Many would think that an increase in hikers would be a great addition to the Adirondacks. But, that may not be true. With the increase in hikers, there is an increase in the amount of search and rescues taking place within the Adirondacks. As more people begin to venture into the woods to hike, there is a greater portion of individuals who do not properly prepare for their hikes. Therefore, even if someone is going on a small day hike that seems relatively easy, it is essential to always be prepared for the worst. Preparation is essential to safely and successfully hiking within the Adirondacks.

The Adirondacks has seen a record increase in the number of searches and rescues within the past year. Because of the pandemic, more people went outdoors which resulted in a significant amount of people being unprepared for the conditions and needing help. For example, in 2019 there were 216 search and rescues while in 2020 there were 285 search and rescues(Record Number of Search and Rescues). Obviously, some of these search and rescues are due to freak accidents like breaking an arm or leg. However, many of these search and rescues are preventable, as many of them are due to the unpreparedness of hikers. The Adirondacks saw an increase in the number of hikers who solely relied on their smartphones to guide them for light or navigation. Using a smartphone when hiking is not a proper navigation or light source as many areas within the Adirondacks loose cell coverage causing phones to be unable to find location. This is why it is essential for individuals to bring compasses and maps when hiking. Not only that, many hikers within the Adirondacks have underestimated the duration and difficulty of many of the hikes within the Adirondacks. This has caused people to become stuck in the dark, get lost, and be in need of a rescue mission. For example, a forest ranger noted that, “We’re seeing a lot of people who are calling because they have been overcome by darkness, and they did not have the proper equipment to see their way out of the woods”(Record Number of Search and Rescues). As we can see, unprepared hiking is a very common issue within the Adirondacks which is leading to an increase in search and rescue missions. 

Search and rescue efforts that are related to being unprepared can be extremely preventable. Essentially, if hikers learn to be prepared with the necessary equipment and materials before venturing into the woods, it would significantly reduce the number of rescues. The weather and conditions within the mountains can change instantly so it is essential that hikers pack for the unexpected. Some key aspects to ensure safety and preparedness when hiking include: multiple clothing layers to ensure warmth, a map, a compass, waterproof clothing, headlamp, extra nutrition, and extra water. There are additional resources that can be important depending on the circumstances. However, if every hiker brought the necessary equipment listed above then there would be a significant reduction in search and rescues. Therefore, it is apparent that hikers must be prepared when hiking in the Adirondacks. 

Literature Cited:

 “Hike Smart NY.” HIKE SMART NY – NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28708.html.

“Rangers Respond to Lost, Injured Hikers and Hunters -.” The Adirondack Almanack, 20 Oct. 2021, www.adirondackalmanack.com/2021/10/rangers-respond-to-lost-injured-hikers-and-hunters.html.

“Record Number of Search and Rescues This Year.” Adirondack Explorer, 26 Oct. 2020, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/record-number-of-search-and-rescues-this-year

How can one place on earth be surrounded with so much beauty? The beautiful mountains, freshwater lakes, and large forests call many visitors into the Adirondacks region. The increasing beauty of the Adirondack Park, brings loads of visitors coming to visit this breathtaking destination. Yet, the increase in visitors has some negative effects on the nature within the park. Over the years, it is apparent that the Adirondack Park is being overused. The trail damage, erosion, vegetation damage, and polluted waters are all indicators that the Adirondacks are being overused. Since the Adirondacks is so beautiful, more people come to experience the beauty resulting in overuse of the park.

Over the years, there has been a steady increase in the number of visitors coming to the Adirondacks with an estimate of 12.4 million people visiting in 2017(Adirondack Council). To that note, there was an increase of 500,000 visitors from the previous year in 2016(Adirondack Council). At this rate, there could be a steady increase of visitors within the next 10 years which may cause a whirlwind of issues in the near future. Not only that, roughly 70% of visitors tend to visit the Adirondacks during May-October which causes an excessive amount of people visiting and overusing the park during a short span of time (Adirondack usa). This causes excessive stress and overuse to the nature within the park.

