We remember three giants of Adirondack conservation who have died this past year: Clarence Petty of  Coreys, Canton and Saranac Lake ; Nellie Staves of Tupper Lake; and Joan Payne of Inlet.  All have left their indelible marks on the Adirondacks, and made a tremendous impact on the way we all think about the Adirondack Park as a global model of integrated conservation in wild and lived in landscapes.

Clarence Petty: Since his retirement from State service in 1974, Clarence Petty provided Protect the Adirondacks! and its parent groups, the AFPA and RCPA, with critical historical perspective, information, moral and financial support. He served as volunteer committee member, Director and Honorary Director from 1976 until his death on November 30, 2009. No resident of the Park ever did more then Clarence to support citizen activism for the wilderness he loved. It took hard-won experience, conviction, courage and leadership skills. Clarence had them all.

Clarence Petty undertook the first legislatively authorized Wilderness studies of the Adirondack Forest Preserve in the late 1950s, with Neil Stout. He undertook the first studies of the Park’s Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers for the APA in the early 1970s. He helped to create Citizens to Save the Adirondacks after his retirement in 1974, and helped strengthen the Adirondack Council after its creation in 1975. He joined the board of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks , or AFPA in 1976.  In 1990, Clarence joined the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks . In 1994, the AFPA presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2000 its Howard Zahniser Adirondack Award. In 1998, Clarence inspired leadership gifts to the organization’s first capital campaign to create the Center for the Forest Preserve. In 2005, Clarence provided seed funds for the Clarence Petty Fund to Protect the Adirondacks which supported PROTECT’s first internship, and which evolved to become PROTECT’s Adirondack Park Stewardship Training Program.

In every meeting we had with him, Clarence never let us forget that the Forest Preserve and Article XIV of the NYS Constitution, the Forever Wild clause, were unique on planet earth. The Forest Preserve was, as he put it, ‘the goose that laid the golden egg’ for the Adirondack Park . The Forest Preserve and its protection and stewardship were central to him and his vision of the Park and its future.

“Clarence was indefatigable in his commitment to saving wild lands, and unusual in his ability to explain that commitment in terms that anybody could understand. That impressed and rang true for the younger interns and staff who joined us in recent years. One of their first requirements was to meet Clarence,” said Dan Plumley, PROTECT’s director of conservation programs.  Clarence was always thinking about and acting for the future, and helping nonprofit, citizen organizations - from the Adirondacks to Alaska -  to plan ahead and strengthen themselves. Every organization he supported around the country was typed out, and checked off after mailing his annual donation. Every President, Congressional representative, Governor, DEC and APA Commissioner could expect to hear from Clarence on the vital environmental issues of the day.

Nellie Staves: Nellie passed away in October, 2009. She had a profound influence on people she met. We met Nellie in 1988 when, in a memorable few words to the Adirondack Park Agency, she made the case why wildlife mounts, pelts and skulls deserved to be a part of the soon- to- be opened Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smith’s. Her presentation, conveyed in earnest but also with humor and friendship, earned her an audience with Governor Mario Cuomo at the dedication of the VIC the next year. Years later another Governor, George Pataki, would dedicate the Wild Center-Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks with its founding director, Nellie, at his side. 

One year, Nellie opened the back of her car and she invited our staff member and photographer Ken Rimany to look in: there lay some of the world’s most beautiful depictions of wildlife drawn not on canvas, but on bracket fungi (“toadstools,” she said) once growing on great, craggy Adirondack trees. Ken was overwhelmed with her artistry. From that time on, their friendship grew and he was introduced to members of her family. With Ken’s encouragement and help, her artwork came to be featured in The Conservationist magazine.

Thanks to Nellie, we were introduced to some fine Adirondack people, people who shared Nellie’s sense of humor and gift for storytelling. What hearty laughter she induced in all who knew her. Thanks to Nellie, we learned not to take ourselves too seriously, to observe wildlife closely and be receptive to the unexpected. From her, we learned that those who know the most about the Adirondack woods, from its wilderness to its wildlife, to those who work in those woods also care very deeply about the future of our outdoors. Thanks to Nellie, we began to sense what constitutes common ground in the Adirondacks . Ken helped to present Nellie with our Adirondack Heritage Award in 2001 in recognition of how many people she has touched, what outdoor leadership she has shown, and how many wild creatures she has spoken for. Nellie helped us remember that Adirondackers share one great legacy in common: caring, understanding, knowledgeable, talented kids growing up with wild nature. We miss her, thank her, and we will not forget.

Joan Payne: Joan dedicated herself to helping Park residents and visitors to discover the place they loved, the Adirondacks . She founded Adirondack Discovery in 1978. No other Park lecture and field trip series existed at the time, so this was pioneering and vital work to interpret the natural and cultural wonders of the Park for the visitors and residents of the region. Over time, Discovery’s board and other volunteers spread contacts through dozens of Park towns, and the list of lectures and field trips grew. Speakers were able to visit places and engage people they otherwise would not meet. Audiences became far more aware and impassioned about the Park’s wild flora, fauna, geology, architecture and other marvels. Joan finally convinced the Adirondack Park Agency to make Discovery an official interpretive arm of the Park’s new Visitor Interpretive Centers.  She joined the Board of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and never missed an annual conference of that organization. We will never forget what Joan and her board of directors of Adirondack Discovery were able to accomplish for 25 years. It remains a vitally important interpretive service, awaiting new people as inspired, able and committed to her Adirondacks as Joan. She passed away in late 2008.