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.

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  1. Boreas says

    I like the Victory Garden idea.

    I would also suggest turning portions of the property into large wildflower/pollinator plots that benefits many species of plants and insects that are in serious decline. Perhaps even an apiary. Also a great educational tool if you wind some of the trails through these plots. Some wildflower gardens can be placed even in the understory that favor native woodland species.

  2. Sandra Weber says

    As I commented at the virtual John Brown Farm Information Meeting on February 8 and in writing to the Parks office, there seems to be confusion about the precise piece of property that the Unit Management Plan references. The Public Information Meeting Packet and the virtual presentation repeatedly state that the John Brown Farm is 213 acres.

    The John Brown Farm Historical Site has always referred to the entirety of Lot 95, which contains 270 acres (originally thought to be 244 acres). A multitude of New York State reports and documents from 1895 up to the 2000s have defined the historic farm site to be 270 acres. Part of the significance of the farm is the fact that it is an “historically intact entity” with the same boundaries as when John Brown purchased it in 1849. In re-defining the site, we do a disservice to history, to the people of NYS, and especially to Kate Field and the other 19 people who donated the John Brown Farm to NYS in 1896.

    There is also an important distinction between Historic Site and Historic Area, only part of the site is classified by the APA as Historic Area. The 2015 Adirondack Park Land Classification Map shows the land (105 acres) at the northern part of Lot 95 as classified by the APA as “Historic Area.” Page 120 of the 2016 Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan states: “This 105 acre area includes the home, farm, pond, and grave of abolitionist John Brown.”

    Yet, page 3 of the information packet refers to the “213-acre Historic Site,” and later states: “The lands of John Brown Farm are classified as Historic.” If the 213 acres are now designated Historic Area by the APA, when did that change occur? If the UMP only applies to 105 acres, then please correct the documents.

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