Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve

"Unless the region be preserved essentially in its present wilderness condition, the
ruthless burning and destruction of the forest will slowly, year after year, creep onward…
and vast areas of naked rock, arid sand, and gravel will alone remain to receive
the bounty of the clouds and be unable to retain it."
—Verplanck Colvin

PAUL SCHAEFER • 1908–1996

Paul Schaefer

Paul Schaefer (1908-1996) was foremost wilderness leader and conservationist for New York’s Adirondacks during the 20th century, and a master builder and restorer of fine American homes and Adirondack camps. Schaefer was an Adirondack guide, hunter, photographer, film-maker, author and premier conservationist, with a national reputation for protecting the Adirondacks’ wild river valleys and wilderness areas and defending New York’s unique “forever wild” Forest Preserve. Schaefer was recognized after his death as one of the 100 top conservationists of the century by Audubon magazine. Recipient of dozens of awards, author of three books about the Adirondacks, and producer of two award-winning documentary films about the region, the name Paul Schaefer is synonymous with Adirondack conservation as well as with rustic homes that blend into their mountain environments.

Paul Schaefer, center, at the Cataract Club. ©Ken Rimany



Paul Schaefer's practical invention, the Adirondac Cooking Crane. ©Ken Rimany

Plaque ©Ken Rimany

Legendary Conservationist

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Paul Schaefer, with mentor John Apperson, 1947

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Paul Schaefer at his Adirondack wilderness cabin, the Beaver House. In the cabin's journal he simply wrote,"Great to be here." One week later on July 14, 1996, Paul passed away. ©Ken Rimany

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"For here is a universe older than history, over which nature has full reign and man is of little more
consequence than the deer, which come to these pure waters from surrounding wooded ridges." —Paul Schaefer