The Adirondacks became a “wilderness of refuge” during the pandemic, but conservationists warn that investment in infrastructure and protective legislation are needed to safeguard the future of the nation’s largest park.
The Adirondack Council released its yearly State of the Park report last week, delivering a comprehensive report card on conservation priorities and outlining future efforts to preserve Adirondack Park.
The coronavirus pandemic brought to the issue of overuse to the forefront: 12.4 million people visit the park each year. That number has increased due to the pandemic as tourists flock to the Adirondacks looking for a safe escape in a time where indoor activities pose a risk of contracting the virus.
William C. Janeway, executive director of The Adirondack Council, said resources, safety, and quality of experience are compromised with this influx of visitors.
“The solution is not to decrease use,” Janeway said. “The solution is to invest in management.”
To handle the increased traffic, the Council called on the state to double the number of rangers and diversify the force.
With so many tourists coming to the park, rangers have gotten busier. There’s been an increase in search and rescues statewide. More education is necessary for new visitors to know how to protect and preserve the park while enjoying it, Janeway said.
“When there’s not as much education going on to help people be trained, to prepare, we have more incidents,” Janeway said.
The State of the Park report takes on nearly 100 topics, including preserving the wilderness, combating acid rain and climate change, stopping the spread of invasive species, helping local communities build their economics and expanding diversity, equity and inclusion among visitors and residents.
The report is formatted like a report card: some topics get a thumbs up, others a thumbs down, depending on how the issue has been addressed in the previous year.
The council gave a thumbs-up to elected leaders for releasing plans to address park overuse and hire rangers. They also granted a thumbs-up for bills requiring boat inspections to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species between bodies of water.
Both federal and state courts were praised for some of their rulings. The New York State Court of Appeals received a thumbs-up for ruling against the Department of Conservation in their attempt to build snowmobile trails on the Forest Preserve, which is constitutionally-protected land. During the Trump administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit refused to repeal the Clean Power Plan, which places caps on power plant carbon pollution.
The council also pointed out some shortcomings, including poor marks for the state Legislature’s decision to deny funding to conduct lake and climate change surveys. The Assembly was singled out with a thumbs-down for not passing legislation that would expand wetland protections by one million acres in the state.
The report also details the new “Forever Adirondacks” campaign to target three issues: clean water, jobs and wilderness protection.
The effort will be headed by Aaron Mair, who has more than 40 years of experience working in environmental protection efforts.
Mair said his focus will be on a “Green New Deal” for the Adirondacks, that would build the economy in a way that protects the environment. One idea: training workers for jobs in the green and renewable energy industry, instead of the carbon sector.
“The land needs stewardship and so consistent with that call for ‘build it back better,’ we need that civilian climate corps,” Mair said. “We need to transition our New Yorkers and other folks into the new careers and opportunities to help make wilderness protection and expansion as part of that climate tool really seriously viable.”
Janeway highlighted the need for a transparent report on the “people’s park.”
“As soon as you get here, you can tell you are in a place that is different from the rest of the world,” Janeway said in the report. “For that, we owe a debt of gratitude to the generations that preceded us, who created and cared for this park before we were born. We also owe them our commitment to keeping it that way.”
Adirondack facts
· At six million acres - or 9,300 sq. miles - the Adirondack Park is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
· It covers 20 percent of New York State and is equal in size to the neighboring state of Vermont.
· Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and Glacier national parks combined would all fit inside the Adirondack Park.
· It is also the world’s largest, intact temperate deciduous forest and home to 87 rare, threatened and endangered species, most of the old-growth forest -- and 90 percent of the motor-free wilderness -- remaining in the Northeast.
Source: Adirondack Council’s annual State of the Park report
More on NewYorkUpstate.com
Upstate NY fall foliage report: Autumn colors are beginning to spread
You can feed birds again in Upstate NY, local Audobon says
Fall turkey hunting 101: It’s all about breaking up the flock and calling birds back (video)
"continued" - Google News
September 17, 2021 at 06:46PM
https://ift.tt/2Z9afub
State of the Adirondacks: Increased usage during pandemic spotlights need for continued conservation efforts - newyorkupstate.com
"continued" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WiTaZN
https://ift.tt/2YquBwx
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "State of the Adirondacks: Increased usage during pandemic spotlights need for continued conservation efforts - newyorkupstate.com"
Post a Comment