Paul Schaefer

Plans To Dam The Upper Hudson Would Have Been Catastrophic

June 21, 2021 by Mike Prescott Leave a Comment

On almost every stream, pond or lake in the Adirondacks there is still evidence of lumberman’s dams and lumbering operations. In the mid-to-late 1960s however, there was a controversial plan to dam the Upper Hudson River in order to supply water and hydro-electric power to the parched, urban, metropolitan area of New York City.

In the early 1960s there had been a severe drought along the entire northeastern seaboard. One of New York City’s answers to the drought problem was to tap the Upper Hudson to supply its seemingly unquenchable need for water. [Read more…] about Plans To Dam The Upper Hudson Would Have Been Catastrophic

The First Adirondack Conservation Easement

March 9, 2021 by David Gibson Leave a Comment

DEC and APA websites reveal that 777,206 acres of private land in the Adirondack Park are protected in some fashion by a state-owned conservation easement.

During the Adirondack Park Centennial year of 1992 there were 93,000 acres of private lands under state-owned easement in the Park. [Read more…] about The First Adirondack Conservation Easement

Adirondack Advocate Paul Schaefer’s Influence On The Northway

January 4, 2021 by David Gibson 1 Comment

As 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

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

November 5, 2020 by David Gibson 1 Comment

A 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

Cutting The Scotia Runway: An Adirondack Conservationist During The War

May 9, 2020 by David Gibson 2 Comments

In the 1990s I would visit Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks (AfPA) vice president and archivist Paul Schaefer (1908-1996) at his home in Niskayuna to learn as much as I could from him about wilderness preservation.

After he died, Paul was named one of the 100 top conservationists in the United States by Audubon magazine. I was the executive director of the AfPA and learned a great deal from Paul during the last decade of his life. [Read more…] about Cutting The Scotia Runway: An Adirondack Conservationist During The War