Thank you for supporting our “No Motors in Wilderness” petition
Dear AWA Supporters: The Board of Directors would like to extend our deepest thanks to you. Because of your support and shared advocacy for our values, AWA was able to…
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People with Disabilities have a Right to Accommodations – So Does Wilderness
It has long been a characteristic of human societies that oppressed classes end up pitted against each other, as though one is the cause of the other’s oppression. In America,…
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Wild Thoughts Podcast #8: The Meaning of Wilderness
In this episode of the Wild Thoughts Podcast, Bill Ingersoll and Pete Nelson discuss the meaning and value of wilderness with eminent Adirondack historian Philip Terrie.
Mourning the Loss of Robbi
As the weeks have ticked by, it’s hard to put into words the loss that the Adirondack community has been facing with the passing of Robbi Mecus. She meant so much to so many people; touching the lives of LGBTQ+, climbers, outdoors enthusiasts, those who worked with her and who loved her.
Keep Debar Pond Un-Intense
Debar Pond should not be intense—it should be a place to unwind, a place to connect with a wild landscape on its own terms.
Wild Thoughts Podcast #6: Strange Natures
In this half-hour conversation, Kayla, Pete, and Bill share their reactions to this thought-provoking and sometimes controversial book.
Keep Debar Pond Forever Wild
Debar Pond and its associated buildings are the subject of what might soon become the next amendment to Article XIV, the “forever wild clause” to the New York State constitution that has made the Forest Preserve uniquely protected since 1894.
A Road is a Road—Any Questions?
Members of the Adirondack Park Agency are experiencing a crisis: some of them confess they don’t know what a road is, or more importantly, how to count them. Of specific…
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The Wild West vs. the Reserved North
Almost any kind of backcountry experience in Algonquin requires some kind of permit. You need to reserve campsites and parking spots. In addition, since Algonquin is such a popular destination, you need to make plans well in advance.
Adirondack Road Agency
Adirondack Park Agency seems to be following the same trajectory as some of its predecessors, in that in 2022 it is explicitly seeking creative ways to get around its own restrictions—in this case, “no material increase.”
Have a Little Faith in the Forest Preserve
The Forest Preserve has been and will continue to be the best tool we have in the Adirondacks to keep land – and the community of life it supports – in a “forever wild” state. Now is not the time to lose faith, nor to indulge in the conceit that nature is static and can be kept unchanged under a glass bubble. The Follensby Pond Tract needs to be added to the cultural and natural heritage we call the Forest Preserve, and the public needs to be invested in its future.
This Land Is Your Land
What made these new lands different from most others, though, was undoubtedly the fact they were already occupied by hundreds of hunting camps. This was not simply opening up vast acreages of forest that had been previously denied to the public-at-large, but driving out the leaseholders who were already there. One can rightly argue that as public lands they will serve more people and provide all sorts of wilderness-based benefits, but I’m sure it still stings for the minority who find themselves at the losing end of the equation.