Annual Meeting to be held on July 11, 2026 at Garnet Hill Lodge

REGISTER to join us at the 2026 annual membership meeting of Protect the Adirondacks at Garnet Hill Lodge on July 11, 2026.

The 2026 annual membership meeting of Protect the Adirondacks will be held at Garnet Hill Lodge in North River on Saturday, July 11, 2026, beginning at 10:00 AM with a welcome and refreshments starting at 9:30 AM.

The day will feature a business meeting on the state of the organization, election of the Board of Directors, and a Conservation and Advocacy Report. The afternoon will feature paddling on beautiful Thirteenth Lake or a short hike to the summit of Balm of Gilead Mountain. Paddlers will need to bring their own canoes, paddles and PFD’s. These trips will be led by PROTECT staff.

Refreshments and lunch will be served.

The annual membership meeting is a great way to catch up on the work of Protect the Adirondacks and meet the Board and staff.

Membership materials and ballots for those who cannot attend the meeting will be mailed to members.

 

Annual Meeting Agenda

9:30 a.m. Check-In and Refreshments

10:00 a.m. Business Meeting

1) The Chair’s Welcome by Chuck Clusen

2) Financial Report

3) 2026 Board of Director’s Election

4) Conservation and Advocacy Report by PROTECT’s staff

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. Paddle on Thirteenth Lake or hike Balm of Gilead Mountain.

2:30 p.m. Afternoon activities

Click here to pay online the $50 annual meeting registration fee (look for the Annual Meeting button).

 

2026 Board of Directors Election Slate

Nancy Bernstein: Nancy Bernstein lives in Vermontville in an energy efficient, solar powered home that she built. Nancy formerly worked as a builder of timberframe houses and barns, and continues work as a noted freelance illustrator and mapmaker, and as an Energy Circuit Rider for the Adirondack North Country Association. Nancy serves on the Saranac Lake School Board and was a founding director of Protect the Adirondacks.

John W. Caffry: John Caffry has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2010. He is Co-chair of PROTECT’s Conservation Advocacy Committee. John is a partner in the law firm of Caffry & Flower, concentrating in environmental law. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section.  He is a native of Glens Falls and resides there with his family. He was the lead attorney in PROTECT’s successful lawsuit to defend and protect the forever wild clause in the State constitution. He makes the Palinesque claim that he can see the Adirondack Park from his house (during leaf-off conditions). He hikes, camps, and paddles in the Adirondacks, bicycles, and goes alpine, telemark, and cross-country skiing.

Charles M. Clusen: Currently the chair of Protect the Adirondacks, Chuck was a founding director of Protect the Adirondacks in 2009. Chuck worked previously as the Director of the National Parks and Alaska Projects for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC. He has worked as an environmental advocate for 40+ years specializing in federal public lands, Wilderness, national parks and Alaska. In the 1970’s Chuck organized and led the Alaska Coalition pushing the Congress to pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Act of 1980 which created over a 100 million acres of national parks and wildlife refuges and an additional 56 million acres of Wilderness in the state. In addition, he was a leader in getting Congress to pass over 14 million acres of Wilderness in the Lower 48 and worked as the Executive Director of the Adirondack Council in the 1980s.

Dean Cook: Dean Cook was a founding director of Protect the Adirondacks in 2009 and an Adirondack native residing in Ticonderoga. Dean holds a BA from the University of Buffalo and a DMD from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a past board member of the Lake George Park Commission, Adirondack Council, the Lake Champlain Committee, the Lake George Land Conservancy, Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks and a past President of High Peaks Audubon. Dean lives in a solar powered, energy efficient house that he built on a family farm that has been in his family since the 1800s.

Michala Hendrick: Michala Hendrick is the Director of Youth Programming at Hudson Taconic Lands, where she leads programs that connect young people to nature through stewardship, outdoor education, and community partnerships. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from SUNY Plattsburgh and an M.S. in Park, Recreation, and Tourism Studies with a Graduate Certificate in Conservation Leadership from Old Dominion University. Her academic and professional research has focused on visitor use management, barriers to recreation access, and stakeholder engagement. She is passionate about reducing barriers to outdoor access and fostering place-based learning that cultivates the next generation of conservation leaders and supporters. Michala is an avid fly angler and paddler with a deep connection to the Adirondacks and a personal commitment to land and water conservation. Michala was elected to the Board of Directors in 2025 by the Directors and is up for election for her first full term as a Director.

James McMartin Long: A resident of Canada Lake, James Long is deeply familiar with the southern Adirondacks from bushwhacking and cross-country skiing since his youth. Co-author of the second edition of 50 Hikes in the Hudson Valley, Mr. Long monitors Canada Lake for PROTECT’s Adirondack Lake Assessment Program, and is a co-author of The Adirondack Park and Rural America: Population and Economic Trends 1970-2010.

Phil Terrie: Phil Terrie lives in Ithaca and Long Lake, and is emeritus professor of American Culture and Environmental Studies at Bowling Green State University. An eminent regional historian, Dr. Terrie is the author of Wild Forest Lands: Finding History and Meaning in the Adirondacks, Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks, and Forever Wild: A Cultural History of Wilderness in the Adirondacks, as well as numerous articles, chapters, and reviews on regional history and culture. A former Assistant Curator at the Adirondack Museum, he is a regular contributor to the Adirondack Explorer, and is a 46-er who enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking, and birding.

 

Online Registration

Register online by entering your information HERE.

Thank you for your registration.

Click here to pay online the $50 annual meeting registration fee (look for the Annual Meeting button).

 

Paddle on Thirteenth Lake

Thirteenth Lake is a beautiful paddle with easy access at a shallow beach. The lake surface provides great views of the surrounding forests and mountains. The beach area is also a popular place for swimming.


Hike Balm of Gilead Mountain

The Balm of Gilead Mountain Trail is a 3-mile hike (round trip) through the Forest Preserve in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. The hike is predominantly flat through a stretch of beautiful hardwood forest, before ascending just over 400 feet to a rocky summit with an excellent view of nearby Thirteenth Lake and the surrounding mountains and ridges. Click here to read our online hiking guide for more information on the hike.

 

View from the summit of Balm of Gilead Mountain.

 

View of the summit of Balm of Gilead Mountain.