Protecting and expanding remoteness is an AWA core value, and we have several projects underway that specifically challenge the State of New York to better protect remoteness, which is a rare and threatened resource, even in the Adirondack Park.
Wild Thoughts Podcast #1: Remoteness
In the inaugural installment of AWA’s “Wild Thoughts Podcast”, some of our founding members discuss one of the most important attributes of wilderness: Remoteness.
Lake George: A Mill Pond
If one looks back to the first years of the twentieth century, at Lake George, it is pretty obvious that an epic power struggle emerged between those who were eager to build roads and expand commercial operations at Ticonderoga, versus various far-sighted, preservation-minded individuals and organizations who wanted to keep the lake as peaceful and quiet as possible.
Adapting to Jenkins Mountain
From AWA’s perspective, the State is on the verge of generational change in wilderness management that will more effectively protect the Adirondack Park.
The Road to Tongue Mountain
Park concerns the struggle for power over the construction of highways, and a really fascinating example of one of these battles, which transpired between activists and powerful, well-moneyed interests, took place at Lake George in 1923.
Paul Schaefer’s Winter Ascent
Part 3 of 3 Automobiles enabled a new generation of suburbanites from the Mohawk and Hudson valley regions to begin visiting the mountains more frequently. Some of these people acquired rustic cabins built by the early homesteaders and converted them into camps. Paul Schaefer, a contractor from Schenectady, was one such person.
The Era of Referendum and Recall
It seems to me that a decision concerning the best management or ownership for Follensby Pond is one that will require plenty of study and deliberation, with the help of a goodly number of “citizen watchdogs.”
The Paint Mine and the Tower
Part 2 of 3 Locals regarded Crane and Huckleberry mountains as places to pick berries—specifically blackberries, raspberries, and huckleberries (blueberries)—as well as a source of paint pigment and other minerals. Outsiders, however, viewed the mountain in terms of its recreational potential.
The Lady of Crane Mountain
Part 1 of 3 The former Crane Mountain guide and log skidder also returned annually to the Adirondacks, where she continued to feel a connection to the rugged landscape and the people who sought a living there.
Trails in the Mountain Pleasure Grounds
Part 2 of 4 The Laws of 1895 authorized the state to lay out paths in the newly created Adirondack Park. There is little evidence that anything was done at that time. In 1909 Governor Hughes advocated trails and roads to give greater access to the “mountain pleasure grounds.” As it turned out, recreational trail building by the state began a few years later, not because of Hughes’ plans, but in a rather circuitous way.
A Short History of Adirondack Trail Building
Part 1 of 4 Hindsight is wonderful! With what we know about the Adirondacks today and what we know about building trails, we could devise the most wonderful trail network, one that would protect the fragile slopes of the High Peaks, take hikers to mountaintops all around the Park, and ameliorate problems of overuse and under-use.
Wilderness in the Presence of History
The legal definition of wilderness in the Adirondack Park, since 1972, has in part read “an area of state land or water having a primeval character … [which] generally appears…
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