Should the Adirondacks Be a National Park???

The park works great as is. No need to change things. Just keep buying up land for preservation, and work with the towns to ensure they stay within their boundaries and don’t pollute. I kind of like that there are little towns dotted around the park – it means better food and lodging options than you’d get in a national park. Also, the towns help make it easier to get to more remote places: it would be much more trouble to get to, say, the CL50 if the town if Cranberry Lake weren’t there for you to spend the night at before and after your trip – you’d have to do a couple hours of driving before and after your hike, which is annoying. More towns also makes for a better through-hiking or through-paddling experience, since it’s easier to re-supply. Speaking of through-paddling, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail starts in Old Forge in the southwest part of the park, and goes 700+ miles to the northern tip of Maine. I’d love to do it someday.

I don't think the Adirondacks should ever be a national park. Between the two different ski mountains, rv parks, water park, hotels, and the tens of thousands of private homes, it would be a disaster if the state ever took it over. I would like to add though that the state still regularly tries to buy up private land to add to public area of the park. And the state has some pretty tight regulations on what the landowners can do. Not to mention that the state has agreements with many private landowners to let the public use areas of their land.

The Adirondacks were largely the model for the National Park Service. (Yellowstone predates the Forest Preserve, but it became a national park by accident, because Wyoming wasn't yet a state.) In large measure, New York got the idea first, and Theodore Roosevelt took it to Washington with him. In the length of time that they've been protected, it's not that much of a surprise that the policies surrounding them have evolved to be more nuanced than what we see coming out of Washington. The constitutional protection also gives them an unmatched level of stability. None of our National Parks - and most certainly not our National Momuments, National Forests, etc - have nearly that stability - the Congress, and in some cases the President, can erase them with the stroke of a pen. Most of the people arguing in favor of the Adirondacks being a National Park seem to think that the forest would enjoy a higher level of protection, but I don't believe that's correct. Worthy of note is that the portion that's owned by the state is still bigger than any of the 'classic' National Parks. (Death Valley, some parks in Alaska, and the marine reserves are larger, but they're recent developments and really still being sorted out.) The nuanced management and enormous size also means that there's a greater sense of freedom. I live an hour from the Blue Line, and if I want to hike the Park, I pretty much can pull on my boots, hop in my car and go. (I keep an already-loaded backpack in the car!) No fussing about with permits, and very few restrictions. About a third of my trips are cross-country, departing from the established trails. I can make camp basically anywhere I find a big enough flat spot. (Well, within reason. I can't camp above 3500 feet elevation, nor within 200 feet of a trail or a waterway.) The detailed trip planning that I always do is for my own safety, not for dealing with bureaucrats. Where else, well, practically anywhere, could I go for a 140-or-so mile backpack and meet maybe a dozen people (except at the two town stops I made to reprovision)? And without having a paperwork nightmare to arrange it? Everyone inside the Blue Line hates the APA. Half believe that the APA is out wantonly to rape the land for development, and half believe the APA is out to depopulate the Adirondacks entirely. As long as it's hated equally by the pro-conservation and pro-development zealots, I think it's probably doing a pretty good job. One thing that a lot of people overlook is that the state continues to pay property taxes on the Blue Line land that it acquires, at whatever rate per acre is assessed on private undeveloped forest land. This is a big fraction of the local government budget in those areas.

My back yard! Just finished a 6 day camping trip in the ADK's! Love it up here! I used to wonder why it wasn't a national park just based on size its huge!! The 46 high peaks can get a bit overcrowded but its somethings they have been working on alot lately. But their is soo much more to the dack's than just the high peaks! Tons of history here "Fort william henry on lake george. For ticonderoga on Lake champlain! Great camp santanoni! St. regis canoe area is awesome too! Good trout fishing on many rivers! The wildlife is awesome! People down to earth as long as you treat the land well. I'm 42yrs old and have lived here my whole life and barely touched all that's here. Good topic! ADK's for life!

