Our Accomplishments
Protecting the Preserve through Advocacy
The Association has - alone and with others:
- Successfully lobbied for funds to expand the "forever wild" public Forest Preserve and protect private working farms and forests in the Adirondacks. The Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve have grown from less than 1 million acres at the Association's founding to 3.0 million acres today.
- Successfully advocated to block illegal motorized entry into the Forest Preserve, to remove illegal structures, and to publicize rare and endangered plants, all the while raising the standards for public land planning and stewardship.
- Successfully lobbied for a protected Wilderness within the Forest Preserve, a Wild Rivers System and an Adirondack Park Agency with state land planning and regional zoning responsibilities over private lands.
- Defeated over two dozen dams that would have drowned thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and inundated free-flowing Adirondack rivers.
- Successfully brought a suit that prevents high-speed mechanized recreation in a man-made setting from gaining a foot-hold on the Forest Preserve.
Protecting the Preserve through Education
- Encourages life-long, inter-generational support for conservation of the Adirondacks and Catskills.
- Protects a historic (10'x12') raised-relief map of the Adirondacks, which is the centerpiece of the Center for the Forest Preserve now under construction. It will be used as a tool to learn about the Adirondack Park.
- Sponsored an award-winning documentary film about the Park that has expanded awareness of the Park as a model protected landscape.
- Initiated the Adirondack Park Centennial Committee which sponsored year-long celebrations in the Park.
- Incubated the Adirondack Curriculum Project that integrates Adirondack field studies into the core State curriculum, and the Environmental Awareness Network for Diversity in Conservation that recruits under-represented people into the conservation movement.
Today
The Association continues its 103 year leadership role in environmental advocacy, education, research, and outreach:
- Defends the constitutional safeguards that protect the New York State Forest Preserve.
- Monitors State and local actions that could affect the wild character of public or private lands in the Adirondack Park, and influences the outcome.
- Sponsors forums, lectures, conferences, and special events to educate, inform, encourage dialogue, and promote collaboration in the search for solutions to complex challenges.
- Manages a unique, extensive, and publicly accessible Adirondack Research Library at our new Center for the Forest Preserve in Niskayuna, New York.
- Publishes the Forest Preserve magazine, newsletters, and special reports.
- Enlists the collaborative participation of a diverse array of organizational partners and citizens of all ages and backgrounds.
Our Future
AN EXCITING FUTURE - THE KEYSTONE INITIATIVE
Keystone: the wedge-shaped piece at the crown of an arch that locks the other pieces in place; just as an arch crumbles if its keystone is removed, ecosystems can unravel when key members of the land community are absent.
Our Vision for the Future of the Adirondacks
We look to a future in which the wild character, ecological integrity, and mutual well-being of the natural and human communities of the Adirondack region are enhanced.
Protecting the Most Expansive Wilderness Area Outside Alaska
Our vision encompasses sixteen counties in the Adirondack and Catskill parks. And it includes the human communities and privately owned open space lands of that region, as well as the entire three-million-acre assemblage of public wildlands that comprise the New York State Forest Preserve.
Through public education, citizen action, public and private partnerships, collaborations and strong advocacy, we will address three key components of the Park system:
- Public Lands - Permanently protect the region's wildlands, including the entire NYS Forest Preserve
- Private Lands - Encourage the region's private forest and farm owners to manage their land's productivity as well as conserve their natural, pastoral and cultural character
- Communities & Economies - Promote the well-being of local communities and economies that can remain strong, diverse, and vibrant
The Center for the Forest Preserve will play a critical role in facilitating education, dialogue, citizen action, public and private partnerships, and strong park protection advocacy conducted in the pursuit of our mission. From our first permanent home in 103 years, we will launch new education, research and outreach initiatives and manage our staffed programs in the Adirondack Park.
Building on a Strong Foundation
Traditionally, the Association has stressed the protection of wild lands with special emphasis on defending the letter and spirit of Article XIV of the State Constitution, the "forever wild" provision. That emphasis will continue.
The Association has reaffirmed its long-held commitment to foster and support efforts to build healthy, diverse human communities and economies in the Adirondack region. The ultimate success of the Adirondack conservation model depends upon public and private sectors in the region working as partners to achieve mutual benefits within the Park.
To ensure success, the Board launched our second century with a strategic plan to increase our capacity and influence - The Keystone Initiative.
The Keystone Initiative details how we will- Promote the Adirondack region as a global model of landscape-scale conservation that integrates protection of large, interconnected public wild land systems within diverse, healthy, economically-viable rural communities and sustainably managed private farms and forests.
- Protect, preserve, and enhance the wilderness character and ecological integrity of the New York State Forest Preserve.
- Conserve the productivity and the wild, natural, and pastoral character of the private farms and forests of the Adirondack region.
- Enhance diverse, strong, and vibrant human communities and economies in the Adirondack region.