As expected, hiking within the Adirondacks is very popular. Since, there is a large number of people hiking everyday within the park, it results in a great deal of trail damage and erosion. Many of the trails within the park are unable to withstand the constant large amount of foot traffic each day. The Adirondack Council even noted that there are certain areas of the park that have at least 2.5 feet of soil loss because of the increased foot traffic. This causes soil erosion on the trails which results in the soil breaking down, and increasing the turbidity and sediment within nearby water(Adirondack Council). Obviously, this also harms the plants and wildlife within the area. For example, there are many species and vegetation within the Adirondacks that have the potential of becoming extinct due to the destruction of their environment. Additionally, trail widening is also occurring within the Adirondack Park. As more hikers venture off trail for the occasional pee break or lookout, it causes for the vegetation to be destroyed. As more vegetation is harmed, it pushes the trail to widen. For example, some parts of the Adirondacks have trail widening that is so severe that separate trails have emerged. Certain trails within the park have increased by 25 feet over the past 30 years (Adirondack Council). The increase in visitors is significantly harming the nature of the park. It is crucial that these issues are addressed in order to stop the destruction of these beautiful trails. 

As we can see, the overuse of the Adirondack Park is a significant issue. However, there is no single solution to fix these issues. There are many restoratives, clean-up crews, and protection measures being put in place to lessen the harm of the visitors. Yet, it is still a hard challenge to balance…is the increase of visitors enjoying the beauty of the park outweigh the destruction of the wildlife? One may scarily wonder how the increase in the overuse of the park will affect the wildlife of the Adirondacks. One can hope that as our world becomes more environmentally conscious visitors will enjoy the beautiful Adirondack Park while also protecting its nature. 

Citations:

“Adirondacks Face Crowding and Overuse Issues, Report Finds.” Adirondacks Face Crowding, Overuse Issues, spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2020/08/25/adirondacks-face-crowding–overuse-issues.

“Adirondacks, Usa.” Adirondacksusa.com.

Council, Adirondack. “Overuse in the Adirondack Park.” Adirondack Council, www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/overuse-in-the-adirondack-park-298.html.

says, Boreas, et al. “Problem Solved?” Adirondack Explorer, 7 Jan. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/new-threats-bring-call-for-fresh-look-at-adirondack-lakes.

says, Donald G. Sloan, and Donald G. Sloan. “Assessment Finds High Peaks Trails Are in Poor Shape.” Adirondack Explorer, 8 Feb. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/high-peaks-trails.

The end of an era has come for one family within the Adirondacks. The Adirondack Wildlife Refuge had to shut its doors on October 25th, 2021(Gwendolyn  2021). Wendy Hall has been operating a wildlife refuge within the Adirondacks for many years (Gwendolyn 2021). But, more recently there has been significant issues and regulations being improperly followed by Wendy Hall within the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge(Gwendolyn 2021). Therefore, it is apparent that by improperly caring for  Wildlife Refuges then there will be negative consequences to both the community and populations of animals. 

First, it is important to briefly discuss the issues occurring within the Adirondacks pertaining to the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge. The Adirondack Wildlife Refuge has been operated by Wendy Hall. However, in the past 7 years there have been allegations of improper licenses being used  pertaining to this refuge, as well as allegations of animals not being properly rehabilitated into the wild, and finally certain animals escaping the refuge(Gwendolyn 2021). All of these issues are quite concerning for both the animals and the community. This is why it is essential that a wildlife refuge must follow all proper regulations in order to operate. 

