Okay, so maybe it’s not The Big Story, but one theme that evolved over the course of 2008 was the fate of the privately-owned Adirondack back-country.<\/p>\n
The Nature Conservancy’s acquisition of Follensby Pond — the holy grail of Adirondack conservation efforts for thirty years — combined with the disposition of the massive Finch, Pruyn lands, literally redefined the playing field.<\/p>\n
Even more interesting, for a wonk like me, is the fact that this land deal is so big that it has tendrils and facets everywhere.<\/p>\n
The sour economy could affects private efforts to pay for the land deals; and the budget crisis in Albany could cripple the Environmental Protection fund, which is used to buy state forest preserve land.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the final status of all that real estate — wilderness? forest preserve? limited timber harvesting? — will affect dozens of Adirondack towns for…well, forever.<\/p>\n
And finally, there’s the personal and visceral part of the story. I spent a day trekking in a wilderness bog near Blue Mountain with Nature Conservancy staff — and another day paddling Follensby. <\/p>\n
Those were tastes of pure Adirondack wildness that I’ll savor for a long time.<\/p>\n
–Brian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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