By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild The old trail was familiar. I walk it monthly. The loop meandering along the state and private land line was only two miles long. It showed some blazes on the trees left by the hunting parties and solo hunters who have hunted this section for generations. Less than…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild During the APA’s October 12 meeting, I noted with appreciation the Adirondack Park Agency members who asked pertinent questions about the staff’s proposed permit for Carver Sand and Gravel in the town of Ephratah, Fulton County (Project 2022-0037). These questions and concerns included but were not limited to…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Oct. 20, 2023, at Gore Mountain This year’s CGA meeting had a different feel from those in the past in that it was much better attended by current and past local government elected leaders – town supervisors, etc. One reason is that the co-sponsor of CGA this year…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Newcomb, NY – The Adirondack Interpretive Center in Newcomb played host this month to Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve’s annual meeting and 2023 award presentations. The Paul Schaefer Wilderness Award, named after 20th century wilderness preservation leader Paul Schaefer, was presented to Steven Englebright. Englebright represented…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Adirondack Explorer’s reporter and writer Gwendolyn Craig has authored a fine article this month titled “The Long Wait for Forest Preserve Plans,” referring to the lack of unit management plans (herein, “UMP”) for some significant Forest Preserve Wilderness areas, like West Canada Lake and William C. Whitney, and…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Survey of Ideas August 2023 Concerning the $650 million from the Bond Act that New York voters have made available for open space land conservation and recreation, Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve asks that: NYS DEC work more closely with the NYS Attorney General’s and Comptroller’s…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Before there were motor free lakes Although by 1973 Wilderness areas had been officially designated on about one million acres within the Adirondack Forest Preserve, the question of whether waterbodies within those million acres would be similarly free of use by motors was still highly uncertain. In June…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild At the APA, Critical Questions about Wetland Protection Are Not Asked APA’s staff presentation about the variance recently issued for SL Marina on Lower Saranac Lake may have been “heroic,” just as APA chair John Ernst stated. The marina has a lengthy and complex history of regulatory and…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Proforestation in the Adirondacks and Statewide Two recent public forestry panel discussions at Paul Smith’s College and the Adirondack Research Consortium have led me to consider both private and public forests in the Adirondacks in an economically innovative, pro-climate way. Both forestry panel discussions that I attended focused…
By David Gibson, Managing Partner, Adirondack Wild Keeping forests as forests: Clarence Petty’s vision Clarence Petty (1905-2009) grew up in the Adirondacks and eventually had a career with the state conservation department. His biography by Chris Angus, The Extraordinary Adirondack Journey of Clarence Petty. (Syracuse University Press, 2002) is still available. After a few years with…