The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Publisher Tom Woodman interviews Rev. Philip Allen, pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Indian Lake The Reverend Philip Allen is pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Indian Lake as well as St. Paul’s in Blue Mountain Lake and St. Joseph’s in Olmstedville. He grew up on the family dairy farm in Peru, New…
Environmentalists lobby for stricter development controls in wake of subdivision of Woodworth Lake property. By Phil Brown Environmentalists say the approval of a housing development at a former Boy Scouts camp underscores the need for tighter regulation of privately owned backcountry lands in the Adirondacks. All four of the Adirondack Park’s major environmental groups opposed…
Public remains split over the best use of 80-mile corridor running through wild lands. By Phil Brown After four public meetings on the future of the eighty-mile rail corridor between Big Moose and Lake Placid, the public seems as divided as ever, and the state now must make a decision sure to leave many people…
Officials propose removing the tracks between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid to create a bike path. By Phil Brown For several years, people have been arguing over the future of a little-used rail corridor running through the heart of Adirondack wilderness. In June, the state offered a compromise, but partisans on both sides say they won’t give…
Shortly after moving to the Adirondacks in 1996, I climbed Giant Mountain. Not only was it my first High Peak, it was the first time I’d climbed anything higher than the hill in the back yard where I grew up.
By Phil Brown
In a 5-0 decision, a state appellate court today rejected environmentalists’ arguments that the Adirondack Park Agency erred in approving the Adirondack Club and Resort (ACR), a massive development proposed in the town of Tupper Lake. The decision by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court is a major victory for the developers, Preserve Associates,…
Adopted fifty years ago, the Wilderness Act reflects the nation’s growing appreciation of unspoiled lands. By Philip Terrie On a warm September day in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed what is now recognized as one of the most significant legislative acts in American environmental history. This was the national Wilderness Act. Before then, federal lands,…
While Lake George, Lake Placid, and Old Forge thrive on visitor spending, many Adirondack communities continue to struggle economically. By Brian Mann Drive through Lake George, and you can see evidence that tourism is booming. Traffic is heavy, especially in summer when Lake George runs full-throttle. There are plans for a major hotel and a reinvention of downtown that includes…
Governor Andrew Cuomo has touted the $47 million land acquisition as a boon for the Park’s economy, but questions and challenges remain. By Brian Mann TWO YEARS AGO, when Governor Andrew Cuomo revived the massive Finch, Pruyn land deal, first engineered by the Adirondack Nature Conservancy in 2007, he shifted the terms of a long-running…
Hundreds of tankers regularly roll past Lake Champlain, raising fears about an environmental or community disaster. By David Sommerstein ON A SUMMER night last July, the charming French-Canadian town of Lac Megantic literally exploded. A tanker train carrying crude oil derailed and caught fire, incinerating much of the downtown and killing forty-seven people.…