Great video! I've lived in the ADK my entire life. No human system is perfect, but I'm extremely proud to call this area home. As many others have said, the people that live here feel a deep connection to the land and nature itself. Just as the Iroquois, it's part of our identity. Most of us grow up hunting, fishing, gardening, felling trees and processing them into firewood, etc. It's almost instinctual to protect this land if you've ever lived here. Part of the beauty of this area is regulation only goes so far. At a certain point, the individuals and communities themselves regulate each other. This is the kinda place you could get beat up for littering, seriously...

I reside in the Adirondack park and it is absolutely gorgeous! I couldn’t ask for more beauty to call home!!

Great video! Well thought out and appreciated the historical cliff notes. I LOVE this park and frequent it, it’s truly a unique and cared for space.

Wow! Very well done video. I had no idea about any of this! I live in Colorado and have never made it to the northeast. This park would certainly be worth visiting if I ever make it up to that neck of the woods. Thanks for sharing.

Living in the park is a way of life. Much of the architecture and styles of towns mesh well with the surrounding mountains and wilderness. The winters, even with modern living are still incredibly harsh at times, but, and even winter itself is generally full of small town festivals. It’s a beautiful place, with many amazing communities. Small towns where the firehouse is still a gathering place, you know your neighbors and you’re outside enjoying nature because it’s just how it is. Hiking the trails, fire towers, or the 46 high peaks in different seasons brings a view of nature that is missed by most. The milky way being visible in the night sky and the stars seeming bigger and brighter. People living in the Adirondacks welcome tourism, as long as you respect the land. Hiking, carry out what you carry in. Camping, respect the areas of the high peaks where no camp fires are allowed, even when overnight hiking. Please come, hike, fish, kayak. Enjoy the mountains, see the amazing and diverse eco systems and wild life. Get a look at what New York truly is.

I'm so thankful this just popped up randomly on my feed. I live in the Adirondacks (15 mins from lake George). 6 years ago I bought a house here... Well actually 2. An acre of land with 2 houses on it. The mortgage company made us separate the land first and dealing with the APA was such a hassle. It took 7 extra months to close. This video really helped me understand the reasoning for it. Well done.

I got to do a 3 night trip in the high peaks back in 2018. It’s an amazing park! I didn’t know any of this about the park. Great video! Thanks

Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Lots of food for thought.

Your deliberative style works so well here to explain the balance of aspirational and practical that makes the Adirondacks so different from our national parks. This is quite an achievement.

My family settled in the Adirondacks in the 1850s our Homestead still stands I’ve lived here all my life my grandfather frequented, the hills by hunting there’s no shortage of state land or protected land, but I think the private land needs to stay private

LOVED this video! I feel like each time I watch one of your videos, I learn more and more about what goes into becoming a National Park and why some state parks should not always become one. After watching this video, I now support your opinion as to why the Adirondacks should not be a National Park. Keep up the great work!

I agree with you. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

What a well researched and presented video. Thank you. The way the Adirondacks are managed may not be perfect... but it is about as close as you can get. The balance of preserving nature and personal freedoms is indeed a difficult task. Like many who live and frequent here... once the Adirondacks get into your blood... it penetrates your soul and never leaves you.

I went to summer camp there as a young kid called Adirondack Woodcraft Camp, and I still remember the mist on the pond in the early morning and the natural beauty as though it were yesterday whereas now I can't remember what I did last week. Without the public and private divide there, I would not have had that experience and I think that can still exist for people who experience the area. Though I am a preservationist at heart, the park has been managed so well in the past 100 years, that I think is should remains as it is, to say nothing of my opinions on eminent domain the sanctity of private property. I hope the park can continue to feel like a wilderness for ages to come.

We had similar discussion regarding creating a National Park in the Columbia Gorge outside Portland, Oregon. It is a beautiful place with many large waterfalls, sheer cliffs and the largest river on the West Coast of the Americas. But too much land was private and recreational. Government ultimately decided to make it a National Scenic Area and work with private land owners on managing the land.

I’d love to see a video on whether or not Oregon/Washington’s Columbia River Gorge should be a National Park. the place is amazing and more impressive than almost every park in the NPS.