Adirondacks

Caring for the birthplace of conservation

Why Adirondacks

While the Adirondacks have been a focus of the American conservation movement since the 1850s, work remains to protect and restore this region, which is home to the largest complex of wildlands in the eastern United States. 

We’ve been working in the Adirondacks since 1992, and have partnered with New York State, foundations, nonprofit organizations and private partners to safeguard this unique landscape.

The timber industry, which has so long been associated with forest threats, is frequently a valuable partner in stemming fragmentation of intact forestland through sustainable conservation.

The health of the Adirondacks also has implications for anyone living downstream of the five major water systems —the Hudson, Black, St. Lawrence, and Mohawk Rivers and the New York portion of the Champlain basin—that have their headwaters in the region.

And while 54 species of mammals make their home in Adirondack Park, staff are still working to re-introduce native fauna, including beaver, fisher, American marten, moose, lynx, and osprey.

Our Impact

Both directly and through loans and grants to our partners, we have:

• Protected the largest single addition to the Adirondack Forest Preserve in a century — the Finch, Pruyn Lands
• Acquired the 10,000-acre Tahawus Tract — the birthplace of the Hudson River
• Preserved the historic village of Adirondac, where Theodore Roosevelt, after hearing that President McKinley was dying, boarded a train in 1901 for his “midnight ride to the presidency”
• Supported an innovative, local farming model, helping place young farmers on conserved homesteads, giving them sustainable land to launch their careers
• Added the Split Rock Wildway wildlife corridor to the Westport-Essex Hiking Trail by working with partners including Champlain Area Trails and Lake Champlain Land Trust