PBS Adirondacks

PBS Adirondacks

== 1 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, May 15 2008 6:34 am
From: Kirk Johnson

I watched most of it, probably an hour and a half or so. Overall I thought
it was very well done, interesting, and informative.

Unless I missed it, I was mildly disappointed in one piece of missing
information though. I don't believe they mentioned Howard Zahniser and his
work with The Wilderness Society. They did briefly mention the Wilderness
Act of 1964 and the National Wilderness Preservation System, but didn't make
the connection that Zahniser had a cabin in the Adirondacks that he and his
family utilized frequently (it was called "Mateskared" after his children
Mathias, Esther, Karen, and Edward), that he was the primary author of the
Wilderness Act, and that he drew much of his inspiration for the WA & NWPS
from the Adirondack wilderness and the Forever Wild direction in the New
York State Constitution.

Again, I didn't watch the whole thing so maybe they did eventually mention
Zahniser, but my perception was they missed an important opportunity there.

Kirk Johnson

== 2 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, May 15 2008 9:23 am
From: Lee Frelich

Kirk:

They did mention Bob Marshall and the federal wilderness act, but
ironically they didn't cover the officially designated wilderness area in
the Adirondacks at all. So they did miss an important aspect of the park.

Lee

== 3 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, May 15 2008 9:38 am
From: "Edward Frank"

Re: [ENTS] Adirondaks, Don,

I am sorry, didn't see your note in time to reply. I thought the program was well done and informative. much of the second half dealt with the concept of trying to balance the needs of the many small towns within the boundaries of the park with those of maintaining a wilderness environment. Though both sides were presented, I was surprised that the program seemed to lean heavily toward more development to support the culture of the small towns in the park. I would tend to disagree.

The people producing the program and outsiders interviewed seemed to find the towns quaint and that they have a unique cultural perspective. As someone who has grown up in a small town I resent the characterization of small town America as quaint. My little town has les than 3,000 people. Should it be preserved as it is so that rich city folks can come by and gawk at us like we are animals in a zoo kept for their amusement? That seems to be the attitude expressed by outsiders toward the Adirondack towns. These are not people in a zoo. Small town America is not something that needs to be preserved for the amusement of outsiders. People live in small towns that are quaint because they are poor ad have no place to go. Retail chains move into the areas and provide some jobs, but because the area is poor, they feel justified in paying a sub-par wage to the people - hell they are poor we can get away with it. And besides we don't want to change the culture of the town. People in these towns in the Adirondacks are screwed. A handful of people from mostly outside the area control most of the economic interests. They do not want the residents to earn a descent wage, they do not want any reasonable economic development. They want to have big resorts that they control, so that they can keep the town's quaint and the people poor. These are people, not zoo animals to be manipulated and displayed by outsiders for their amusement This is a long history in the Adirondacks dating for the massive lodges of the rich and famous lopped in the middle of the mountains in the late 1800's and early 1900's to the fancy resorts planned by the rich and famous people from outside. This seemed to be the position supported by the program. There was vague promises of jobs for locals, but everyone knows most of the jobs at these places are filled from outside. They need a sustainable economic base, not giant resorts for the wealthy few. Trickle down my a...

Ed Frank

== 4 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, May 15 2008 11:35 am
From: Kirk Johnson

Good point Lee.

Kirk

== 5 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, May 15 2008 12:27 pm
From: DON BERTOLETTE

Ed-
Thanks for your summarization! Regarding the 'quaint little small towns', as a Parkie (although not life-long), I understand what you're referring to...and part of it is the National Park's Historic division where they try to entrench an era for all in the future to see...as you aptly point out, another aspect is the role that the very well to do (almost always a commodities extractor that was expunging their guilt for having plundered the resource without any rehab/reveg/reforestation/restoration efforts) in preserving the world as they see it. Today's grandiose lodges at Yosemite, Yellowstone, and other parks (yes, Adirondacks included, even though they're not part of the National Park's system, they have much in common with them) are still around representing bygone eras.

That said, I believe that the Adirondack Park, National Park system are doing their dead level best to carry out one of the more conflicted mandates, that of "preserving and protecting". From what little I know, the Adirondacks are a premier park for natural resource protection, outside of the developed areas.
I sure liked the design of the Adirondack Guide Boats (AGB)! I'm currently getting the family Grumman 'shipshape' for the spring/summer (17' Standard weight square stern riveted aluminum canoe), and while it's a classic (year-wise, it's a 1975), it doesn't have the lines of the AGB.

If there are motorized canoe-ists among the ENTS forum, please email me at FoRestoration@msn.com, as I've some questions I'd like to ask!
-DonRB

== 6 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, May 15 2008 2:04 pm
From: Elisa Campbell

They did mention Bob Marshall, but I, too, believe they didn't mention
Zahniser.
Elisa

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Sat, May 17 2008 5:53 pm
From: "Michele Wilson"

Re: [ENTS] AdirondaksThe only good thing I can offer regarding waiting in the emergency room for an injury suffered this past January is that I came upon a long detailed article in a magazine about Howard Zahniser and his efforts... a wonderful read, so much so that I admit to having taken the magazine (which was a couple of years old anyway) home with me so I could share the story with others who also may have not yet heard of the man...
Michele Wilson

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Sat, May 17 2008 6:06 pm
From: DON BERTOLETTE

Michele/Kirk/others-
The Adirondacks program is on again tonight on PBS!
-DonRB

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Sat, May 17 2008 6:09 pm
From: DON BERTOLETTE

Michele-
I saw that too, I think on Discovery Channel (High Def!!!), where his means of transportation was typical Alaskan adventure modes...white water rafting (his own design), ultralights, ski planes, etc. Just another day in the office (in Roman's case, the whole of Alaska!)!
-DonRB

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Adirondaks
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/b80012790b554b1e?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, May 19 2008 12:26 pm
From: Kirk Johnson

Michelle,

Yep, he's probably the greatest conservationist nobody ever heard of (so to
speak). For further reading for those interested:

Howard Zahniser bio sketch & newspaper articles:

http://www.pawild.org/zahniser.html

Where Wilderness Preservation Began: Adirondack Writings of Howard Zahniser:

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wilderness-Preservation-Began-Adirondack/dp/0932052762

Wilderness Forever: Howard Zahniser and the Path to the Wilderness Act:

http://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Forever-Zahniser-Weyerhaeuser-Environmental/dp/0295987073/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/103-3990528-3631028

(I hope you're better from your injury!)

Kirk

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