The Adirondack Park is one of 63 National Parks in the United States. The Park is unique because it has both public and privately owned land within the 6 million acres of land. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of how this land is distributed. I believe that the private and public ownership seen in the Park benefits the Adirondacks as a whole, even with the conflicts it may cause.
Figure 1. A pie chart depicting land distribution in the Adirondacks. https://wildadirondacks.org/forever-wild-the-adirondack-park.html
Public lands and private lands are sometimes not clearly distinguished in the Adirondack Park, and can cause visitors confusion while hiking, biking, or swimming. Kevin Kelley says, “Public and private lands are not neatly separated in the Adirondack Park, which encompasses an area about the size of the entire state of Vermont.” Land that is private may seem obvious in some residential areas or towns, but in the majority of the Parks areas it would be impossible to tell if someone was to walk through private property.
Figure 2. A map showing land distribution in the Adirondack Park.
The overwhelming majority of National Parks are exclusively under public ownership and the laws and regulations within them are made by congress. The Adirondack Park on the other hand is guided by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) which is a segment of the New York state government. The APA is particularly important in defining zoning rules for towns within the park which protects animals, land, and controls the number of visitors. Up until 1971, when the APA was created, laws within the Adirondacks were actually made by local governments. Kevin Kelley of Seven Days, a Vermont Business magazine, commented on the importance of switching to state regulations from local: “The move to empower the state to regulate development in towns inside the park represented a historic shift, McKeever points out. Previously, New York allowed its localities to set their own zoning rules.” With the state government creating these regulations it allows for more continuity within the different communities. In general, this helps to keep communities in check so that they do not make zoning decisions based on potential economic benefits.
It is difficult to avoid conflict between developers and APA in the Adirondack Park, where there are full time residents that are given specific laws about what they can build and use in communities. A group called the Adirondack Landowners Association helps to protect landowners in disputes against the government. In the ALA’s website they have a section about property rights which outlines why conflict comes up between groups in this Park specifically:
“Private property within a park is an unusual arrangement. Unfortunately, it periodically results in challenges to the property rights that form the foundation of stable ownership and long-term stewardship, which benefits all who love the Adirondacks. The ALA is a leader in protecting the property rights of Adirondack landowners.”
Despite these conflicts that come up, the Adirondacks is a good representation of man and nature coexisting in a way that benefits both. The Adirondacks does not regulate to the extreme of some of the other national parks which contain no private land or have harsher laws, but in many ways it is a system that works better and encourages more visitors while still maintaining the wilderness.
Literature Cited
Adirondack Park Agency. “Laws, Regulations, and Standards” . 2021 . https://www.apa.ny.gov/Documents/Laws_Regs_Standrds.html
Adirondack Landowners Association . “Issues” . 2018 . http://www.adklandowners.org/issues
Kelly, Kevin J. . “WTF: With Both Private and “Forever Wild” Land, How Does the Adirondack State Park Work?” . 2014 . https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/with-both-private-and-forever-wild-land-how-does-the-adirondack-state-park-work/Content?oid=2401947
National Park Service . “Laws, Policies, and Regulations” . 2021 . https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/lawsandpolicies.htm
This is a very interesting issue, because obviously owning land in a government protected national park isn’t something you hear everyone having. I was wondering, because this is so rare, and many people do not own land here, are there certain barriers that prevent just anyone from buying land within the park? Inn other words, are there any restrictions on the types of people that can purchase land here? I was curious about this particular issue while reading wandering home, when McKibben mentioned that a lot of people bought their second homes in this region. Hearing about some of the conflicts that Landowners run into was interesting to figure out. It is reassuring overall that there are some conflicts, to let us know that there are some rules and regulations to people living here, so that we know we are coexisting with the environment and not ruining it. I do think that this was a very interesting topic to dive into, as it is very uncommon and as you mentioned earlier, this region is very special with the way that private land is handled.
I really enjoyed learning more about how the Adirondack Park takes on a unique approach to private vs publicly owned land, separating it from the rest and making the park a truly notable place. I was curious about how/if this discrepancy in land-ownership policy had an effect on the natural ecosystems of the Adirondacks vs the other, mostly publicly-owned, national parks in the country. Would having more private property/land in these parks have any effect on the ecology of the land? I think it would be cool to do some research about that!