2. Which projects best illuminate how Adirondack communities relate to the natural environment?

The 30 or so projects listed below seem to fall in seven main categories:

1. Natural resource demonstration projects: Boquet River Association.
2. Community strategic visioning: Indian Lake, Newcomb efforts.
3. Local & sub-regional grass-roots efforts: Champlain Valley Heritage Network.
4. Local land-use, development efforts: Tupper Lake.
5. Targeted community level research: Adirondack Council research, Lake Placid development scenarios, Hamlet reports.
6. Natural resource economic sector-specific research: ANCA Wood Products studies, Tommy Brown tourism studies.
7. Regional overviews & descriptions: 21st Century Commission, North Forest Lands Study, Adirondack Council reports.

Specific projects mentioned include:

21st century reports. (3 respondents) Adirondack Council's Managing Growth & Development. ANCA's wood products studies link the economy, jobs and the timber resources. Any that systematically identify and integrate the distinct ways that local residents think, plan and utilize natural resources. Bouquet River Association river restoration projects. (2) C. Barnett interviews with grandmothers. Cali Brooks: Blue Mtn Center. Champlain Valley Heritage Network. (3) Community Choices for Economic Renewal in Indian Lake. Countryside tourism initiative of the Champlain Valley Heritage Network. Cornell Coop Ext. paper on Economic Vitality and Wilderness Preservation in Adirondack Towns. Friends of North Country. Hamlets of the Adirondacks reports (3). Haven't seen anything worthwhile lately. Industrial Park in process near Tupper Lake. Horseshoe Lake DEC Unit Management Plan with links to wildlife viewing and tourism in Tupper Lake. Jerry Jenkins field research for WCS on maple regeneration problems, begins to address that area where economic and ecological issues overlap. Jon Erickson of RPI working on an article confronting issues of true sustainability in the Adks. Just aware of poor research, for example report completed by Environmental Advocates. Terrible methods and conclusions not supported by facts. Lake Placid, 10 years ago had planning students do scenarios on development in Lake Placid: Medical industry, 2nd home development, etc. How would these effect Lake Placid? Had plan maps, then asked people, given these six futures, what do you think. Might be worth doing. Local Land use plan, park development project (Tupper Lake) Most socio-economic studies are shackled by quantitative methods, ambivalent, with many un-addressed underlying contradictions, therefore are so incomplete to be misleading. National Park Service: Champlain Valley Heritage Corridor Study, Assoc in Rural Dev: GIS. North Country Regional Economic Development Strategy Raquette Pond Shoreline Walk (LWRP project), Park Shoreline Development Project, Tupper Lake The Adirondack Project (Adirondack Nature Conservancy). Tommy Brown's work. (2) Valerie Luzadis' work at Suny-ESF. Wollastinite Study in Willsboro. Wood Products Development Strategy Yellow Wood's work for the Adirondack Council.

3. Are you aware of on-going research, development efforts, etc. that will improve our understanding or that seem to be making a difference in local Adirondack communities?

The 12 projects listed below seem to fall in five main categories:

1. Community strategic visioning: Indian Lake, Newcomb efforts, Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake.
2. Demographic profiles: SUNY Potsdam socio-economic profile, Economic indicators project.
3. Local land-use, development efforts: Tupper Lake.
4. Targeted sub-regional research: Community Health Assessment (Clinton, Franklin, Essex counties).
5. Park-wide research: Social impacts of wold reintroduction, sustainable economic development in the Adirondacks.

Specific projects mentioned include:

Indian Lake: Rocky Mtn Institute Collaborations. Jon Erickson of RPI working on an article confronting some of the root issues of true sustainability in the Adks. Local effort to look at consolidation of services (Tupper Lake). Minerva, Long Lake, Newcomb community development effort with the Rocky Mtn Institute. Raquette Pond Shoreline Walk (LWRP project), Park Shoreline Development Project, Tupper Lake. Rocky Mtn Institute, Cornell Initiative Ð Allee, community planning efforts (2). Social feasibility portion of the wolf reintroduction study in Northern New York to be carried out by Tommy Brown. SUNY-Potsdam Social Indicators Booklet. The North Country Economic Indicators Project & LEI Newsletter (SUNY-Plattsburgh). There really is not a lot going on. Tri-County Community Health Assessment, Clinton, Essex and Franklin Cty grass-roots effort. Tupper Chamber of Commerce effort to identify community needs & goals, project 2000. USFS/NE Research Station and Yale University both have planned social science research projects. Old Forge community visioning.

4. What are the most pressing research and information needs related to Adirondack communities?

The 50 or so suggestions listed below seem to fall in eight main categories:

1. Communities need information on community development and building local economies.
2. Empowering local communities to direct their destiny.
3. How to move from planning to: implementing strategies, value-added activities, reconciling economic development & environmental protection, marketing, setting realistic goals, tourism development.
4. Social system/infrastructure issues: health care, emergency services, education.
5. Profiles: community, demographic, forest industry viability.
6. Cost/benefit of the working landscape, of 2nd home development and other economic activities.
7. Regional definitions: sustainability, appropriate economic development, etc.
8. Conflict resolution.

