The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Seven hundred out of 2,800-plus lakes closed to floatplanes does not seem unreasonable, nor does adding Lows Lake to that list [“Floatplane ban challenged,” November/December 2010]. New York needs to resist the argument that motorized access to these precious wild places is necessary to serve those with handicaps. My own Parkinson’s disease advances; my loss…
Spot zoning is generally a pernicious practice used in cities that impacts an individual or a small group. Picture a proposal for a variance to allow a gas station next to a residence. The homeowner would object, but many people two or three blocks away wouldn’t care and might even welcome a convenient gas station.…
If you talk with a leader of the Adirondack preservationist movement you get a deep appreciation of how far we have come in the last forty years. But you also get a vivid sense of how much more should be accomplished. Both judgments—the work well done and the work left to do—reflect on one idea:…
Regarding the disabled veterans’ lawsuit to allow floatplanes on lakes in the Forest Preserve [“Floatplane ban challenged,” November/December 2010]: First, wilderness with motorized vehicles is not wilderness. This should be kept a separate issue from a person’s right of access to public lands within the Park and should also be kept separate from the American’s…
In looking at the proposal for a sprawling Adirondack Club and Resort in Tupper Lake [“Tupper developer perseveres,” November/December 2010], what I support is a redevelopment of the Big Tupper ski slope with a modest cluster of residential construction around the base of the mountain. The application for such a development would be relatively simple…
A study released in January makes one thing wonderfully clear: We need to face reality about the best use of the railroad line that runs thirty-four miles from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake, and another fifty-four miles from Tupper to Old Forge. The study, undertaken by Camoin Associates, should put an end to the nostalgic…
Kudos to George Earl for his article “Deer numbers debated” [November/December 2010]. I would like to address three points in the article. First, Dan Ladd, who argues that coyotes have reduced the deer population, is a hunter who wrote a book on deer hunting. That makes him an author, not an authority. He deals strictly…
As the founder of Lean2Rescue [the volunteer repair group featured in September/October 2010], I’m often asked about our cooperative relationship with the DEC. I credit this to my instinctive trust of the department based on the privilege of knowing Ranger Douglas King. I first met Doug in the spring of 1974 when I was nineteen.…
Andrew Cuomo moves into the governor’s office this month at a time of deep concern for the well-being of the Adirondack Park. He should act quickly to restore adequate protections for the Park and move forward on critical actions that have been postponed too long Cuomo succeeds a governor who demonstrated little understanding of or…
The town of Lake George, long at the epicenter of overbuilding in the Adirondacks, has now become a leader in the fight against one of the damaging consequences of sprawl—the surge of nutrients that can virtually smother a lake. The law is an important part of broader efforts to roll back the damages caused by…