Some people have rallied to allow Wendy Hall’s refuge to not be shut down. However, having a wildlife refuge improperly run within the Adirondacks can lead to significant issues to both the animals and the community. First off, there are concerns that Wendy Hall was not releasing birds back into their habitats and instead had left more than a dozen birds on display to the public when they should have been rehabilitated (Gwendolyn 2021). Clearly, this is a significant issue to the birds. By keeping the birds in a form of captivity, it causes them to not be able to properly reproduce, grow, and be free within their environment. Additionally, there have been reports of animals escaping the refugee. For example, the DEC noted that a bear escaped from the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge in 2019, as well as a bobcat in 2021, and the same two bears again in 2021 (Gwendolyn 2021). If large predatory animals are escaping these refuges then it can have very negative effects on the community and the animals itself. Animals that escape their refuge enclosures will be unaware of their new public environment and could easily harm the public due to the stress of the new environment. Also, it is obvious that a bear and bobcat should not be roaming in public areas as that puts their own health and survival at increased danger. It is evident that the malfunction of care of a wildlife refuge will result in poor consequences to both the population of those animals and the human community. This is why it is essential that wildlife refuges like the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge be held accountable and follow all proper regulations to ensure the proper safety for both the animals and Adirondack community.

In conclusion, it is obvious that the failure to obey certain regulations and care for animals within a wildlife refuge will result in poor outcomes making it easy to understand why the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge must close its doors. It is not to be taken lightly, caring for a wildlife sanctuary is incredibly challenging. However, the significance of a wildlife sanctuary is also incredibly important which means that it is essential that a wildlife sanctuary be cared for properly. It is no wonder that because the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge was improperly cared for it resulted in poor outcomes. Maybe if the operators of the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge properly operated their refuge then they wouldn’t have had to close the doors of this animal sanctuary… 

Works Cited: 

Explorer, Gwendolyn Craig Adirondack. “Wildlife Refuge’s Animals Leaving after Licenses Surrendered.” Times Union, 10 Oct. 2021, www.timesunion.com/news/article/Wildlife-refuge-s-animals-leaving-after-licenses-16520604.php.

says, Sarah, et al. “Violations and Health Complications Temporarily Shutter Adirondack Wildlife Refuge.” Adirondack Explorer, 7 Oct. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/adirondack-wildlife-refuge-closes-temporarily. 

This was my week to meet with the writing tutor so I met with Nhan this week to discuss this blog post.

When one is thinking of the Adirondacks, music may not be the first thing that comes to mind. Generally, when thinking of the Adirondacks most would think of hiking, fishing, camping and spending time outdoors. However, that is not the only part of the Adirondacks. Music holds a special place for many people within the Adirondacks. More specifically, traditional music is a significant part of Adirondack culture. 

One may ask what traditional music is, but traditional music can vary from region to region. Within the Adirondacks, traditional music is classified as “instrumental and vocal music of amateur musicians and singers–ordinary people– at work and at leisure in the Adirondack region of New York State ”(Traditional Adirondack Music). Moreover, traditional music occurs through the passage of words. Traditional music is learned from family members, neighbors, co-workers, and other members of the community. The music is then passed on by word of mouth from person to person. Within traditional music, there aren’t books or lines to follow (Traditional Adirondack Music). It is all through how you interpret the music.  Essentially, traditional music is a very welcoming and diverse form of music as anyone can play and there are no constraints on what traditional music entails. It is because of the freedom of the type of music within traditional music, that allows it to be so calming and enjoyable. 

The process of traditional music within the Adirondacks began is quite interesting. It is thought that Adirondack traditional music started when settlers came to the Adirondacks and didn’t have many activities to do. This caused them to start producing songs and creating music. For example, from the Traditional Adirondack Music article, the text states, “We didn’t have any electricity, see, so we’d sit nights, this was our entertainment–we’d sit and play the fiddles, we’d sing, us kids used to jig all over the front room whether my mother liked it or not.  I can see that old carpet yet…holes into it, that old carpet wore right out”(Traditional Adirondack Music). As we can see, traditional music started as a way of entertainment. People started to really enjoy expressing themselves through this music, and traditional music began to take off. 

