Calls continue for the protection of Whitney Park

Protect the Adirondacks has been a leading voice for the protection of Whitney Park for years. PROTECT and other environmental and conservation groups have long urged Governor Kathy Hochul and the Department of Environmental Conservation to negotiate a purchase of Whitney Park for the Forest Preserve, or as a conservation easement, or a combination of the two. It’s vital to the future of the Adirondack Park that Whitney Park is protected in perpetuity.

Join Protect the Adirondacks to become a member and be part of the growing group of people who want to see Whitney Park protected for current and future generations. Those in support of protection of the Whitney Park property are speaking out to ensure the long term conservation of this critical parcel of land.

“Protecting a large, undeveloped property like Whitney Park is critical to reaching New York State’s mandated 30×30 goal and for strengthening our climate resiliency as extreme natural disasters and 100-year weather events become more frequent,” said Senator Patricia Fahy (D—Albany), original sponsor of New York’s 30×30 law. “Preserving open space and our natural resources for generations to come is how we ensure that we’re leaving a better world in the hands of posterity, while supporting our local family farms and landowners seeking to preserve their land rather than develop it, like the Whitney Park property. We cannot afford to miss out on this opportunity to conserve a unique and special property for future generations and further our progress towards preserving 30% of New York State’s land and water by 2030.”

The protection of Whitney Park offers enumerable benefits to New Yorkers, including clean air and water, public recreational opportunities, and climate change mitigation and resiliency..

“State acquisition of the Whitney Park property, preferably its entirety, makes sense in so many ways. One of the last undeveloped expanses of land in New York, Whitney Park will offer immense environmental and recreational benefits for future generations,” said Senator Pete Harckham (D—40th District), Chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee. “Keeping this land in its pristine condition and adding it to the other adjoining forest preserves in the Adirondacks is a decision no one will ever regret.”

Whitney Park has been eyed by generations of Adirondack conservationists and State officials because it is a cornerstone of a protected Adirondack Park. It is a missing link for historic public canoe routes that ran north-south and east-west through the property, and as a vital missing piece for the public Forest Preserve.

“The Whitney property has always been central to efforts to secure important lands and waters in the Park. It represents in effect an east/west; north/south crossroad in the Park essential  for wildlife and wilderness recreation,” said Thomas Jorling, former Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (1987 to 1994).

In May 2025, Whitney Park was listed for sale for $125 million by the Trustees for the Trust that was set up by the property’s prior owner, John Hendrickson, who died unexpectedly in August 2024. The best buyer for this unique and highly sensitive, undevelopable property is the State of New York or a land trust that is committed to conservation of the property. The long-standing conservation priorities and goals of the State and the legacy of the Whitney family would be served by protection of Whitney Park.

“Permanent protection for Whitney Park would honor the legacy of the Whitney family who cared for their Adirondack lands for over a century. The remaining 36,000-acre parcel in the heart of the Adirondacks is adjacent to the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, which was part of Whitney Park until it was sold to the State in 1997 and added to the Forest Preserve. It would be a travesty if the last of the Whitney Park lands are not conserved as intact forest. After all Marylou Whitney and her family have done for New York, the least we can do is preserve her legacy and critical lands for all of New Yorkers to enjoy,” said Joanne Dittes Yepsen, Former Mayor, Saratoga Springs, NY.

In the fall of 2026, the price was dropped to $106.5 million. Now is the time for the State to purchase this keystone piece of property in the heart of the Adirondacks.

“We are grateful for Governor Hochul’s interest in adding this highest priority, critical and sizeable tract of land to the State-owned Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondacks,” said Claudia Brayer, Executive Director of Protect the Adirondacks. “If that is not possible at this time, then we are confident that a land trust will step up to purchase this outstanding property.”

 

“The availability of Whitney Park for purchase by the State or a land trust continues to present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to preserve a vast and ecologically vital landscape in the central Adirondacks,” said Roger Downs, Conservation Director, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “We know that the Hochul Administration is committed to the protection of New York’s open space resources, and we appreciate that this is a complicated land transaction. We remain hopeful that a long-term conservation success can be achieved with the protection of Whitney Park for the future of New York.”

