Forever wild, forever contested: Environmental policy and politics in New York State's Adirondack Park, 1967–1990

Erica Alexandria Morin, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation examines the transformation of environmental legislation and public policy in the Adirondack Park from 1967 to 1990 alongside the growth of so-called "anti-environmental" attitudes in the rural mountain region. Originally established in 1894, the modern-day Adirondack Park in northern New York is a six-million acre mosaic of public and private lands, including industrial sites, residential communities, recreational lands, and wilderness preservation areas governed by an expansive system of environmental regulations and land using zoning administered by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). During the formative stages of the modern Adirondack Park Agency, New York residents may have generally agreed that the wild landscape need to be protected from excessive industrial, residential, and recreational development, but when the time came for concrete legislation and regulation participants and planners proved bitterly divided in their goals and opinions. My project explains how an environmental protection plan initiated by public demands and shaped by public concerns in the late 1960s transformed into one of the most contentious topics in New York State politics and most distinctive park management arrangements in the United States by the 1980s. At the heart of the controversy in the Adirondacks is the presence of two contrasting views of how the natural environment should be used and the appropriate relationship between humans and the land. While the land use plans promised to control unregulated development in the region and maintain the unique environmental features, a large segment of Adirondack residents refused to accept state authority over private property use in the region. New York's best efforts to create durable, flexible environmental legislation did not alter these standpoints. The combination of local political disapproval, increased government bureaucracy, and limits on private property rights has produced lasting opposition to environmental protection, not because local residents sought to promote environmental damage, but because they remain opposed to government involvement on principle. The national ascension of anti-environmentalism, property rights, and anti-federalism in the 1980s provided symbolic and rhetorical support to opponents of the APA. The era of environmentalism and mutual benefit for all members of society was replaced by the language of individualism and deregulation. The modern story of environmental regulation in the Adirondacks addresses significant policy questions, including the role of local knowledge versus experts, the differences between rural and urban needs and values, and the challenges of balancing environmental and economic demands, but often in a unique and contradictory manner.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Larson, Purdue University.

Subject Area

American history|Environmental management|Land Use Planning|Public policy

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