Within traditional music, there are two main types of music. First, there is the singing of traditional music. This when singers would produce music by entertaining themselves without any other  accompanying person(Traditional Adirondack Music). Essentially, there were no other people singing with them, it was more of an individual piece. The beauty of this type of traditional music is that there was a wide variety in the types of songs people would sing. The songs would range from century old story songs from the British Isles and Ireland to emotional songs about local events occuring (Traditional Adirondack Music). On the other hand, another large part of traditional music was the fiddlers and dancing component. Fiddler musicians would boost the spirits of their communities through their music (Traditional Adirondack Music). Fiddling was a very popular and appreciated form of music as it resulted in a lot of dancing and happy moods. Fiddling was most commonly used for people to dance. 

Overall, traditional music was a very large part of Adirondack culture. Unfortunately, traditional music doesn’t have the same popularity nowadays as it had in the 1900s. Traditional music was a great way for community members of the Adirondacks to express themselves while bringing others together and spreading joy. Traditional music holds a special place within the Adirondack community 

Works Cited

Seydmann, and Seydmann. “The Fiddle in the Scottish Folk Music Revival.” The Fiddle in the Scottish Folk Music Revival, 14 Sept. 2016, www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk/revival-fiddle/.

W Is for the Woods – Traditional Adirondack Music, woods.tauny.org/sections/2/traditional-adirondack-music. 

The changing leaves within the Adirondacks brings peace, beauty, and happiness. These changing leaves signals new beginnings. Every September, the green leaves on the trees form into something even more beautiful. The trees turn to red, orange, yellow, and green leaves that brighten the Adirondacks. Some people may fret the changing leaves, while others may look forward to them. Whatever one’s feelings towards fall leaves may be, they have a great deal of importance. The changing leaves within the Adirondacks signal growth, peace and continuation of the earth.

After the long summer months of hot days, tourists crowding the mountains, kids exploring the nature while at summer camp, high affluential residents coming to spend their summer weekends in the Adirondacks, fall comes and brings peace. The changing of the seasons from summer to fall bring a sense of peace and unity. The summer in the Adirondacks can be populated and the nature can become exploited. But as the summer months fade away, and the leaves begin to change this signifies a new season within the Adirondacks. It signals a sense of uniformity as the residents of the area stay and the tourists leave. This change of season exemplifies the true users of the Adirondacks. The individuals in the Adirondacks who get to experience the everyday changing of the individual leaves are the ones who call the Adirondacks their home. The people who get to experience the true beauty of the foliage within the Adirondacks deserve to experience this beauty because they are the owns who work, live, and help keep the Adirondacks afloat. The fall foliage is an important benchmark to allow the ones who live within the area to be able to experience the evolving and changing seasons. It is a deserving privilege for the native residents of the Adirondacks to be able to experience the true beauty of the colorful Adirondack leaves.

Not only does the changing leaves within the Adirondacks signify a change of populated summer to calm fall, but it also signifies growth of the region. As the summer months close, and the fall leaves begins it signifies the changing of the earth and the preparation for the coming winter months. In fact, the changing of the leaves is vital to a healthy earth. The changing leaves mean that colder temperatures are nearing, and that summer has passed. This is important as it allows organisms to prepare for the coming months. Not only that, the changing leaves indicates that our earth is properly evolving. If the leaves weren’t changing, then this would indicate that the temperatures within the Adirondacks were too high which would result in even more terrible climate crisis than what is occurring now. The fall foliage acts as a landmark that parts of the earth are still evolving in the way they should be.

People may look at the Adirondack leaves and think that they are beautiful, but not think beyond the beauty of the leaves. However, when one thinks more deeply about the leaves, they will notice the importance and messages that changing leaves can symbolize. The changing leaves bring on unity, peace, and growth.

