Adirondack Organization Holds
105th Annual Meeting in Lake Placid;
Focus is on the future of the Northern Forest;
Canoe Raffle Caps off the Meeting
Lake Placid, NY – The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks holds its 105th annual membership meeting on Saturday June 24, 2006 beginning at 12 noon at the Crowne Plaza Resort, One Olympic Drive, Lake Placid.
Registration for lunch and the meeting cost $15.00. Reservations should be made by June 20 by calling April VanHeusen at 518-377-1452, Ext. 304. The public is invited to attend and meet the Association's conservation team, trustees and members. Raffle tickets will also be available for a new Spitfire canoe made by Placid Boatworks. After 5:00 pm the meeting shifts to Placid Boatworks, 263 Station Street, Lake Placid, where the canoe will be raffled off at 6 pm. All proceeds benefit the work of the Association. Refreshments will be served and there will be an opportunity to test paddle canoes crafted by Placid Boatworks.
The Association's keynote and luncheon speaker is Steve Blackmer, President of the Northern Forest Center (NFC), who speaks at 1:00 pm. The NFC is a non profit organization formed in 1997 to mobilize people to build healthy communities, economies, and ecosystems by working together across the Northern Forest region. Blackmer was a NFC founder. NFC helps to build a healthy and productive future for the Northern Forest and its people by strengthening citizen leadership and regional collaboration.
The 26-million acre Northern Forest stretches from New York's Tug Hill and Adirondack regions, through Vermont and New Hampshire to eastern Maine. It is the largest intact forest remaining in the eastern United States. It has been called America's First Great Forest in celebration of its 10,000 year history of human settlement and use.
Following Blackmer's presentation there will be discussion about the Adirondack region's contribution to Northern Forest communities, economies and ecosystems. The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks will also discuss its work over the past year to address the ways it is achieving its mission to protect Adirondack wildlands known as the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and promote the development of strong communities, economies and private land stewardship. The Association's leadership and collaborative work in advocacy and community organizing will be featured, and Trustees will be elected for three-year terms. The meeting adjourns by 5 pm for the canoe raffle at Placid Boatworks.
Founded in 1901, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks is the oldest organized nonprofit advocate and membership organization for the Adirondack Park. It is dedicated to sustaining the ecological integrity and mutual well being of natural and human communities of the Adirondacks. Programs focus on wildland conservation, private land stewardship and human communities in the Adirondack mountains. The Association also operates the Adirondack Research Library dedicated to fostering knowledge about the Adirondacks.