Annual Meeting to be held on July 12, 2025 at Paul Smith’s College

REGISTER to join us at the 2025 annual membership meeting of Protect the Adirondacks at Paul Smith’s College on July 12, 2025.

The 2025 annual membership meeting of Protect the Adirondacks will be held in the Adirondack Room of the Library at Paul Smith’s College, approximately 15 minutes north of Saranac Lake, on Saturday, July 12, 2025, beginning at 10:00 AM.

The day will feature a business meeting on the state of the organization, election of the Board of Directors, a Conservation and Advocacy Report, and a special presentation by Bill McKibben, “Adirondacks in Context,” a look at environmental advocacy in the Adirondacks over the years.

This special presentation, “Adirondacks in Context,” by Bill McKibben, founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice, will walk us through the challenges that have faced the Forest Preserve and the advocacy efforts and people who shaped the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Bill McKibben, an expert in environmental activism, helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, and he led the efforts against big oil pipeline projects and in support of fossil fuel divestment campaigns. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. He’s authored 20 books and his writings appear regularly in peri-odicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distin-guished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament. Foreign Policy named him to its inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers. Register now for our Annual Meeting so that you can hear this special presentation on Adirondack advocacy by renowned environmental activist and author Bill McKibben!

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. In the afternoon, members are welcome to enjoy Paul Smith’s Visitor Interpretative Center (VIC) or stay to paddle on the lake. Participants can bring their own canoes, and canoes will be available to rent through Paul Smith’s College.

Membership materials and ballots for those who cannot attend the meeting have been mailed to members.

If you are interested in attending the meeting virtually, we are trying to make arrangements for that, so please email us at info@protectadks.org.

 

Annual Meeting Agenda

9:30 a.m. Check-In and Refreshments (Adirondack Room at the Library)

10:00 a.m. Business Meeting

1) The Chair’s Welcome by Chuck Clusen

2) Financial Report

3) 2025 Board of Director’s Election

4) Conservation and Advocacy Report by PROTECT’s staff

12:00 p.m. Lunch (Dining Hall)

1:00 p.m. Special presentation: “Adirondacks in Context” by Bill McKibben (Adirondack Room at the Library)

2:30 p.m. Enjoy paddling on the lake (near the Student Center) or exploring at Paul Smith’s Visitor Interpretative Center (VIC)

Click here to pay online the $35 annual meeting registration fee (look for the Annual Meeting button).

 

2025 Board of Directors Election Slate

Peter O’Shea: Peter O’Shea is a retired Sergeant from the New York City Police Department, a well known Adirondack naturalist with four published books on wildlife and hiking in the Adirondacks. He has also served as a Lay Minister of Saint Hubert’s Church in Star Lake.

David Quinn: Dave Quinn recently retired as Senior Vice President of The AYCO Company, which provides tax and investment services to corporate executives and other highly compensated individuals. Joining the board of its predecessor organization in 1999, he now serves Protect the Adirondacks as its Treasurer. Dave’s lifelong attachment to the Adirondacks was nurtured during youthful summers in the foothills near Croghan and Belfort, and today his outdoor activities include hiking and fishing in the Park.

Roger Gray: Roger Gray recently retired from a career working for the NYS Commission for the Blind. He also worked for a variety of other human service agencies. He has been a longtime activist with the Sierra Club, serving on its Atlantic Chapter executive committee, the National Baord nominating committee, and coordinating its Adirondack Committee, where he was responsible for Sierra Club legal actions and activist organization related to open space protection in the Adirondacks. He also volunteers with The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP). He has worked as a PSIA certified ski instructor at Gore Mountain.

Barbara Rottier: Barbara Rottier, currently a Vice Chair of Protect the Adirondacks and residing in Vermontville, NY, started her career working with underprivileged children, then went to law school. She was the Associate Counsel of the Adirondack Park Agency for 25 years supervising the staff attorneys, and the jurisdictional and enforcement programs. She has served on various local non-profit boards: Mercy Care, North Country Association for the Visually Impaired, and Planned Parenthood of the North Country. Whenever she can, she gratefully pursues outdoor activities in this great Adirondack Park: skiing, sailing, paddling, swimming, biking, hiking.

Chris Walsh: Chris Walsh, currently the Secretary of Protect the Adirondacks, works for the Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York as an Immigration Attorney, and holds a J.D. degree from Cornell Law School. His career has included taking a pro-wilderness, conservative stance toward development as a voting member of the Adirondack Park Agency Board under Gov. Eliot Spitzer and managing the regional offices of the Department of Environmental Conservation including the Forest Rangers, DEC Police, and the Division of Permits. Mr. Walsh and his family spend their weekends paddling and enjoying the peacefulness of the Adirondacks from their camp on Raquette Lake.

John Nemjo: John Nemjo founded Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company in 1993 in an abandoned pizza shop in the hamlet of Inlet, NY. Eventually it became one of the pre-eminent outdoor specialty retailers in not only upstate NY, but in the entire northeast. With stores in Old Forge and Saratoga Springs, NY, he would sell over 43,000 canoes and kayaks as well as outfitting thousands of hikers and backpackers on their adventures in the Adirondacks and around the world. In 2023 he sold his Old Forge location and now concentrates his time and energy on only the downtown Saratoga Springs location (now called Saratoga Outdoors) giving him more time for his own outdoor explorations. Previously he was a mosquito biologist and a teacher at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.

Patricia Morrison: Patty Morrison brings professional and community leadership experience to Protect the Adirondacks. With 25 years in business, she has driven market introduction and sales across industries such as healthcare, government, and higher education. She has launched products in SaaS and hardware for major companies, including Talkdesk, Canon, and Panasonic. A lifelong advocate for community development, Patty is active in numerous organizations, including serving on the Minerva Historical Society, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation boards, and as a member of the Saratoga Springs Planning Board. She was also a trustee for the Saratoga Springs City School District and a volunteer with Sustainable Saratoga’s Urban Forestry Project. Patty has family roots in the Adirondacks, with connections on both sides of her family.

 

Online Registration

Register online by entering your information HERE.

Thank you for your registration.

Click here to pay online the $35 annual meeting registration fee (look for the Annual Meeting button).