Many areas within the United States have seen a large decrease in the amount of hunting take place, but this is not the case for the Adirondack region. The Adirondack region is commonly known for hunting and year after year there has been a steady number of hunters venturing into the woods to hunt. Due to there being 1 million acres of public land within the Adirondacks, it allows there to be great opportunity for hunting. Therefore, hunting is a very important aspect of the Adirondack region.

Within the Adirondacks, there is a wide variety of animals that can be hunted. The most common animals hunted within the Adirondacks are white tailed deer and black bear (Species of Game in the Adirondacks). However, there is a wide variety of animals that can be hunted within the Adirondacks including grouse, turkey, ducks, coyotes, small game, waterfowl, and furbearers (Species of Game in the Adirondacks). With that, each animal has their own season pertaining to when they can be hunted. For example, for deer and bear, bow hunting season begins on September 27 and finishes on the last Saturday of October (Hunting in the Adirondacks- Visit Adirondacks). Regular deer and bear hunting with a gun begins the last Saturday in October and will continue until early December (Hunting in the Adirondacks- Visit Adirondacks). These different seasons and regulations for bow vs gun hunting allows there to be control on the amount of hunting be done.

With that being said, hunting has remained a popular activity within the Adirondacks. Due to the large amount of land and animals available for hunting, it allows for hunting to be a very common recreational activity amongst people within the Adirondacks. Adirondack region is most visited during the summer months. However, as the season changes and hunting season begins in the fall, the number of visitors to the Adirondacks begins to increase again (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). There is a wide range of types of hunters within the Adirondacks. Some of the hunters within the Adirondack come from other areas within New York, while others are from out of state and come to the Adirondacks to experience the great area for hunting (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). Obviously, there is also fair share of native people to the Adirondack region who also hunt (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). As noted previously, hunting is an important part of the Adirondack culture. Some hunters within the Adirondacks will rely on their kills in order to feed their families (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal).

Many environmentalists will frown upon the idea of hunting. However, for many communities hunting can be beneficial. For example, in the Adirondacks hunting helps the economy. Due to the large amounts of hunting within the Adirondacks this causes for there to be an influx of money within the Adirondack region. Restaurants, hotels, and business heavily benefit from hunting season (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). Not only that, since hunting licenses need to be purchased in order to hunt, the Adirondack community get a large influx of income from these licenses (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). During the hunting season, the Adirondack community will see an increase in the revenue. For example, the Northern New York Travel and Tourism Research Center at SUNY Potsdam reported that in 2006 Hamilton County NY, hunters and visitors spent a total of $69 million dollars (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). More specifically, within the main deer hunting season (October to December) $6.14 million dollars were spent by visitors (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). It is evident that hunting is vital to the economy within the Adirondacks.

The United States appears to be facing a steady decrease in the amount of hunting taking place. Within the Adirondack region, there has been a slight decrease in the amount of hunting overtime. But overall, the amount of hunting within the region has remained fairly high.  For example, in 1954 when hunting was incredibly popular 10,192 whitetail bucks were killed which was a record high (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). But, in the year 2000 9,632 whitetail bucks were killed (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). Additionally, in 2010 the Adirondack Explorer released that in the past twelve years an average of 7,931 whitetail bucks were killed each year (Hunting in the Adirondacks – Adirondack Journal). It is clear that hunting within the Adirondacks remains popular. Hunting is a vital aspect of the Adirondack region and is beneficial to the community.

Works Cited

“Hunting in the Adirondacks.” Experiencia Adirondack, 8 Apr. 2021, www.theadkx.org/es/hunting-in-the-adirondacks/.

“Hunting in the Adirondacks.” Hunting | Official Adirondack Region Website, visitadirondacks.com/recreation/hunting.

“Hunting.” Adirondack Experience, 27 Sept. 2021, www.adirondackexperience.com/recreation/hunting.

“Species of Game to Hunt in the Adirondacks of Upstate NY.” Adirondack.net, 22 Sept. 2021, www.adirondack.net/hunting-fishing/hunting/species/.

