The Adirondacks are beautiful. Most people who visit them come to the same conclusion. Who wouldn’t be absolutely mesmerized by all that it has to offer? I’m sure that a lot of people think to themselves that they would take any opportunity that they can to visit again. That is the greatest strength about the region, along with the biggest problem.
Tragedy of the commons, one of the biggest problems that humanity faces. It plagues almost everything known, but what is it? “The tragedy of the commons refers to a situation in which individuals with access to a shared resource (also called a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource” (Spiliakos, 2019). A fun example of this could be seen on halloween. You know the houses that leave out a bowl full of candy and have instructions stating to take 1 piece per person? Well, as I’m sure you’ve seen before, things don’t always work out that way, people act selfishly and almost always end up taking more than they’re supposed to, which is the same problem that we see at a large scale in the real world. The only issue is that the problems are much more serious than some kid not getting a piece of candy. The problems we see are extreme damage to the environment and the destruction of natural resources.
I have reason to believe that the Adirondacks are on a dark path to seeing a similar fate. We are already seeing examples of overuse today. The Adirondack council states that “In 2018, an analysis by Adirondack Park trail professionals found that over 130 miles of trails in the High Peaks need significant redesign and annual maintenance to ensure the integrity of the resource” (Overuse in the Adirondack Park, 2021). This information is very troubling, because as you and I both know, humans don’t always put much thought into the impact they have on the environment. Problems like this take a large team to construct an in depth plan, but it’s a really hard task, and no one has a great idea of how to reverse this destruction quickly and efficiently. It would take both large organizations AND the public to fix something like this.
If an issue like this isn’t addressed as soon as possible, things will take a turn for the worse. Not only will the trail itself take a hit, the problem can leak into other areas like the water quality of the surrounding area, which becomes a serious issue. At that point, tourists will be affecting people who live in the region.
As a community, we need to recognize the negative impact we have on the environment, and educate ourselves on the dangers that we not only inflict on ourselves, but others around us. The last thing we want is for it to be too late to make a change, so the time is now to get to the bottom of the problem and start anew.
Works Cited
Council, Adirondack. “Overuse in the Adirondack Park.” Adirondack Council, 2021, www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/overuse-in-the-adirondack-park-298.html.
“The Tragedy of the Commons Explained in One Minute.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSuETYEgY68.
“Tragedy of the Commons: What It Is & 5 Examples: HBS Online.” Business Insights – Blog, 6 Feb. 2019, online.hbs.edu/blog/post/tragedy-of-the-commons-impact-on-sustainability-issues.