The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Thank you ever so much for the fabulous article “Dead trees a sign of life” by George Wuerthner [November/December 2012]. As the chairman of the Maryland Wildlands Committee, I have been a firm believer in what ecologists down here say: “The best tree in the forest is the dead one on the forest floor!” The author articulates…
Two years ago Andrew Cuomo moved into the governor’s mansion at a time when issues of concern to the Adirondacks were languishing amid financial crisis and political neglect. Governor David Paterson showed no understanding of or interest in the Park; political turmoil had incapacitated the legislature, and budget austerity fell particularly hard on programs important…
The Ausable River is a far-reaching system, fed by dozens of streams dropping out of the eastern High Peaks, moving water into the major courses of the East and West Branches before the rivers join to tumble out of the foothills and into Lake Champlain. At some point in its travels much of the flow…
By Phil Brown
I do a lot of backcountry skiing, and so over the years I have collected a half-dozen pairs of skis. Not as many as some skiers, but enough to make some people wonder if I’m obsessed. Maybe I am, but not about skis. I have far more ski hats. I must own nearly twenty: wool,…
When it comes to protecting the Adirondack Park for future generations we naturally turn first to preserving wilderness and natural wonders. Everything else flows from this first principle enshrined in Article 14 of the state constitution and other legislation. But safeguarding the well-being of the human communities within the Park is also essential. And despite…
By Tom Woodman It’s mid-morning and the trail up Bald Mountain just outside Old Forge is already hopping, with hikers embarking on the ascent and others already returning from the top. A dad with a son and daughter who look to be on either side of ten years old, run down slanted rock edges, giggling.…
By Phil Brown
We took advantage of fall sunshine yesterday to climb the historic Wiessner Route on Upper Washbowl Cliff with Matt Wiech, a guide with the Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing School. Fritz Wiessner, a top climber in his day, put up the route in 1938. Like most of his routes, this one is regarded as moderate in…
One of the most exciting acquisitions of land for the Forest Preserve in years has been expected since the Nature Conservancy bought 161,000 acres of land from Finch Paper in 2007. But as the state government fell into financial crisis and opposition to the purchase grew even among previous supporters, questions lingered. Would the state…
The Adirondack Park has a reputation for being a place where policy debates can become bruising, bare-knuckle affairs. Those who lived through the turbulent years following the creation of the Adirondack Park Agency in 1971 can recall a time when even the most optimistic might despair of ever finding a subject on which constructive conversation…
What has happened at the Explorer? It seems to have been taken over by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or the Humane Society of the United States. The bobcat is not endangered in New York. Its range is actually expanding. The recent issues have carried anti-trapping and anti-hunting untruths by an Explorer board…