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Forest Preserve

Adirondack Advocate Paul Schaefer’s Influence On The Northway

January 4, 2021 by David Gibson 1 Comment

Northway I-87As the decade of the 1990s began, noted Adirondack conservationist and wilderness coalition leader Paul Schaefer’s eyesight was failing. He had macular degeneration. We had noticed that this skilled carpenter, home and cabin builder and historic restorationist was no longer hitting the nail squarely on its head. We worried about him continuing to drive. [Read more…] about Adirondack Advocate Paul Schaefer’s Influence On The Northway

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, development, Forest Preserve, I-87, Paul Schaefer, Pharaoh Lake Wilderness, Schroon River, Transportation History, wilderness

Charles Evans Hughes Documentary Premiering Online

December 13, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

My Native AirThe new feature documentary, My Native Air: Charles Evans Hughes and the Adirondacks, co-produced by MDT Publishing and Snarky Aardvark Films, is premiering on-demand in a limited run from January 15th to February 15th, 2021. [Read more…] about Charles Evans Hughes Documentary Premiering Online

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature Tagged With: art, Charles Evans Hughes, Charles R Wood Theater, Documentary, film, Forest Preserve, Fort Ticonderoga, Glens Falls, Historic Preservation, Judical History, Lake George, Political History

Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950

November 30, 2020 by John Warren 3 Comments

1995 Blowdown in the Adirondacks Courtesy Wildlife Conservation SocietyThe Adirondacks are prone to powerful windstorms, isolated tornadoes, and occasional hurricanes, derechos, and microbursts. Perhaps the second most destructive of these in modern Adirondack history (next to the 1998 Ice Storm) occurred in November, 1950. [Read more…] about Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Cold River, Fires, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, I-87, Logging, Political History, weather, wildfires

Adirondack Wild Presents 2020 Wilderness Award

November 19, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Kevin Chlad receives the 2020 Paul Schaefer Wilderness AwardAdirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve has presented its 2020 Paul Schaefer Wilderness Award, the organization’s highest honor, to Kevin Chlad, Director of Government Relations for the Adirondack Council with offices in Elizabethtown and in Albany. [Read more…] about Adirondack Wild Presents 2020 Wilderness Award

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondack Wild, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, Kelly Adirondack Center, wilderness

Al Smith, John Apperson, FDR & The Fight That Expanded NYS Forests

November 5, 2020 by David Gibson 1 Comment

Paul Schaefer with John AppersonA young wildlands advocate Paul Schaefer was enamored of activist John Apperson from the day he first met him.

It was about 1931. Apperson was an General Electric engineer fighting to protect Lake George and other wild places. As Schaefer said, it was the pure sense of joy that Apperson exuded about conservation in the Adirondacks which galvanized young people looking for a cause.

These were very important years for the Adirondacks, as for the nation. The 1932 national election loomed, as the Great Depression sucked hope and savings from so many. One can imagine the anxiety that gripped the country and the opportunity for hucksters, demagogues, as well as statesmen. [Read more…] about Al Smith, John Apperson, FDR & The Fight That Expanded NYS Forests

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New Exhibits, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: 1932 Election, Al Smith, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Apperson, Lake George, Logging, Paul Schaefer, Political History

Survey: High Peaks Hikers Seek Wildness, Solitude, Support Limits

October 30, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

poll showing support of limited access permitsTwo conservation organizations and a state college today released the preliminary results of a two-month hiker survey in and around the High Peaks Wilderness Area showing that the 673 hikers surveyed came there seeking solitude and wildness, and would favor limits on visitation to prevent damage to the “forever wild” Forest Preserve. [Read more…] about Survey: High Peaks Hikers Seek Wildness, Solitude, Support Limits

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, hiking, Overuse, Tourism

Army Proposal For Air, Ground Training On Forest Preserve Problematic

October 28, 2020 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

Adirondack Atlas Map of the AdirondacksIn June, the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, based at Fort Drum in Jefferson County, released a draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) that outlined ambitious “air and land-based training activities” to possibly take place across nine counties in Upstate New York, including four (St. Lawrence, Lewis, Oneida, Herkimer) that are partially within the Adirondack Park, and two (Hamilton, Essex) that are entirely within the Adirondack Park Blue Line. [Read more…] about Army Proposal For Air, Ground Training On Forest Preserve Problematic

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: development, Forest Preserve, Fort Drum, Protect the Adirondacks, wilderness

Petition Circulating Calling To Make Whitney Park Forest Preserve

September 8, 2020 by Peter Bauer 2 Comments

Salmon Lake stands in the foreground, part of the Whitney tract, with Rock Lake and Little Tupper Lake in the backgroundThe 36,000-acre Whitney Park is up for sale. This tract, which includes 22 lakes and ponds, and over 100 miles of undeveloped shoreline, has been at the top of New York State’s land protection priority list for 50 years.

Over the decades, the property has been lightly developed by the Whitney family, which maintains a large complex of buildings in a mountain estate called Deerlands on Little Forked Lake, and  two inholdings totaling around 400 acres on Forked Lake and Plumley Pond at the south end of the tract. [Read more…] about Petition Circulating Calling To Make Whitney Park Forest Preserve

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: conservation, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, Protect the Adirondacks, Whitney Park

36,000 Acres of Adirondack Park for Sale

July 30, 2020 by Editorial Staff 7 Comments

Whitney Park map courtesy ProtectThe family of recently deceased Saratoga civic and philanthropic leader Marylou Whitney announced today that the 36,000-acre Whitney Park lands in the center of the Adirondack Park are for sale.

John Hendrickson, the husband of Marylou Whitney, stated in the Wall Street Journal that his asking price is $180 million. Whitney Park is located in the Town of Long Lake, in Hamilton County and is one of the largest privately held contiguous tracts of land in the 6.1 million-acre Adirondack Park. [Read more…] about 36,000 Acres of Adirondack Park for Sale

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Forest Preserve, Long Lake, nature, Protect the Adirondacks, Whitney Park, Wildlife

241 Acres, New Trail Added to Catskill Forest Preserve

July 7, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Bluestone Wild Forest courtesy DECNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the acquisition of 241 acres in the Catskills, including 208 acres adjoining existing Forest Preserve lands in the Bluestone Wild Forest that is expected to preserve open space and expand recreational opportunities.

The purchases of the two properties were made possible through a partnership with the Open Space Institute (OSI) and $758,000 from New York’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). [Read more…] about 241 Acres, New Trail Added to Catskill Forest Preserve

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Bluestone Wild Forest, Catskills, conservation, DEC, Forest Preserve, State Parks

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