About Gwendolyn Craig

Gwen is an award-winning journalist covering environmental policy for the Explorer since January 2020. She also takes photos and videos for the Explorer's magazine and website. She is a current member of the Legislative Correspondents Association of New York. Gwen has worked at various news outlets since 2015. Prior to moving to upstate New York, she worked for a D.C. Metro-area public relations firm, producing digital content for clients including the World Health Organization, the Low Income Investment Fund and Rights and Resources Initiative. She has a master's degree in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She has bachelor's degrees in English and journalism, with a concentration in ecology and evolutionary biology, from the University of Connecticut. Gwen is also a part-time figure skating coach. Contact her at (518) 524-2902 or gwen@adirondackexplorer.org. Sign up for Gwen’s newsletter here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom Leustek says

    It’s great that Mr. Hendrickson wants the property to be managed properly and will not sell to a developer. But I have a question about Whitney management of their properties. Who built the atrocious houses, one at the foot of Little Tupper Lake and the other overlooking Lake Lila? These two eyesores can be seen from the far shores of these jewels of the Adirondack Park. They must have been built on the Whitney’s watch, before NY purchased the property. I agree that the loss of the heritage trout in Little Tupper was a tragedy. But, when visiting, you can’t tell the trout are gone. And the bass fishing is terrific. However that horrific eyesore of a house, which looks like it belongs to Snooky on the Jersey Shore, is painfully visible with every stroke of the paddle back to the canoe launch. Shame on whoever desecrated beautiful Little Tupper, jewel of the adirondacks.

  2. Bradford Parker says

    That is called “freedom” there are things I do not like that I see, but we as individuals, thank our founders still have freedom, Mr. Leusteck.

  3. S. Bumpus says

    Give it a little time and follow the money. The story will change, but for the love of God, do not let King Kuomo get his filthy paws on it. As if he doesn’t have enough ‘ land’ issues to deal with in the depleting not-so big apple….

  4. Vanessa says

    Huh. Not so impressed. He sounds like a right-wing zealot. How benevolent of him to think of all of the employees he’s probably criminally underpaying in the local town! What evidence does he have that the state in specific killed trout?

    I’m glad he doesn’t want it developed but this article gives lots of information for the concerned public to trust the guy less, not more. 🙁 I hope the land stays pristine like he claims he cares about.

  5. Joe Rota says

    The Whitney’s have taken care of their property remarkably well for over 100 years: harvesting mature trees, hiring local people, not developing , maintaining the lakes and streams, protecting the wildlife, and paying their taxes. The state of NY would fail if it acquired this property and tried to match the Whitney’s accumplishments!

  6. Tom Leustek says

    I guess you are right Mr. Parker. Let us be thankful to the great state of New York for having the foresight to purchase the property and add it to the wilderness part of the forever wild Adirondack Park. Thank you Governor George Pataki for giving me the freedom to enjoy Little Tup, and to complain about the eyesore at its end. And while I am at it, thank you Governor Mario Cuomo for purchasing Lowes Lake, so that I may have the freedom to paddle that magnificent lake. I also need to thank the many other NY governors who purchased private land holdings for all citizens to enjoy the freedoms. Let’s hope that the NY state finds a way to purchase the 36,000 acres from Mr. Hendrickson. I would like the freedom of paddling and hiking that madnificent property that i can now only visit with a topo map and my minds eye.

  7. Ace Barker says

    The State is notorious for bad management of these purchases, Look at Foxlair Estate in Sacandaga valley…was left to Vandals and burglars for years and then in a unceremonious way, NYSTATE burned everything down! Bulldozed the remnants ..not much preserved…..I say No for NYState ownership, many thanks to you all in advance..

  8. Kathryn Maguire says

    It’s like the sale of a horse, the abuse or neglect rarely start with the first sale, it’s the Second sale that starts the chain of pain. You can’t control the second seller; the tax-paying public will never have (affordable) access to this land unless it goes to the state.

  9. Scott says

    Let’s get the facts straight here. The state wanted to protect the L. Tupper Brook trout by placing a catch and release regulation on the property. So a proto-trumpian wingnut decided to cut off his nose to spite his face and stock bass to ‘own the enviro-nazis’ or some nonsense. Thanks to this illegal act, L. Tupper and every lake connected to it is filled with invasive species and the trout fishery is ruined. How is this the state’s fault?

  10. John powers says

    Well if you stock bass into heritage brookie water and the brookies disappear you think there’s a link? Mind you, I’m not a biologist, just a 73 yo flyfisherman.

  11. Dan says

    Ms. Maguire has it right. No matter how carefully Mr. Hendrickson tries to vet the buyers, he is naive if he thinks he can dictate the future. There is a real estate maxin:”All warranties die at closing.” Even if he finds a buyer who says what he wants to hear, there’s no preventing that buyer from selling to the next guy, no questions asked. I don’t think Mr. Hendrickson can graft the Whitney tradition onto someone else’s family tree.

  12. James Hamilton says

    I thought there could be stipulation that run with the land in the deed no matter who owns it in the future, correct?

  13. Kelly Lee Whitney says

    I’m Kelly Lee Whitney …an I think this should stay in the family an never be sold..great an proud landmark of the great Whitney name an history that my family name really holds….

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