• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Protect the Adirondacks

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

50 Adirondack Places To Visit Outside The High Peaks This Holiday Weekend

September 3, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

DEC Trail Markers provided by PROTECTFor Labor Day Weekend, Protect the Adirondacks has published online hiking trail guides for 50 hikes that lead to great destinations outside of the heavily-used High Peaks Wilderness. [Read more…] about 50 Adirondack Places To Visit Outside The High Peaks This Holiday Weekend

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: High Peaks, hiking, Overuse, Protect the Adirondacks, Tourism

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

DEC’s Efforts To Lobby For A Mine In Adirondack Wilderness

July 6, 2020 by Peter Bauer 1 Comment

NYCO MinesThis is the last article in a 5-part series on possible amendments in 2020 to Article 14, Section 1, of the NYS Constitution, the famed forever wild provision.

This article looks back at the amendment for NYCO Minerals, Inc., in 2013, that authorized exploratory drilling on 200 acres in Lewis Lot 8 in the Forest Preserve in the Jay Mountain Wilderness. This amendment was barely approved, passing by the narrowest margin of any successful Article 14 amendment. The NYCO Amendment was different from all other amendments to Article 14 because it marked the first time that a private corporation used the amendment process to seek and obtain Forest Preserve lands for no other purpose than benefiting its bottom line. Every other amendment had a public benefit and purpose. The NYCO Amendment did not. [Read more…] about DEC’s Efforts To Lobby For A Mine In Adirondack Wilderness

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature Tagged With: Article 14, DEC, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Forever Wild, Political History, Protect the Adirondacks, wilderness

Hamilton County’s Tower Plans For Cathead Mountain

July 6, 2020 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

Cathead Mountain communications towerThis is the fourth article in a series that looks at three possible constitutional amendments to Article 14, Section 1 that are being debated in 2020.

This article looks at the issue of utilizing Forest Preserve lands around Cathead Mountain, in the south edge of the Silver Lake Wilderness area, in the Adirondack Park in Hamilton County, to locate a new emergency communications tower, similar to such towers on Blue Mountain and East Mountain. [Read more…] about Hamilton County’s Tower Plans For Cathead Mountain

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Article 14, DEC, development, Fire Towers, Forever Wild, Hamilton County, Protect the Adirondacks, Silver Lake Wilderness, State Land Master Plan, wilderness

Camp Gabriels: A Former Prison On ‘Forever Wild’ Land

June 30, 2020 by Peter Bauer 1 Comment

Camp Gabriels MapProtect the Adirondacks has reviewed the options for the future of the Camp Gabriels complex, a former state prison in the Town of Brighton in Franklin County in the northern Adirondack Park.  The site is located between Saranac Lake and Paul Smith’s just outside of Gabriels, in Franklin County.

The land that the prison complex was built upon is Forest Preserve, protected under NYS Constitution Article 14, Section 1 (the “Forever Wild” provision). The prison complex was part of a state purchase in 1982 of over 224 acres. This facility has been dormant since 2009 when the state closed the prison camp. [Read more…] about Camp Gabriels: A Former Prison On ‘Forever Wild’ Land

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature Tagged With: Article 14, Brighton, Camp Gabriels, Forest Preserve, Legal History, NYS Constitution, Protect the Adirondacks

The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Facility and Forever Wild

June 21, 2020 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

Mt. Van Hoevenberg courtesy PROTECTThis is the second article in a 5-part series that looks at amendments to Article 14, Section 1, the famed forever wild provision, of the State Constitution. This article looks the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Winter Sports Complex in the Adirondack Park, managed by the Olympic Regional Development Authority. The first piece looked at the recent history of Article 14 amendments.

Protect the Adirondacks has long believed that an amendment to Article 14, Section 1 is needed for the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Winter Olympic Sports Complex currently managed by the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA). At Mt. Van Hoevenberg, ORDA currently manages 1,220 acres +/- of Forest Preserve classified as Intensive Use by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). Abutting these lands is 319 acres of lands owned by the Town of North Elba, Essex County. This complex houses the Olympic bobsled and luge track, cross-country skiing and biathlon trails, and associated facilities. [Read more…] about The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Facility and Forever Wild

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: APA, Article 14, DEC, Forever Wild, Mt Van Hoevenberg, NYS Constitution, Olympics History, ORDA, Political History, PROTECT, Protect the Adirondacks, wilderness

Cuomo Makes Adirondack Park Board Nominations

June 9, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

APA Building in Ray Brook NYGov. Andrew Cuomo has formally nominated seven individuals to the board of the Adirondack Park Agency, which oversees land-use, planning and zoning on both public and private lands, in cooperation with other state agencies.

Three individuals who are currently serving were nominated for new terms and four individuals were nominated for their first terms. [Read more…] about Cuomo Makes Adirondack Park Board Nominations

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondack Mountain Club, Andrew Cuomo, APA, conservation, DEC, Forest Preserve, Political History, Protect the Adirondacks, State Land Master Plan, wilderness

Primary Sidebar

Help Us Reach Our Fundraising Goal For 2020

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Noel A. Sherry on Frank Tweedy: A Tenderfoot Becomes An Experienced Surveyor
  • James Grice on Esopus: Wiltwyck School For Boys Lecture
  • Noel Sherry on An Adirondack Surveyor’s Unpublished Work Reflects On A “Wild and Woolly” Career
  • Noel Sherry on Early Adirondack Surveys: The Great Corner & An Ancient Boundary
  • Bob Meyer on An Adirondack Surveyor’s Unpublished Work Reflects On A “Wild and Woolly” Career
  • Bob Bradley on Early Adirondack Surveys: The Great Corner & An Ancient Boundary
  • Bob Bradley on Frank Tweedy: A Tenderfoot Becomes An Experienced Surveyor
  • JanecKushner on Will Lewis: Interview With A Public Radio Pioneer
  • Sam on Colonial Canandaigua In War And Peace
  • Noel Sherry on An Adirondack Surveyor’s Unpublished Work Reflects On A “Wild and Woolly” Career

Recent New York Books

Craft book
Sittin In
sanctuary
Mysterious Stone Sites in the Hudson Valley and Northern New Jersey
Everything Worthy of Observation: The 1826 New York State Travel Journal of Alexander Stewart Scott by Paul G. Schneider Jr.
the inland sea
Schenectady Genesis, Volume II: The Creation of an American City from an Anglo-Dutch Town, ca. 1760-1800
americas first frontier
Francis Two-Gun Crowley's Killings in New York City & Long Island

Secondary Sidebar

New York State Historic Markers