I interviewed the Adirondack Council’s Brian Houseal a short time ago.\u00a0 He said that his sudden departure was a personal decision, one that he made on his own initiative.\u00a0\u00a0 We’ll have more on this tomorrow during the 8 O’clock Hour.\u00a0 Here’s the statement released by the Council today:<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. \u2013 The board of trustees of the Adirondack Council announced the departure of Brian L. Houseal after a decade as executive director of the Adirondack Park\u2019s largest and most influential environmental organization.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/div>\nHouseal will remain at his post until the end of October.\u00a0 Chairwoman Ann Carmel said the board will then turn to Deputy Director Diane Fish of Lake Placid to serve as Acting Executive Director, while the board conducts a national search for a new Executive Director.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\nCarmel said \u201cthe Council has been privileged to have Brian Houseal as our Executive Director for the last 10 years. He has exhibited leadership and innovation on so many issues affecting the environment and the communities of the Adirondack Park.\u00a0 He is leaving the Council in a strong position as it continues to face issues affecting this magical park.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n“Brian’s leadership gave the Council an ever larger voice in all matters related to the Park. He understands how the pieces fit together for both wilderness and communities and has nurtured the essential interdependence between them. This benefits all stakeholders in the Park, keeping it a special and unique place while enriching our lives inside its boundaries,” said Brian Ruder, chairman from 2007-10.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n“When we hired Brian 10 years ago, I had very high expectations for his leadership potential. His performance far exceeded my expectations. Combining a passion for the environment, a warm feeling for people and exceptional communication skills, Brian was the perfect leader for the Council,” said David Skovron, chair, 1999-2003.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\nReflecting on his tenure at the Council, Houseal said, \u201cI have had the honor of moving forward with a legacy endowed to us by some of the greatest conservationists in our country.\u00a0 Louis and Bob Marshall, Clarence Petty, the Council\u2019s founders, and many other directors, staff and members over the years have all fought to uphold Article XIV \u2013 the Forever Wild Clause \u2013 of New York State\u2019s Constitution, unique in the world as a people\u2019s commitment to wilderness preservation.\u00a0 That vision and constellation of stars provides the compass bearing that guides our team every day.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\u201cWhat makes the Adirondack Park unique as well is the character and vitality of our communities.\u00a0 I am proud to be a co-founder of the Common Ground Alliance, because it helped forge a role for the Council as a \u2018solutions department,\u2019 searching for ways to protect the environment while also benefiting local communities and their economies.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\u201cIn the time-honored Adirondack tradition of borrowing someone else\u2019s cabin during a winter blizzard, I believe I\u2019m leaving the Adirondack Council in better condition than I found it, with dry tinder and a big pile of wood for the next steward. It\u2019s a dynamic organization with a passionate Board and staff, dedicated members and supporters and will continue its strong tradition of successful advocacy. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\u201cOur organization is well-equipped for the transition.\u00a0 Diane Fish has been a great partner as Deputy Director and has the Board\u2019s full support and commitment.\u00a0 John Sheehan, Communications Director, Scott Lorey, Government Relations Director, Allison Buckley, Conservation Director, and Elaine Burke, Operations Director, are an experienced team who will continue to guide our staff to the next level of growth,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I interviewed the Adirondack Council’s Brian Houseal a short time ago.\u00a0 He said that his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[6868,22,884,6867],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6212"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6213,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6212\/revisions\/6213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}