Adirondack Council looking to future
Post Star
June 24, 2013
GLENS FALLS — The days of “grandstanding” on Adirondack Park issues have ended as environmentalists and local government officials alike have learned to be “more pragmatic, more realistic,” said William Janeway, the new executive director of Adirondack Council.
“The tenor in the Adirondack debate seems to have changed. ... There’s a level of personal respect,” he said in a meeting with Post-Star reporters and editors on Thursday.
The environmental group intends to take a collaborative approach as it develops a new strategic plan for the next six years, he said.
The group will be working on the plan over the summer and fall, with a goal of having it ready to discuss with state legislators during the 2014 legislative session, which begins in January.
“I don’t want it to be a long, drawn-out process,” he said.
Among other things, the six-year plan will lay out a process for developing a more long-range plan, one that would be a vision for what the Adirondack Park should be like in 2092, the 200th anniversary of when the state Legislature established the park.
The long-range plan might be a cooperative endeavor with other groups, Janeway said.
“It’s not critical that it have our logo on it,” he said.
Adirondack Council is among several environmental, land owner’s, business and government groups that focus on Adirondack Park issues.
Janeway, who became the group’s executive director on May 1, said the plan will have four basic tenets:
*Protecting the ecological integrity of the park;
* Having vibrant and sustainable communities;
* Preventing air and water pollution;
* Preserving agriculture and forestry.
