Accomplishments

With strong partner organizations, collaboration with elected/appointed government officials, and citizen participation, the Council successfully advocates for policies and funding that benefit the environment and communities of the Adirondack Park.

2023-2024 Accomplishments

Wilderness: Ensuring the wild character and ecological integrity of the Adirondack Park and Forest Preserve.

• Inaugural Visitor Use Management Study Underway: World class recreation management is designed to enhance healthy ecosystems and economies. In 2023, the Council helped secure $600,000 to fund a visitor use management study that will do just that. The Council is providing guidance to the state, along with other stakeholders, about data-informed management practices.
  
  
• $400 million Environmental Protection Fund (EPF): A fully-funded EPF means more money can be available to protect open space and support conservation easements across New York State. Working with statewide partners, the Council helped secure a $400 million EPF that had faced significant reallocations and cuts.
  
  
• Wildlife Crossings Act (WCA) passed in Legislature: The WCA passed the NYS Legislature thanks to successful Council advocacy. The WCA calls for the Department of Transportation to identify priority wildlife crossings to allow wild animals safe passage across major highways and protect against motor vehicle accidents.
• Dark Skies Advocacy: The Adirondacks were a popular location to view the total solar eclipse.
  Thanks to communications efforts led by the Council and partners, the public was encouraged to stay off trails in the High Peaks and other sensitive, potentially dangerous locations. This proactive effort resulted in only one report of a mishap requiring Forest Ranger assistance.

Vibrant Communities: Fostering a more resilient, sustainable Adirondack Park with vibrant communities.

• Green Jobs: The Forever Adirondacks campaign helped secure an additional $1.25 million in funds ($5.45 million total over three years) for the Timbuctoo Climate Science and Careers Summer Institute. This multi-organization effort brings high school students from urban communities to the Adirondacks to learn about jobs in wilderness preservation, forest management, and clean energy.
  
  
• Clean Water Infrastructure: Due to Council advocacy, the cap on clean water infrastructure grants was raised from 25% to 50% of the total project cost. This can drastically reduce costs for small, rural communities to undertake essential water and sewer projects, like updating aging systems, to protect our Adirondack lakes and streams. Approximately $140 million in clean water funding has been granted to Adirondack towns and villages since 2016, leveraging more than $250 million in funding overall. 

Water & Air: Fighting for clean water and clean air; combating invasive species and climate change.

• Clean Air: Adirondack Council advocates successfully encouraged the US Environmental Protection Agency to approve a new air quality standard that will decrease the harmful effects of soot pollution  by 25% or more. The new health standard will cut current allowable levels significantly and may         prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays.
  
  
• Survey of Climate and Adirondack Lake Ecosystems (SCALE): Since 2022, the Council has advocated for millions — $2 million alone in 2024 and $4.5 million total — to fund scientific monitoring that will help track how carbon cycling, dissolved oxygen, and harmful algal blooms respond to the changing climate. The data collected through SCALE will help us better understand how freshwater lakes combat climate change, and how we can better plan to protect them from climate change impacts. 
  
  
• Road Salt Reduction Council Legislation: Since the early 2000s, the Council has sounded the alarm on the hidden dangers of road salt for natural systems and people. The Council helped lead efforts to develop, introduce and pass legislation that would reduce the toxic impacts of road salt to lakes, ponds and well water through the excessive use of road salt. In 2024, we pushed for a statewide road salt reduction council and advisory committee to lead on this issue and make progress on the Adirondack Road Salt Task Force Report recommendations.

Farms and Forests: Preserving open space and supporting working forests and farms

• Essex Farm Institute: The Council awarded 16 micro-grants, totaling $24,500, to farmers and value added food producers to support climate-friendly farming practices and energy efficient infrastructure projects in the Adirondack Park.
   
• Forest Management: The Council has engaged forest ecologists, carbon experts, and timber 
  management experts to chart the future course of landscape forest management in the Adirondacks, one that supports ecological health and the communities that rely on its revenue.
   
• Wildlife Management Plans: The Council is supporting state-wide open space land conservation and wildlife action plans that protect and enhance habitat and biodiversity within and beyond the Adirondacks.

Leadership and Government: Leading, expanding, and diversifying the Park’s constituency.

• Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act: The Council worked with partners to prioritize 
  project funding for sections of the $4.2 Billion Bond Act that will benefit the Park through capital projects that curb greenhouse gases and combat climate change.
   
• Library of Congress: Forever Adirondacks Campaign Director Aaron Mair was honored by the Library of Congress which included his professional papers as part of its new collection on Environmental Justice. He is the first honoree for this new collection.
   
• Legal Action When Necessary: The Council participated in lawsuits to uphold the Adirondack Park Agency’s (APA) duty to protect the Adirondack Park and its natural resources, including its ecologically significant lands and waters.
   
• General Permit for Telecommunications Infrastructure: The Council supported the APA’s 
  streamlining of a telecommunications permitting process that allows applicants to co-locate future cell tower projects and infrastructure. This will lessen the permitting burden on communications companies while protecting the APA’s role as a regulator to review communication tower projects that continually improve our connectivity and maintain the wild character of the Adirondack Park.