When I report on environmental regulations — in the Adirondack Park and beyond its blue-line border — I hear a pretty common refrain:<\/p>\n
Locals do it better. North Country folks have stewarded the land for generations and they care deeply about its welfare.<\/p>\n
From farmers to local government officials, they decry ‘big government’ interference and environmentalist meddling.<\/p>\n
This message has a deep appeal. We like to think that the people most intimately connected to a gorgeous landscape like this one would care most deeply about its preservation.<\/p>\n
But I hiked into the Hammond Pond Wild Forest this morning, in the Champlain Valley, and found garbage strewn in the campsites.<\/p>\n
Beer cans, Snickers wrappers, the remains of broken tents. It was bleak. I found t-shirts hanging from trees and battered old boats tossed along the shore.<\/p>\n
I’m convinced this isn’t the kind of junk that tourists bring in. This is us. A reflection of our attitudes and, yes, our carelessness.<\/p>\n
I think similar doubts are growing about the farming community in the Champlain Valley, where pollution from dairy herds continues to spark algae blooms at the north end of the lake.<\/p>\n