Change is always hard to come by, especially when nostalgia clouds the picture. A current example may be seen in the debate (page 56) over the best use of the old railroad corridor that connects Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake—a thirty-four-mile segment of the line that traverses a wild and scenic landscape of lakes, forests, hills, and wetlands. Though the debate can seem complicated, the basic issue is simple. A tourist train has been running for a dozen years on the ten-mile section between Lake Placid (the end of the line) and Saranac Lake. It has cost taxpayers >>More

Reading a recent editorial from the Glens Falls Post-Star, which pillories Chairman Curt Stiles and the state’s Adirondack Park Agency for being too strong on environmental protection, brings back memories of the anti-APA hostility so rampant four decades ago, in the earliest days of this state entity. “Who are you to come here and tell us what we can or can’t do with our land?” was a frequently heard sentiment. “We’ve always taken good care of the Adirondacks and we don’t need you interfering!” was another. The fact is that outside intervention was urgently needed. A number of land developers >>More

At first glance the proposal might seem irresistible: a development that would bring affluent residents and visitors, resurrect a cherished ski resort, create jobs, and revive an Adirondack region that desperately needs new vitality. But we long ago moved beyond the first glance at the Adirondack Club and Resort proposal in Tupper Lake. And, sadly, the development as currently proposed presents unacceptable environmental and financial risks. The resort envisions a style of subdivision that forgoes crucial conservation principles, carves up land that’s supposed to be protected as open space, and rests on a financial strategy that Adirondack real-estate experts describe >>More

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: Park. As Peter Paine points out in “Talk of the Towns,” there has been an inspiring, if subtle, change over the last four decades:  Adirondackers now commonly refer to their region as a park. Yet the state continually fails to provide services in a way >>More

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 dream of restoring rail service through the Adirondacks. It should also open the way for a more appropriate and beneficial use of the old railroad bed—the creation of a world-class recreation trail through some of the loveliest,wildest, lake-studded backcountry in the eastern United States. For >>More

There’s a wonderful opportunity that has been staring us in the face—the opportunity to open up a whole new recreational dimension in the Adirondacks that will also provide important economic benefits. The map above suggests the possibilities. Right now, it’s a dangerous, even death-defying proposition to bicycle between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. The traffic on Route 86 is heavy in the summer and fall; the shoulder is narrow and rutted. But now consider this: With the train tracks removed, the public would have a safe, serene, and scenic bikeway connecting the Placid and Saranac train stations. As a free-wheeling >>More