SNOWMOBILER WINS RIGHT TO USE ROAD.(Main)

ALBANY -- A ruling by the state Department of Environmental Conservation that reopens an Adirondack road near the remote High Peaks to motorized traffic could reverberate throughout the wilderness.

While the decision this week by DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis applies only to a stretch of historic road in Essex County now used by hikers and cross-country skiers, it could open the way for motor enthusiasts to challenge the state's closure of hundreds of ancient roads throughout the park.

"This gives people here the legal avenue to reopen roads throughout the Adirondacks that the state illegally closed," said James McCulley, who won a six-year fight to show that …