DEC decision leaves observers wondering if Forest Preserve routes could be opened to motor vehicles.

Old roads run like fault lines through the Adirondack Park. Sources of conflict since the early 1900s, they have been at the heart of several land-use battles over the last two decades. Indeed, Crane Pond Road in Schroon and the Old Mountain Road in Keene and North Elba have become symbols of discord. READ MORE

With snowshoes, you can go just about anywhere in the Adirondack Park. But with more than two thousand miles of trails, it's hard to know where to start. Here are suggestions from four gung-ho Adirondack snowshoers.

DEBAR MOUNTAIN - By Tony Goodwin

Although only 3,300 feet in elevation, Debar Mountain rises prominently from the flatter terrain to the north and west, the direction from which it is approached. Summertime views are unique but limited pretty much to Meacham Lake and the lower mountains to the west plus the expansive sweep of the St. Lawrence Valley to the north. A winter ascent, however, offers the possibility of views to the south and east, especially at the end of a good snow year when one stands five or six feet higher on the consolidated snow. READ MORE

His lifelong quest: To protect wild nature

When Clarence A. Petty died at 104 on November 30, the Adirondack Park lost one of its greatest champions, the woodsman who laid the groundwork for the protection of a million acres of wilderness and 1,200 miles of rivers inside the Blue Line. With his passing, the Park also lost what may be the last living link to an earlier era known mostly through history books and old-time photographs of guides, trappers, lumbermen, and grand lakeside hotels. READ MORE