For Immediate Release
October 14, 2026

Contact: David Gibson, 518-469-4081, [email protected]
or Ken Rimany, [email protected]

Adirondack Wild Meets at The Wild Center’s Flammer Theater

Tupper Lake, NY – The nonprofit advocate Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve will hold its Annual Meeting at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake on Saturday, October 24, 2026, beginning at 11 AM. The meeting in The Wild Center’s Flammer Theater is free and open to the public.

Adirondack Wild’s program begins at 11 AM in the Flammer Theater. At 12 Noon Adirondack Wild’s guests are invited to bring your own lunches or eat at the Wild Center’s café. Following lunch, the meeting reconvenes at 1 PM in the Theater for several presentations including Carl Heilman’s new film The Wild Adirondacks: An Enchanted Landscape. The awards program follows. We conclude our meeting by 3:30 PM.

Due to weekend popularity of Trolls: Save the Humans, The Wild Center advises our Saturday morning guests that after the main parking lots are filled to use overflow parking at LP Quinn Elementary School (294 Hosley Ave), ¼ mile north of The Wild Center. A shuttle bus will operate between the School and The Wild Center. Watch for signs as you approach The Wild Center and follow staff directions.

Adirondack Wild’s 2026 award recipients are:

  • Wild Stewardship Awards: Adirondack Wild joins in celebration of The Wild Center’s 20th anniversary by presenting its Wild Stewardship Awards to The Wild Center’s Founder Betsy Lowe and The Wild Center’s Executive Director Stephanie Ratcliffe.
  • Champions of the Forest Preserve: This year’s Champions of the Forest Preserve go to two accomplished attorneys who over the course of many years have defended constitutional protection of the Forest Preserve: Phil Gitlen, Senior Attorney with Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna, and Todd Ommen, Managing Attorney with the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic.
  • Paul Schaefer Wilderness Awards: Adirondack Wild’s highest honor will be presented to former NYS DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and Adirondack Land Trust Executive Director Mike Carr for all they have done for Adirondack land and water conservation.
    The public is warmly invited. Advance registration is appreciated. Register by email to Ken Rimany, [email protected].

Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is a not for profit, membership organization devoted to the protection and stewardship of wilderness and other wild lands through advocacy and education. The organization protects wild lands from threats, holds officials accountable and proposes policy reforms. More on the web at adirondackwild.org.