Forever Controversial

Today’s Terrie reading includes one of the most revealing quotes about the Adirondacks that I’ve read thus far: “The Adirondack story remained a story of nature, but just what nature meant continued to depend on what one demanded of nature, what one expected of nature to be and to do” (106). It makes sense that the topic of land use in the Adirondack Park would begin with such a quote—after all, this central question is where most Adirondack debate springs from: what do we want from nature? 

We’ve already discussed this question quite a bit, and everyone seems to agree that there is no definite answer. This is a situation in life where agreeing to disagree isn’t just acceptable, it’s anticipated.

There are a variety of interests that immediately come to mind: recreation, business, inhabitation (of humans), and complete preservation. These different interests intersect in a complex array of controversies and commonalities.

A quick glimpse of Adirondack controversies:

Recreation, business, and inhabitation vs. preservation efforts

Recreation can coexist with business (i.e. tourism), and inhabitation (of humans), but it can also hinder preservation efforts (via ski resorts, ATVing, etc).

Business and recreation vs. habitat and recreation

Business efforts often ruin habitat, for both humans who inhabit the Adirondacks as well as for wildlife. It can also make some forms of recreation less feasible, if it leads to the destruction of necessary forest space and animal populations.

Habitation vs. business and recreation

For some people, the Adirondacks exists first and foremost as a place to inhabit: it is their home (Bill McKibben, anyone?). For many of these Adirondackers, business and most recreation, such as ATVing pose a huge threat to their idea of “nature.”

Business à Adirondacks?

Although business seems like the major villain in the story of the Adirondacks, I doubt that the Adirondacks could exist as it does without its “wilderness commodities”: lumber, ore, and recreational areas (i.e. Tupper Lake). 

The topic of land use is the foundation of Adirondack history. It is embedded in nearly everything we’ve discussed thus far—and with such a diversity of Adirondack inhabitants, vacationers, and businesspeople, the Adirondacks will remain as “Forever Controversial” as it is “Forever wild.”