A Wild Idea by Brad Edmondson

A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks by Brad Edmondson is a compelling account of one of the most ambitious and complex conservation efforts in American history—to protect the Adirondack Park in New York. The Adirondacks region of New York is huge, about the size of Vermont, and includes both “forever wild” forest preserve lands and large tracts of privately owned lands. There had long been tension about how to protect the forest preserve, clean up pollution, manage land use, and regulate development.

At the heart of the book is the creation and evolution of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), established in 1971 to regulate development within the park and protect its natural resources. The difficulty comes with residents who live within the park boundaries (the Blue Line) and who are subjected to strict policies. Edmondson explores the fierce debates between environmentalists, who wanted to preserve wilderness, and local residents, who were wary of government control and restrictions on land use.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, under Governor Nelson Rockefeller, a plan was developed, debated, and eventually passed to establish the Adirondack Park Agency, with power to regulate land use even on private lands within the Blue Line. This was controversial because many local landowners saw it as intrusion, a threat to property rights, economic livelihood, and the local way of life.

Drawing from interviews, historical records, and first-hand accounts, Edmondson shows how this “grand experiment” in land-use planning and environmental policy created a new model for balancing conservation and community life. It examines the cultural and political tensions between preservation and private rights, and how over time, collaboration and compromise began to replace conflict.

This book was, in theory, a strong choice for our group in Ithaca. The Adirondacks are a 3-4 hour drive from our home base, and many of us have recreated within the Blue Line. We understand the beauty that must be preserved, yet we are aware of the population living throughout and within this park. Other club members have attended Cornell and/or SUNY ESF, schools which are mentioned in the book and could give us more grounds for relating to and appreciating the policies. Even the acknowledgements, which calls out the beloved Lincoln Street Diner, could help win our hearts over.

Unfortunately, we found the writing to be too in-the-weeds. The dense policy discussions, confusing timelines, and overwhelming amount of characters made it challenging to complete. This helped satisfy our desire for a policy book, but in the future, we would choose one that is easier to digest. Though it was difficult to read, we had an excellent discussion about environmentalism, especially as it relates to Forever Wild.

We began the conversation with discussions that examined:

What is wilderness? Do humans need to not exist there at all? Aren't humans a part of the wild? Is it good to leave nature to do what it does, sans human interference? Is it better to manage the land in a way that considers conservation? How do we reckon with the duality of both of those needs, especially for residents who live in those areas?

Other questions discussed:

1. What do you think of the title; do you agree that the environmental movement tamed the Adirondacks?

2. The phrase “Forever Wild” is embedded in New York’s constitution.

   • What does “Forever Wild” mean to you, and do you think it is realistic in practice

   • Or should we have land management?

3. The APA’s land-use plan imposed restrictions on private property for the sake of protecting wilderness.

   • Do you think this balance between private rights and the public good was fair?

   • How might you have felt if you were a local landowner at the time?

4. Do you see the tension between environmental protection and economic livelihood playing out in your own community today?

5. Do you think the Adirondack Park could exist in the same form if the APA hadn’t been created?

   • What parallels do you see between the Adirondacks’ environmental battles of the 1970s and modern conservation debates (climate change, development, resource use)?

   • After reading the book, are you more hopeful or skeptical about the ability of government to balance conservation and community needs?

Ithaca group rating: TBD