Specific projects mentioned include:

A definition of regional sustainability that honestly confronts the limits to growth, defines development not as unlimited material progress, and treats the Adk as an exception to the economic model. Adirondack communities need data on the institution building and the economic aspects of deepening local economies by adding value to locally available resources, with local political control over these development initiatives. Appropriate economic development. At town level, # of building permits issued that are not received by planning board. Attracting large manufacturers is not the answer. Look at the Willsboro - Tam Brands factory example. They arrived in a tractor-trailer one day, and left the same way. We don't want or need portable industries. Should do a Delphi process with the many smart people we have here. Develop 4 or 5 scenarios and test them on their pro and cons. What is the future, how do we complete the circle, can we affect the change? Or are we corks bobbing on the ocean, just rolling with the waves. Balance between environmental protection & economic development. Broad institutional changes possibly needed. Change state policy on economic development and funding. Cost/benefit of working landscape. Define what we mean by economic development. Defining the choices for environmentally sound, equitable and successful economic development. Demographics: graying of the Adirondacks, communities are becoming much less organic & homogeneous. Demonstrate how sustainable resource use and limited development can benefit residents economically. Detailed community economic profiles for individual towns. Develop a system of information about the natural, educational, and economic values of the Adirondack Park. Develop an information/outreach strategy that promotes public understanding and appreciation of the Adirondack Park and Forest Preserve through interpretive education approaches. Development of an education/outreach strategy in nature-based tourism development tailored to rural landowners, local officials, youth, business and key stakeholder interests. Does residential development, especially second homes, make economic sense for Adirondack communities? Downtown jobs. Education communication technology between school districts. Local recreational access & facilities. Evaluate the range of nature-based recreational and tourism opportunities for the area that are also appropriate for the resource protection needs of the region. How do the Adirondacks compare to other rural areas? How do we help communities envision, plan for and implement programs that will protect and enhance their unique and special qualities, which hinge upon unspoiled naturalness and open space resources? How to move from planning to implementation, especially regional marketing. How to move from resource extraction to value-added activities How to reconcile economic development and environmental protection in the region. Identification of off-season employment prospects for residents. Impact of taxes on forestry. Improvements to community infrastructure: Education, Health, Communication. In and out migration: who stays, who leaves, who comes in; what jobs exist for Adk young people. Issues of aging population. Population loss in many communities was predicted by 1980 & 1990 census. Management and policy decisions sorely need more comprehensive and updated scientific foundations in both the natural and social sciences. Marketing. More research attention to the broad definition of property rights, including public property rights. Needs and development of primary care health providers, emergency medical, hospital networks. On managing conflict, what works, when, and how can these techniques be institutionalized? Research that confronts the constraints on local development in exchange for state tax allocations. Research that recognizes that human behavior resists quantification and is governed more by belief systems, stories and myth than by rationally derived data. Rural economic development. So devoid of information, just start somewhere. Social, economic and participation studies that develop local alternatives for sustainable development. Strategy Planning for Development: What are the resource requirements, utility requirements, environmental impact, skills required? For example, some community leaders are skeptical of tourism as an economic engine. What are the pros & cons of tourism? Similarly, blue collar jobs that many are interested in. What are the blue-collar needs? The Adirondack Park is the single most defining aspect of local communities' uniqueness, how to help them recognize that? The historic resources extraction/harvesting and processing actives which enabled the Adirondack communities to develop and grow are no longer the economic "engines of development". Many if not most Adirondack communities need to "re-create" their economic basis. Does anyone have a clue what the economic future of the region should or could be; is it feasible; how do you get there? To develop realistic goals for economic growth. To remove environmental organizations from trying to lead a social agenda. Tourism development, yet tourism doesn't seen to make it for raising a family, no benefits, often part-time. What is the long-term projection for the viability of the forest products industry and its impact on Adirondack communities? What are the benefits and costs, and who actually benefits and who actually pays, for the working landscape as well as the open space and wilderness lands in the Adirondacks? Where are community revenues coming from now? Where do we go from here? What are the industries that will replace the industries we lost? Which community development techniques have worked in the past and how do they work in the Adirondacks? What are some of the broad institutional changes that need to be addressed to promote and facilitate the sustainability of the Park's resources and communities?

Workshop Discussion

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) sponsored a two-day workshop on "Communities, Conservation, and Development in the Adirondacks" on March 19 & 20, 1998. Fourteen people representing universities, regional organizations (governmental and non-governmental) and local communities met in Saranac Lake and shared a lively discussion of the issues raised in the needs assessment survey.

That discussion further identified research needs, as indicated by the following comments.

Background on past research and community development efforts in the Adirondack Park.

Putting information to use.

