Adirondack Park US – India Exchange Tour Brian Houseal, Director Adirondack Ecological Center
The Adirondacks; Contested Terrain “It’s no damn Park, it’s where I live and where I work” History Current Management Common Ground Alliance Adirondack Ecological Center Future?
Ad iro nd a ck Pa rk & No rthea stern US Quebec, Canada Washington, DC
Pre-Revolutionary War
Erie Canal 1840 New York - The ‘Empire State’
Adirondack Park Contested Land o History o Adirondack Council o Common Ground Alliance o Bob Marshall Wildlands Complex o Q & A
Current Management • Adirondack Forest Preserve decreed in 1894 • Adirondack Park Agency established in 1974 – regional land use planning agency • UNESCO Champlain – Adirondack Biosphere Reserve approved in 1994.
The Adirondack Park
A Mixture of Public and Private Lands Adirondack Park Agency Dept. of Environmental Conservation • • Land use and economic Care and custody of 2.6 million development plan for 3.2 million acres of Forest Preserve. acres of private lands: resource • Preparation of Unit Management management, industrial, rural Plans (UMPs) – 38 units. use, low intensity and moderate • intensity and hamlets. Monitoring and enforcement of • 850,000 acres of state-held Assistance to communities for APA-approved local plans. conservation easements on • private lands. Administer federal Wetlands and Wild, Scenic & Recreational • Any potential loss of Forest Rivers Acts. Preserve lands requires a • Regulation and enforcement. Constitutional Amendment. • Approval of DEC UMPs
Trail Mix Within the ‘Blue Line’ boundary of the Park: • 11 Counties • 103 Towns • Multiple agencies whose regions do not correspond to the Park’s boundaries: DOT, DOE, ESDC, etc. and treat the Park as any other region of the state. = conflicting mandates & frustrated local residents who feel disenfranchised by bureaucracy & political process controlled by the Capitol in Albany and NYC.
A shared vision: an Adirondack Park with clean water and air and large core wilderness areas surrounded by working farms and forests, and vibrant local communities.
Challenges • Confronting climate change • Large landscape conservation • Revitalizing local communities
Confronting Climate Change Work to protect Adirondack forests and water from pollution produced in other regions and locally.
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Large Landscape Conservation Improve and streamline Adirondack governance .
Landscape-level or Ecosystem-Based Management • Integrates ecological, social, and economic goals and recognizes humans as key components of the ecosystem. • Considers ecological- not just political- boundaries. • Engages multiple stakeholders in a collaborative process to define problems and find solutions. • Is concerned with the ecological integrity and the sustainability of both human and ecological systems. • Uses an adaptive management approach in the face of resulting uncertainties • Core areas – connectivity - permeability
Occasional Visitors or Extirpated? Red Wolf Mountain Lion
Large wetland complexes
pitcher plants
Revitalize Local Communities Encourage planning, smart growth and Forest Preserve integration.
Common Ground Alliance
Where we were: “Adirondack groups would rather fight than win.” Ross Whaley, APA Chair, c. 2005
SEEKING COMMON GROUND • Initial participants met in February 2006: – Town of Inlet Supervisor: JR Risley – Central Adirondack Partnership – 21 st Century: Lani Ulrich – Adirondack Council: Brian Houseal “Can we find solutions that benefit the Park’s communities, their economies, and the environment?”
Process • Address only issues that we agree to; • If one party does not agree, the issue does not get on the table; • Work to build communications and trust among participants who may have traditionally disagreed; • Widen the number of participants from key sectors.
Long Lake – July 2007 “We the People…”
Blue Print for the Blue Line “Sustainable communities in a high quality natural environment” • Acid Rain • Energy Development • Global Climate Change • Entrepreneurial • Invasive Species Development • Transportation • Land Use Change • Effective Governance • Telecommunications • Property Taxes • Community Housing • Heath Care • Aging Infrastructure • Main Street Revitalization
What we have learned • Adirondack communities are • “ Grassroots regionalism ” struggling for economic is occurring due to the survival and need private efforts like those of the Common Ground Alliance – sector employment opportunities that move us reaching across traditional into a 21 st century economy divides • State agencies are well- • The Adirondack Park needs intended but may have a comprehensive plan that policies that do not envisions a better future for correspond to our small our communities and rural communities includes the full spectrum of economic components
Adirondack Ecological Center Vision for the Future AEC mission: To understand the Adirondack ecosystem through research and education. The Adirondack Park: one of the world’s foremost experiments in conservation and sustainability
The Adirondack Park AEC AEC
Adirondack Ecological Center A base of operations for research and education on the natural and cultural systems of the Northern Forest. SUNY/ESF Newcomb campus: 15,000 acres Visitor Interpretive Center Masten Retreat House
Research • ALTEMP: – 65+ years of research incorporated into 30 ongoing monitoring efforts of over 100 physical, chemical & biological attributes – Real-time data (Arbutus, met station, geospatial) – Intensive biological studies since 1930’s by ESF Roosevelt Wildlife Research Station – Long-term forest inventory, silviculture & management experiments – Data from 200+ studies maintained
ESF Adirondack Research Agenda • Adirondack Long Term Ecological Monitoring • Large Landscape Conservation & Local People • Climate Change Impacts, Resiliency & Adaptation Options o Forest, Wildlife & Water Resources for a Sustainable Economy o Mine Reclamation & Ecological Restoration o Community Participatory Planning & Conflict Resolution o Opportunities to Involve Students, Faculty, and Partners
Education • AEC Academic Engagement: 5 faculty – 10 courses, 14 graduate advisees, 4 undergraduate advisees, 6 interns in 2012-13 – Research methods: Understanding the Adirondack Ecosystem – Environmental Ethics and Culture: Perspectives on the Adirondack Park – Sustainable Development: An Adirondack Park Case Study – Using Past Experience to Inform Future Management: Synthesizing the Park – Forest Ecology – Winter Mammalian Ecology • ESF Faculty use of AEC/Newcomb: Chemistry, Environmental & Forest Biology, Environmental Resource Engineering, Environmental Studies, Forest & Natural Resource Management, Landscape Architecture, Paper & Bioprocess Engineering, Ranger School, Sustainable Construction Management & Engineering
Outreach Moving Science to the Public & Policy • Adirondack Interpretive Center • Interpreting ESF Knowledge to K-12 & general public • Northern Forest Institute • Solutions for professional resource managers, elected officials, other decision makers • Working to solve real-time issues for the Adirondacks & beyond… • e.g., acid rain, climate change, large landscape conservation, community sustainability, etc.
Partnerships • Non-ESF Colleges & Universities using AEC: Ex: Antioch, Clarkson, Colgate, CUNY, McGill, NC State, Paul Smiths, Queens, Rutgers, SUNYs, SU, U of Georgia, U of Maryland, U of Minnesota, UVM, U of Western Ontario, Vassar, Washington State U • Agencies: Ex: Adirondack Park Agency, Biodiversity Research Institute, Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Nature Conservancy, NYS Energy Research & Development Authority, USGS, USFWS, Wildlife Conservation Society, & others
This is one of the best protected landscapes in the country, but is it protected enough?
Contact information • Brian Houseal blhouseal@esf.edu State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry – SUNY/ESF – ESF/Adirondack Ecological Center • NYS Adirondack Park Agency • NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Thank you. Please come visit. Questions?
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