For Immediate Release
May 23, 2008
Contact: David Gibson, 518-377-1452
Dan Plumley, 576-4430

Bauer, Brinkley Honored at Annual Meeting in Lake Placid

Peter Bauer received an Adirondack Achievement Award this past week from the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks. Bauer was recognized for his many achievements during 13 years as Executive Director of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks. The award was presented at AFPA’s 107^th annual meeting in Lake Placid.

Bauer was particularly recognized for his:

• Detailed fact-finding and analysis about development trends in the park, including the critical 2001 publication Growth in the Adirondack Park: Analysis of Rates and Patterns of Development.
• Challenge to state agencies to honor their responsibilities for the protection of the Park’s natural resources and the NYS Forest Preserve, including litigation against the State when necessary.
• Ability to inspire and activate the passion of thousands of people living inside the Adirondack Park to speak up and work for the health and well being of their lakes and ponds, forests and communities.

Peter Bauer (middle) receives Adirondack Achievement Award from AFPA’s Peter Brinkley (left) and David Gibson (right).

“Thanks in large measure to Peter Bauer’s efforts over these past 13 years, ordinary and extraordinary Adirondack voices now monitor their Adirondack lakes and woods, and speak up from towns all over the park, and are heard in Albany, in Washington, DC, throughout the Northern Forest, and in many an Adirondack town hall,” said AFPA Executive Director David Gibson.

Bauer is currently the Executive Director of the Fund for Lake George, and resides in Queensbury and Blue Mountain Lake.

Peter Brinkley of Jay, New York was presented with AFPA’s Outstanding Leadership Award for his six years as President of the organization’s Board of Trustees.

During that time, Peter Brinkley led:

• groundbreaking for AFPA’s Center for the Forest Preserve, which provides a gateway to learning about the Adirondack region to thousands living in New York’s capital district, as well as a publicly accessible Adirondack Research Library.
• completion of the first strategic plan in the organization’s history.
• Visionary initiatives for the Adirondacks, including creation of the Adirondack Energy $mart Park Initiative (E$PI), a collaborative effort which seeks to transform the way Adirondack residents and visitors acquire, use and think about energy. The project aims to make the Adirondack Park a model of sustainable energy production and use that contributes to the well-being of the Park's natural and human communities.

Founded in 1901, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks is the oldest organized nonprofit advocate and membership organization for the Adirondack Park. With the support of 2000 members, AFPA is dedicated to sustaining the ecological integrity and mutual well being of the natural and human communities of the Adirondacks. Programs focus on wildland conservation, private land stewardship and human communities in the Adirondack Park. The Association also operates the Adirondack Research Library dedicated to fostering knowledge about the Adirondacks. For further information about the Association, visit www.protectadks.org.