Protect the Adirondacks is pleased to announce that Claudia Braymer, an environmental attorney and local government official from Glens Falls, New York, is joining the organization as its new Deputy Director. Braymer is an attorney who has worked on environmental cases across New York State and was co-counsel on Protect the Adirondacks’ successful lawsuit that upheld and defended the Forever Wild clause in the State Constitution in 2021. She also serves as a Supervisor, elected from the City of Glens Falls, on the Warren County Board of Supervisors. Braymer starts working on February 1, 2023.
The Deputy Director works on all program and administrative issues at Protect the Adirondacks. Braymer’s hiring is part of the organization’s long-term staff succession planning. While there is no current timetable it is expected that at some point within the next few years Braymer will take over as Executive Director for the organization, succeeding long-time Adirondack Park advocate Peter Bauer.
“We’re thrilled to bring Claudia Braymer aboard. There are few people out there with the set of skills that Claudia brings as an experienced environmental attorney, as someone who worked with us for more that 10 years to defend forever wild, who has strong experiences with regional and local planning and zoning, who has served in local government and knows the realities and challenges facing Adirondack Park and North Country communities, who has trekked all around the Park, and who has an unquenchable passion for the Forest Preserve and wild beauty of the Adirondack Park. Claudia has made her life in the North Country and we’re very pleased that Claudia Braymer will be the face of the future of Protect the Adirondacks,” said Charles Clusen, Chairman of Protect the Adirondacks.
Claudia Braymer, skiing in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area.
Braymer joins with Christopher Amato, a long-time environmental attorney, who joined Protect the Adirondacks as its Conservation Director and Counsel in 2022, on the staff along with Peter Bauer, the Executive Director. The trio will anchor the work of Protect the Adirondacks over the next several years as the organization continues to expand and plan for its long-term future.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to leverage my leadership, advocacy skills, and environmental background to help the team at Protect the Adirondacks continue the organization’s strong legacy of protecting the Adirondacks for current and future generations. I look forward to building upon my existing productive and respectful relationships, and creating new ones, with environmental partners, local governments, and state agencies that are rooted in our shared love for the Adirondacks — the Park and its people,” said Claudia Braymer.
Claudia Braymer hiking on the Whiteface Mountain trail.
For more than ten years, Claudia Braymer has been in the private practice of law practicing in the areas of environmental law, zoning and planning, real estate, and municipal law. She has represented environmental groups, community activists, and individual landowners before local municipal boards and state agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). Claudia was one of the attorneys for Protect the Adirondacks in the historic Article 14 case that found that the extra-wide Class II trails in the Forest Preserve approved and constructed by DEC and APA violated the Constitution.
Braymer has a degree in Environmental Resource Management from the Pennsylvania State University. She studied several areas of natural resources science, and after graduation worked as an environmental consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in Arlington, VA. She also played rugby for the U.S. Women’s Rugby Team from 2005 to 2010, participating in two World Cups during that time. Braymer has a law school degree from Albany Law School.
Braymer serves as a co-chair of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve committee of the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. Braymer lives in Glens Falls with her husband and their two children. They enjoy hiking, canoeing in their new Hornbeck, and exploring wilderness areas across the Adirondacks.
“The hiring of Claudia Braymer is an exciting moment for Protect the Adirondacks. We’re very pleased that we will have two of the top environmental attorneys in the state on our staff. Claudia’s experiences and talents will help us immeasurably in our work to strengthen protections for the Adirondack Park, improve Forest Preserve management, and help build viable communities in the Adirondacks. She will hit the ground running to undertake policy research and assess legal compliance of state land use regulatory and Forest Preserve management decisions. Claudia will be active in Albany and throughout the Adirondacks to boost our work and impact,” said Peter Bauer, Executive Director.