The 36,000-acre Whitney Park Property has been at the Top of New York’s Land Protection List for Decades

The 36,000-acre Whitney Park property in the Town of Long Lake has been a high priority property listed in the New York’s “Open Space Conservation Plan” for decades. The Open Space Plan describes the land as “a 36,000 acre property in Hamilton County that has been devoted to forest and wildlife management for over 100 years and contains enormous outdoor recreational potential.” In 1996, the Adirondack Park Agency found that “[w]ith numerous lakes, ponds, streams and extensive wetlands, [Whitney Park] represents a significant open space and ecological resource of the Adirondack Park. Nowhere in the Eastern United States do land resources exist in private holdings of comparable size and extent with the exception of Northern Maine. The open space and ecological values of properties of this size and containing these resources diminish rapidly as they are subdivided.” Thus, for more than three decades Whitney Park has been recognized by the State of New York as an ecological and recreational treasure. Whitney Park is particularly well-suited for inclusion in the Forest Preserve because it is largely undevelopable.

 

The Whitney Park Property has Natural Resource Limitations that Make it Unsuitable for Development

Whitney Park includes 22 lakes and ponds, numerous streams and wetlands, over 100 miles of undeveloped shoreline, and is lightly developed with continuous high forest canopy that provides great ecological connectivity through the center of the Adirondacks. To understand more about the property, Protect the Adirondacks commissioned a desktop analysis of the 36,000-acre property’s natural resource data. The analysis shows that this remote tract faces severe constraints for largescale residential and golf course development. The data indicates that Whitney Park is dominated by sensitive natural features, including wetlands, streams, steep slopes, and poor soils. These features would make any intensive residential development exceedingly difficult and highly detrimental to the property’s ecological integrity. This analysis confirms that the Whitney Park tract presents numerous natural resources constraints to development. Future on-site investigations, such as wetlands assessments, habitat evaluations, and wildlife surveys, would further document the exceptional natural values of this land.

Whitney Park contains the following key natural resource constraints that limit development of the property:

• Lakes and Ponds: 6,339 acres.
• Wetlands: 4,772 acres.
• Stream Corridors: 748 acres (including required 100-foot setbacks).
• Slopes: 10,458 acres (greater than 15%, which constrain residential development).
• Slopes: 22,079 acres (greater than 7%, which constrain golf course development).

In addition, soils across the entire property are unsuitable for building site development:

• 22,821 acres are classified by New York State as soils that are “Very Limited,” which indicates that “the soil has one or more features that are unfavorable for the specified use. The limitations generally cannot be overcome without major soil performance reclamation, special design, or expensive installation procedures. Poor and high maintenance can be expected.”
• 10,610 acres are classified as soils that are “Somewhat Limited,” which indicates soils that have “features that are moderately favorable for the specified use. The limitations can be overcome or minimized by special planning, design, or installation. Fair performance and moderate maintenance can be expected.”

The highest and best use of this property in the heart of the Adirondacks is as part of the Forest Preserve where these fragile and sensitive lands will be protected in perpetuity. The fragility of Whitney Park’s natural resources is underscored by its classification as Resource Management – the most protective private land classification within the Adirondack Park. This land classification is due to the fragility and importance of protecting these sensitive lands. Any proposal to develop these lands would warrant rigorous review and would clearly merit an adjudicatory hearing before the Adirondack Park Agency.

State Efforts to Protect Whitney Park

In 1998, Governor George Pataki purchased the northern portion of Whitney Park, 15,000 acres around Little Tupper Lake, from Marylou Whitney. These lands were combined with Forest Preserve lands around Lake Lila to form the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, which has grown to be one of the most popular Wilderness areas in the Adirondacks that provides timeless and wild outdoor experiences. It’s impossible today to imagine an Adirondack Park without public lands and waterways like Lake Lila and Little Tupper Lake.

 

In 1997, Governor Pataki purchased Little Tupper Lake and created the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area. Whitney Park has 22 beautiful lakes and ponds including Moose Pond (top right), Big Salmon Lake (bottom right), and parts of Forked Lake and all of Little Forked Lake (bottom left).

 

In October 2025, Governor Hochul sent a letter to the Trustees of Mr. Hendrickson’s Trust expressing an interest in the State purchasing a vast majority of Whitney Park. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we are pleased that Governor Hochul is taking steps to tackle this challenge. Protection of Whitney Park would be a great accomplishment for her administration and, like critical lands purchases made by previous Governors, would stand the test of time for its immense public benefits, including boosting the Adirondack and North Country economy, quality of life, clean air and water, public recreational opportunities (including public access to more motorless and quiet waters), green house gas emissions mitigation, and climate action.

Click here to read a letter from the Adirondack Council, Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, Adirondack Wilderness Advocates, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, New York League of Conservation Voters, Protect the Adirondacks! and Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. Read the joint press release from PROTECT and seven other conservation groups calling for the protection of Whitney Park.