The beauty and benefits of being outdoors always seems to have a fallback. In this case, it is ticks within the Adirondacks. The Adirondacks is a beautiful place where many people venture into the woods to explore the nature. However, as visitors return home, they often find the 8-legged tick critters attached to their body. In essence, the Adirondack region is seeing an increase in the number of tick-borne illnesses. In previous years, the number of ticks and tick-borne illness were low within the Adirondacks. However, climate change and the rising temperature of the earth has caused the tick populations to increase. The increase in tick borne illnesses within the Adirondacks is a complex and evolving issue.

First, it is important to understand how ticks’ function. There is a wide variety of ticks, however the ticks that are most important to be cautious of are black legged ticks (also known as deer ticks). This is because deer ticks can transmit a bacterium that can cause Lyme disease and many other tick-borne illnesses.

As we can notice, an increase in tick population can be very harmful to humans. In the Adirondacks, there has been an increase in the tick populations. This is due to the warming temperatures and climate change. As the temperatures rise, ticks within the Adirondacks can withstand the climate more easily allowing them to be able to reproduce and grow their population. To begin, New York State is already known for having a high tick population. For example, New York State is in the top 20% of number of cases of tick-borne illnesses (Adirondack Council 2018). Over the past 20 years, the number of cases of Lyme disease has increased 1.5-fold statewide. But, more specifically counties within the Adirondacks have had a twentyfold jump in the past twenty years (Adirondack Council 2018). It is apparent that there is a large increase in the number of tick-borne illnesses within the Adirondacks. For example, in 2009 New York State (excluding NYC) saw roughly 300 cases of anaplasmosis (illness associated with ticks), but in 2018 the number of cases anaplasmosis had nearly tripled. More specifically, roughly 20% of the ticks containing anaplasmosis were found in Warren County, which is within the Adirondack region, while in 2009 there were no ticks containing this bacterium found in Warren County (Adirondack Explorer 2020). Not only is the amount of deer ticks carrying Lyme disease increasing within the Adirondacks, but researchers have also now found other rare tick-borne illnesses within the Adirondacks. For example, there has been evidence of ticks carrying babesiosis (disease like malaria) to be found within this region.  Research has shown that the Adirondacks has higher rates of tick-borne illness exposure compared to other areas of NY (Adirondack Daily Enterprise 2018). It is unclear as to why the Adirondacks may have higher exposure to the tick-borne illness, but some researchers suspect that the ticks within the Adirondacks are better at spreading the disease (Adirondack Daily Enterprise 2018).

Now, the big question may be how we fix this issue. Unfortunately, it does not appear that there is an easy fix. It is predicted that as the climate change continues, there will be an increase in the number of ticks. Therefore, one of the only ways to prevent these tick-borne illnesses is to protect yourself and be cautious of ticks. Individuals who are hiking in the Adirondacks should take precautionary measures and always do tick checks when they exit wooded areas. It is essential that everyone is aware of ticks when venturing out into the Adirondack woods!

Works Cited:

Council, Adirondack. “Don’t Get ‘Ticked’: Everything You Need to Know.” Adirondack Council, www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/blog-139/news/dont-get-ticked–everything-you-need-to-know-1091.html.

“How Ticks Spread Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Sept. 2020, www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html.

Says, Allan, et al. “Tick Disease with Covid-19 Symptoms on the Rise in Northeastern New York.” Adirondack Explorer, 7 Jan. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/tick-disease-on-the-rise.

“Ticks in the Adirondacks.” Ticks in the Adirondacks | News, Sports, Jobs – Adirondack Daily Enterprise, www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2018/08/ticks-in-the-adirondacks/.

“Ticks: They’re Baaaaaaack -.” The Adirondack Almanack, 2 Apr. 2021, www.adirondackalmanack.com/2021/04/ticks-theyre-baaaaaaack.html.

For this blog post, I met and discussed the blog with our class writing tutor Nhan.

