Author Jerry Jenkins' book, The Adirondack
Atlas, offers an interesting perspective on the history and current
state of the Adirondacks, as a large percentage of the book consists of
evidence presented through maps. In a recent reading of The Adirondack
Atlas, one map in particular truly struck me. This map shows the
change in the Adirondack forests from 1800 to 1885 (Jenkins, 100). On the
first map, from 1800, the vast majority of the land is shown as "virgin
forest," meaning that it is essentially untouched, and still wilderness.
The adjacent map, from 1885, shows a completely different forest.
Unlike the last map, only 29.1% of the forest is "virgin
forest". Most of it has been altered by human interactions.
During this time, as Jenkins explains, agriculture and logging became
prevalent in the Adirondacks. The astonishing aspect of the change in the
maps is the fact that all of these changes occurred within 85 years.
Jenkins explains that, in the 1880's, "...there was a widespread
perception that Adirondack forests were in trouble... The sporting press, which
hadn't figured out that deer love logging, magnified the reports into a general
fear that the Adirondack wilderness was about to vanish" (Jenkins, 101).
Thus began one of the first concerns regarding deforestation of the
Adirondacks.
I was very interested to learn about this
relatively early act of environmental concern and preservation. In a
Geology/Environmental Studies course I took last semester, we studied the
overuse of natural resources. A general trend we discussed was that one
of the major issues humans will need to face in the near future is a former
lack of concern for the overuse of natural resources. As environmental movements
were not active until the 1960s, I was fascinated to learn that the people
within the Adirondacks have been concerned about issues such as deforestation
since it began occurring in the park. In many ways, the Adirondacks were
eighty years ahead of their time with beginning the environmental movements,
and actively trying to stop deforestation before it negatively progressed.
Citation:
Jenkins, Jerry, and Andy Keal. The Adirondack Atlas: A
Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP,
2004. 2. Print.
I agree that it is very interesting to see the evolution of land use in the Adirondacks and how different industries affected the land. I find it particularly fascinating how the development of pulp altered the style of logging in the park. Before the use of wood pulp, loggers went for the large softwoods of the forest. This left about 75% of the trees still intact. But when paper companies started buying up land they were less selective with their trees. This is when the effects of logging and the need for mitigation became much more apparent. I think you have touched on a very important point about the early concern to protect the park and I look forward to learning more about the early conservation movements to protect the area.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, the unchecked logging of the Adirondacks was the spark that ignited the flame of conservation in the state of New York. Because the Adirondacks house an important water shed for most downstate residents, when word got out that logging might damage the health of the water system, the response was strong. The park was formed. We now know that the damage advertised by these early environmentalists was a little oversold, but in the end, we got one of the largest and best protected parks in the contiguous US. So, while logging destroyed a lot of precious virgin forests, without it, we might not have a park at all.
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