For Immediate Release
Sept 6, 2005
Contact:
Dave Gibson, 518-377-1452 ext. 301
Dan Plumley, 518-576-4430.
The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks
Announces the Creation of its North Country Team
Dan Plumley
Keene, NY — Daniel R. Plumley has joined the staff of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks as its North Country Director of Park Protection. Plumley's training and experience are in cultural ecology, forestry and park management. He will be directing the Association's programs for protection of the Adirondack Park's publicly-owned Forest Preserve and for conservation of the Park's private forests, farms and unique rural communities.
"I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to join a great team in our critical work for the conservation of the Adirondack wilderness, landscapes and communities," Plumley stated. "The Association has a 104-year history of conservation leadership on which to build. Furthermore, we have a vision in which the Park serves as a model for the world, in which private forests, farms and local communities thrive alongside wild nature. This is the challenge for our time. We have a team with the talent and drive to fight for that vision every day."
Plumley is a native of upstate New York and has worked as a park ranger with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Later, Plumley worked for the Adirondack Council. Since 1993, he has led projects to integrate natural resource management planning with indigenous peoples' rights and cultures in eastern Siberia, Russia, northern Mongolia and in the United States. Plumley has led several international exchanges between Russia, Mongolia and New York's Adirondack Park, and he will continue his international work on a part-time basis. A resident of Keene since 1987, Plumley has been a veteran member of the Association's Board of Trustees and co-chair of its Conservation Committee. He will be resigning his board seat to take this new assignment.
Working with Plumley are Mike DiNunzio of Plattsburgh, the Association's Director of Special Projects and Kevin Prickett of Wilmington, its Advocate for Wilderness Stewardship. Association Board President Peter Brinkley, a resident of Jay, and Executive Director David Gibson also contribute their time and expertise to the work of the North Country Team.
DiNunzio, who joined the Association in 2003, brings over three decades of experience in Adirondack conservation to his work. He is primarily responsible for developing a set of innovative programs designed to integrate environmental protection with the well being of human communities in the region. Prickett has been working since 2002 to review and critique every State Land Unit Management Plan and raise the standards of excellence for the state's planning and management of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
"Dan Plumley has spent nearly two decades energizing people in our Association and people in his community to pass on a better Adirondack Park to our successors and to future generations. We need his vision, his vigilance, his voice and his commitment and we welcome him as a key member of our North Country Team," added Association Executive Director Dave Gibson.
The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks is a non-profit, member-supported organization founded in 1901 to employ public education, citizen action, public and private partnerships, and strong advocacy that permanently protects the region's wildlands, including the entire NYS Forest Preserve, ensures that the region's private forests and farms are managed to conserve their productivity and their natural, pastoral, and cultural character, and promotes the development of local communities and economies that can remain strong, diverse, and vibrant. The Association's Center for the Forest Preserve in Niskayuna serves as an Adirondack library and learning center.