The beautiful mountains, freshwater lakes, and large forests call many visitors into the Adirondacks region. Due to the increasing beauty of the Adirondack Park, more and more visitors are coming to visit this breathtaking destination. Yet, the increase in visitors is harming the nature of the Adirondacks. Over the years, it is apparent that the Adirondack Park is being overused. The trail damage, erosion, vegetation damage, and polluted waters are all indicators that the Adirondacks are being overused. For example, there has been a steady increase in the number of visitors in the Adirondacks with an estimate of 12.4 million people visiting in 2017(Adirondack Council). To that note, there was an increase of 500,000 visitors from the previous year in 2016(Adirondack Council). At this rate, there could be a steady increase of visitors within the next 10 years which could cause a whirlwind of issues in the near future. Not only that, roughly 70% of visitors tend to visit the Adirondacks during the peak season (May – October) which causes an excessive amount of people entering the park during a short span of time (Adirondack usa). This causes excessive stress and overuse to the nature within the park.

The most popular activity within the Adirondacks is hiking. Since, hiking is the most common activity amongst this park, it results in a great deal of trail damage and erosion. Many of the trails within the park are unable to withstand the constant large amount of foot traffic each day. The Adirondack Council even noted that there are certain areas of the park that has at least 2.5 feet of soil loss because of the increased foot traffic. This causes for there to be soil erosion on the trails which results in the soil breaking down and effecting nearby water by increasing the turbidity and sediment within the water (Adirondack Council). Obviously, this has further effects harming both the plants and wildlife within the area. For example, there are many species and vegetation within the Adirondacks that have the potential of becoming extinct due to the destruction of their environment. Additionally, trail widening is also occurring within the Adirondack Park. Trail widening happens when hikers venture off trail by stepping on other parts of the vegetation. This causes for the side vegetation to be harmed and result in the trail to widen. Not only that, some parts of the Adirondacks also have trail widening that is so severe that separate trails have emerged. Certain trails within the park have increased by 25 feet over the past 30 years (Adirondack Council). Clearly, this is a very important issue that must be addressed in order to stop the destruction of these beautiful trails.

Not only are the beautiful mountains of the Adirondack Park constantly being overused, so are the lakes. streams, and rivers. The bodies of water within the Adirondacks are home to lots of fishing, water activities, swimming, and camping. However, the increased use of these bodies of water is causing the water to become polluted. For example, the Ausable River Association studied multiple bodies of water in the Adirondacks and tested them for the E-coli bacteria. The study found that there were moderate to high levels of feces and the E-coli bacteria present in these bodies of water (Adirondack Council). This would indicate that the bodies of water are becoming polluted and no longer safe for human drinking.

The overuse of the Adirondack Park is having severe effects on the park. However, there is no easy solution to fix these issues. There are many restoratives, clean-up crews, and protection measures being put in place to lessen the harm of the visitors. Yet still it is a hard challenge to balance the increase of visitors enjoying the beautiful nature and the destruction of the wildlife. One can hope that as our world becomes more environmentally conscious visitors can enjoy the beautiful Adirondack Park while also protecting the nature of this breathtaking park. 

Citations:

“Adirondacks Face Crowding and Overuse Issues, Report Finds.” Adirondacks Face Crowding, Overuse Issues, spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2020/08/25/adirondacks-face-crowding–overuse-issues.

“Adirondacks, Usa.” Adirondacksusa.com.

Council, Adirondack. “Overuse in the Adirondack Park.” Adirondack Council, www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/overuse-in-the-adirondack-park-298.html.

says, Boreas, et al. “Problem Solved?” Adirondack Explorer, 7 Jan. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/new-threats-bring-call-for-fresh-look-at-adirondack-lakes.

says, Donald G. Sloan, and Donald G. Sloan. “Assessment Finds High Peaks Trails Are in Poor Shape.” Adirondack Explorer, 8 Feb. 2021, www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/high-peaks-trails.

Morgane Orcutt