During class last Monday, an
interesting question was posed to the class: Who is “after” the Adirondacks?
At first, I didn’t agree with the question itself – the Adirondacks is a
protected park, a “forever kept as wild” oasis shielded by the New York State
Constitution. Yet as we read more articles, learned more of the history, gained
a broader perspective, I began to change my mind. The Adirondack Park has been
exploited but it depends on perspective to indicate who was the exploiter.
From Bill McKibben’s perspective,
the tourist industry is the ones using up all the Adirondack resources. In his
book Wandering Home, McKibben specifically
points out how lodge owners are privatizing more than their share of the
Adirondacks to use for themselves and no one else: “There were signs everywhere reminding hikers that they
should stick to the trails, that the lodge was For Guests Only…I just kept
trudging…thinking the kinds of thoughts that English peasants must have thought
when nobles fenced off all the good hunting ground” (111). As a local, McKibben
witnesses firsthand the impact of the tourists in the park and similarly, how
second homeowners are driving locals out of business. Yet aren’t the locals
exploiting the land equally as intensely as the tourist industry/second
homeowners?
From a historical perspective, the
locals have utilized the park’s resources for their own gain, whether to
sustain their own livelihoods or to make profit. Loggers, miners, farmers,
trappers, fishermen, all local industries that are supported by the Adirondacks
make use of the park’s natural resources. One poignant example of local
exploitation of the land is in regards to the Adirondack Park’s wolf
population. According to an article titled Wolf
Reintroduction Feasibility in the Adirondack Park, there is clear evidence
that wolves once inhabited the northeast, specifically the Adirondacks, before
driven to extinction by hunters. However, many similar examples exist of local
exploitation of Adirondack park land whether with iron from mining or hemlock
and spruce from logging. Is the exploitation of the Adirondack park truly due
to the local population? Have we even taken
into account the more recent usage of the park by researchers and
recreationalists?
The issue, as I stated earlier, is
a matter of perspective. With more people wanting to visit the Adirondacks,
build homes in the park, increase the natural resource production or take
samples for biological/geological/chemical research, it all seems up to the judgment
of an individual and their biases to determine who truly is "after" the
Adirondack park.
Sources:
New York State Constitution – “Forever Wild”
Wandering Home by
Bill McKibben
Wolf Reintroduction Feasibility in the Adirondack Park
Iron Exploitation in the Adirondacks
Logging Exploitation in the Adirondacks
Not only should we be asking who is "after" the park, but I think your question continues to address the ever pertinent question of who has (and who should have) specific rights to the park. Due to the nature (pun intended) of the park being state run, this question becomes even more complex. It is an irrefutable fact that the introduction of logging in the 1800's completely altered the park from the "virgin forest" it once was. Subsequently, when the tourist and residential clientele migrated to the park, the land was yet again altered due to the need for houses, hotels, attractions, etc. In your post, you raise the interesting point about what will come next, which is absolutely vital for us to be inquiring as we study the park. What effects will the next 'movement' have on the park?
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