Adirondack Wild has announced the publication of an illustrated guide for how conservation science can be applied to land use planning inside and outside of the Adirondack Park. Titled Pathways to a Connected Adirondack Park – Practical Steps to Better Land Use Decisions, the 30-page booklet recommends ten tested, non-regulatory strategies to serve as a “pathway” to ecological, science-based site planning. Local governments in the Park can apply these to enhance their community’s development while protecting their most vulnerable natural resources.

The publication can be downloaded from the Adirondack Wild website. Hard copies are also available.

The publication’s lead author is conservation biologist Dr. Michael Klemens, Adirondack Wild’s landscape conservation advisor. The author founded a consortium of municipalities, planners and scientists working together to improve the stewardship of natural resources in the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. He believes that the same principles and cooperative model could also be effective in the Adirondacks. Dr. Klemens serves as the chairman of his own town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

“Our guidebook addresses voluntary actions which any community in the Park can take to adhere to a philosophy that benefits environmental, recreational and fiscal concerns. This publication is part of Adirondack Wild’s continuing efforts to educate, promote and protect the Park’s integrated public and private landscapes.” Adirondack Wild board chair Terry Jandreau said in a statement sent to the press.

The guide is written for a lay audience; a glossary defining all of the science-based and planning terms used in the guidebook is included.

Adirondack Wild will present the guidebook’s findings at local venues this summer and invite discussion about how the strategies in the publication can best be applied to a given community. The report can be downloaded here.

Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is a not-for-profit, membership organization which advances New York’s “Forever Wild” legacy and Forest Preserve policies in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks, and promotes public and private land stewardship consistent with wild land values through education, advocacy and research.