Studies that are done are rarely translated into common knowledge; a lack of interpretation in past studies. So myths perpetuate about the people, economies and culture of the Adirondacks. However, not a myth that people have not been included in regional decision-making processes in the past. Need to translate our competitive disadvantage into common knowledge that can be used to develop a shared agenda for community change. Information should be specific and useful, for example, the wood products studies in the Adirondacks. The process is as important as the product. Need to include people: major players and other residents. Illuminate local interests and needs, community by community, business by business, time consuming, but needs to be done. Will begin to highlight the inter-dependencies among communities, a convergence of interests. To do a respected study need to involve diverse interests, diverse expertise. The Trancik Hamlet studies were fairly well accepted. Not seeing a lot of results from the community development efforts that have been done. Why aren't state government, non-profits, private business, etc. working together on some of these issues?

The Adirondacks always seems to come out of the gate behind other areas.

Communities will quickly grasp at whatever opportunity is suggested. But that is backwards. Communities should decide where they want to go, begin to evaluate what is viable. Communities need to think where they want to be, clearly identify local community needs. Then move forward with an agenda that is Adirondack Park oriented and that sets us apart from the Hudson Valley, etc. There should be aspects of community development that most organizations will support. People do not always see all the possibilities. There are examples of innovative tourism development programs and other programs around the world that we might try to emulate. Communities are different. Some want to grow, but that has tax implications and impacts quality of life. Institutions are not yet in place to create a community vision. People aren't talking to each other enough. Participation is key, along with the research. There is paternalism in the Adirondacks that you don't find elsewhere. Need to empower local residents and political leaders to take control of their destiny. Somehow collecting $1.00 per tourist could go a long way in enhancing community initiatives.

Business retention and expansion is key now, not business attraction.

Example of wood products business that really took off south of the Park, now is the anchor for a number of new stores in the community. Not enough focus here on retention and expansion. Need to recognize the declining tourism infrastructure in some areas. People are retiring, letting their businesses go, no one is coming in to buy them. The railroad revitalization is continuing, that has implications for communities along the line. The Adirondacks does not have the geographical concentration of services common in other areas. Need to determine strengths and play to those. Telecommunications is one economic development alternative that may have promise. A New York State study on telecommunications is coming out soon. We need to determine where we fit in to the telecommunications picture. Other rural areas, such as in North Carolina seem to be profiting from it.

Maintaining quality of life is a priority along with economic development.

An Adirondack regional identity seems to be growing, more so than in the 1980s. What are the strengths of living in a protected area like the Adirondack Park? What are the economic advantages of the area, what are the positives? The community visioning and strategic planning programs that are be carried out in communities like Indian Lake, Newcomb, Saranac Lake and Old Forge are making a positive impact. Local government day, an annual program at Paul Smiths College is another positive sign.

Information Needs

Park-Wide Information Needs

Are economic development efforts doing anything? What has been the business growth and loss by area of the Park? Need studies that highlight the successes, both large and small. What is the real geography of housing development? Based on real houses on the ground, not based on permits issued because at least half of new houses in the Park do not require permits. What are the recreational use levels on public lands and what area the negative impacts of recreation? What are the dollar flows in and out of communities? Does it differ geographically by area of the Park. What are the real numbers of tourists and their geographic distribution? What are the tourism revenues and expenditures? How is the demographic composition of residents changing, and what are the economic implications? How do you best present community information: an atlas, GIS, community profiles? Must be a way to get across an image of how communities compare. Depends in some degree on the audience. What is the database availability? Make better use of geographic information systems (GIS). What are the values of local residents? Need research on shared values. Need residents' assessment of policy and planning options. Build on Allee and Geisler work in 80s. Need key indicators of social issues: education, health, quality of life. Indicators need to be community-based & have ownership and involvement of local residents. Forestry trends: Local connections of Forest Preserve, what does it mean in 1998? Flow of raw materials (logs, syrup) out of the area. What else is flowing out? Capitalization needs to interrupt flow. One project might be a manual on community economic development planning: Adirondack oriented, with examples, successes, key assistance, keys to success. Define "communities" of the park: sub-regions, communities of interest.

Community-Level Information Needs

Similar needs as Park-wide. Try to see how a regional identity plays out in a community context. Need locally developed community development indicators. Need to look at the areas that seem to be developing most slowly, for example Star Lake, Tupper Lake, North Creek, and others. Need more information on education, health, infrastructure. What works in terms of community development. What are differences between communities and can they adapt successes. Leaders and leadership, how to develop. Establish procedures for community initiatives, rather than studies, example of Indian Lake, Saranac Lake, Old Forge. Need workshops on how to develop community teams, capacity building, grant writing, infrastructure, aimed towards sharpening communities to be more competitive for grants, etc. Tourism planning and promotion needs to come up at the community level, not top-down. Need more information on tourism niches: adventure travel, nature tourism, adventure tourism, etc. User manual for community development. Idea sharing: sharing with international, US groups; sharing among communities. Scheduled open-houses in various communities that are involved in initiatives, concentrated community development days and symposiums. Direct action within communities. Adding value to on-going community development and community planning efforts.

The following table summaries the locations and subjects of focus for 140 resources discovered for this summary paper. The reviewers did not review every resource, so in some cases the subject or location allocation is a best guess, and thus the presentation is preliminary. Some general patterns do seem to emerge: studies tend to be scarcer in the Southeast and Southwest Adirondacks; questionnaire survey data and tourism studies are relatively limited; and interest in community development seems to be increasing.