What Are The Adirondacks?
Established in 1892, the Adirondack Park is the largest protected area in the lower 48 states. How large? Well, larger than Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Glacier National Parks combined.
6 MILLION ACRES BIG
It is vast – six million acres in size and growing, but full of hidden treasures and special spots – Dramatic cliffs leading to fiord like lakes; diverse ecosystems, such as bogs, reminiscent of far northern climes, to free-flowing and meandering rivers with bottom land hardwoods; wild tracts of deciduous forest rich with wildlife; unbelievable scenery, including landscapes spotted with small farms and wooded hills; and some of eastern North America’s highest and most remote mountains.
THE “BLUE LINE”
Enclosing this landscape is New York State’s Adirondack Park defined by the famous “Blue Line” first created by New York law in 1892. Within this park roughly half the land is privately owned, but the remainder is owned and protected by the People of New York State called “Forest Preserve” since 1885 and protected by Article 14 of the New York State Constitution. The result is a mosaic of public and private ownership and land use management.
THE PEOPLE’S PARK
A special characteristic of this park is the people and communities found within. It is, as author Betsy Folwell said, “a people’s park” inhabited by 130,000 humans in some 100 communities. The relationship between its people, the wild lands and the institutions that protect and use it is dynamic and still adjusting. It is a lived in place, but full of splendor and wildness, appreciated by residents and visitors alike.
As evident in the places and landscape we see every day, the Park has undergone great transformations. You name it, we’ve seen the changes common to our society.
During the early days of our country this place was skirted by civilization and regarded as a vast dismal untamed wilderness. Settlers moving west traveled around the Adirondacks following the industrialization of North America in the early 19th century. But the untouched wilderness could not escape for long as abundant resources were exploited and removed by mining, logging and the hide tanning business later that century. Wildlife was driven out. Soils eroded into streams. By the 1880’s vast areas of the Adirondacks were denuded wastelands and there was real concern with loss of the wilderness.
PRISTINE WATER
Five major river system sources are in the Adirondacks, including the south flowing 315 mile long Hudson River, were integral to the economic well being of the rapidly growing “Empire State.” And at the same time there was growing awareness of the importance of forests in “ecosystem health” specifically the production of a dependable clean water supply. Authors like William H. H. “Adirondack “ Murray (about 1869) and VerPlanck Colvin (about 1874) popularized the virtues of the Adirondacks and its plight, bringing it to the forefront of the now well-off and increasing population of urban New Yorkers. Protection of these waters and the wild Adirondacks was subsequently foremost in the minds of downstaters and legislators as shown by the formation of laws protecting these resources from 1885 – 1892.
Progressively this landscape has recovered. We’ve seen the regrowth of the forest. We’ve seen the return of native wildlife like the beaver, moose, black bear, eagle, peregrine falcon, and river otter. Steady protection of water quality and flow, the resolution of pollution scourges like acid rain and DDT has taken its effect. Protection mechanisms for land use, like conservation easements, land use laws and land acquisition by New York State and responsible private use have left the Adirondacks in good shape today.
GLOBAL CONSERVATION MODEL
We have now the best example on Earth of a protected natural temperate deciduous forest. It is a treasured resource available to the some 90 million North American residents within a day’s drive. People love it for recreation, spiritual replenishment, arts and cultural inspiration, nature appreciation, the resources it produces for manufacturing and the vital roles it plays in the cycle of nature for the Earth’s ecosystems.
Written by Ray Curran
Ray is an ecologist and a full-time resident of Saranac Lake, NY. He was a certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America Board of Professional Certification) and a Certified Professional Wetlands Scientist (Society of Wetland Scientists). For over 30 years, Ray was a scientist for the New York State Executive Department, Adirondack Park Agency and headed the environmental science and analysis unit. Ray works with disparate constituent groups through community and private not-for-profit organizations, as well as a private for-profit consulting business (Adirondack Information Group, LLC). He is currently the board Secretary/Treasurer of the Northern Forest Atlas Foundation. He has several other volunteer activities in the community.