for violating Jim's civil rights in federal court and attorneys' fees and other legal expenses incurred by Jim to defend against DEC's meritless and unsuccessful criminal and administrative prosecutions of him for allegedly operating a snowmobile and truck on Old Mountain Road, on forest preserve land, in the Adirondack Park.



Jim and I are very, very happy with the settlement. The settlement comes while Jim's motion is pending to amend his complaint to include additional DEC officials and to add additional allegations that DEC prosecuted Jim to appease private organizations such as The Adirondack Council, Inc. and ASTC, and allegations that DEC officials prompted The Adirondack Council, Inc. and other environmental groups to intervene in the administrative enforcement proceeding after Commissioner Grannis ruled in Jim's favor.



Jim won on his criminal appeal in Essex County Court, won in DEC's own administrative proceeding with Chief ALJ McClymonds finding Old Mountain Road to be a Town Road, and Jim won in federal court in 2006 when he defeated DEC's motion to dismiss. Jim now has won again with this settlement. Jim is a perfect example of how the little guy, the Adirondacker, can win and effectuate change in State government and how the Adirondack Park is managed by the State.



The settlement brings Jim some vindication and, of course, credibility. Jim was right on the law and facts concerning the history and status of Old Mountain Road and he was right on the law and facts concerning DEC's unlawful closure of Old Mountain Road and I believe he was right on DEC's preferential treatment of recreational organizations allowing them unfettered, exclusive use of Old Mountain Road by motorized vehicles.



A written stipulation of settlement that the parties have agreed to will be signed a submitted to Judge Kahn of the U.S. District Court very soon and thereafter Jim will receive the settlement funds.



For more information, please contact Matthew Norfolk at 519.523.5555 (w) or at 518.524.6247 (m), or Jim McCulley at 518.523.3606 or at 518.572.4073

I remember reading about him, I think in an old thread. Its good to hear that he won his case!
Thanks for the update.


Bill

Thanks for the update Dave!

Jim came down and spoke at a meeting once and filled us in on what was then the ongoing b.s.
This is great news

Thanks for the info Dave... Its great to hear stuff like this.

here is some other news about the APA....

(in the Adirondack journal)

http://www.denpubs.com/Articles-c-2010- ... eform.html

Maybe some people are starting to think about the APAs power role in our state,

well, if that's not inspirational, I dunno what is....... great news

and this!

http://www.pressrepublican.com/homepage ... 04050.html

Thanks, Steve, more great news!

this is great - thanks for the post dave

awesome news to hear

Thanks Dave for the update!!! Thats great news!!

Nice to see a win someplace.......Out here is basically getting set up for a fast and bad loss of motorized rec areas.

That's great news. Anyone coming down to the NOVA meeting? Might be a good topic to raise at the meeting.

Yes, I do troll here. hahahaha.

Regardless of the scale of the win, I think the Club should send him a letter thanking him for fighting for motorized recreation in the Park. Probably would be really appreciated

Great idea