A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks

by Brad Edmondson

A Wild Idea shares the complete story of the difficult birth of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The Adirondack region of New York's rural North Country forms the nation's largest State Park, with a territory as large as Vermont. Planning experts view the APA as a triumph of sustainability that balances human activity with the preservation of wild ecosystems. The truth isn't as pretty. The story of the APA, told here for the first time, is a complex, troubled tale of political dueling and communities pushed to the brink of violence. The North Country's environmental movement started among a small group of hunters and hikers, rose on a huge wave of public concern about pollution that crested in the early 1970s, and overcame multiple obstacles to "save" the Adirondacks. Edmondson shows how the movement's leaders persuaded a powerful Governor to recruit planners, naturalists, and advisors and assign a task that had never been attempted before. The team and the politicians who supported them worked around the clock to draft two visionary land-use plans and turn them into law. But they also made mistakes, and their strict regulations were met with determined opposition from local landowners who insisted that private property is private. A Wild Idea is based on in-depth interviews with five dozen insiders who are central to the story. Their observations contain many surprising and shocking revelations. This is a rich, exciting narrative about state power and how it was imposed on rural residents. It shows how the Adirondacks were "saved," and also why that campaign sparked a passionate rebellion.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Nature, Environment, New York

304 pages, Hardcover

Published May 15, 2021

Reviews

[Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, which could have been an incredibly boring and dry historical retrospective of the creation of the Adirondack Park Agency, was unbelievably fascinating. Edmonson expertly weaves together varying personal accounts with rich detail and somehow makes this not dull. This would be a perfect accompaniment to a collection about the Adirondacks or for a person wanting to be schooled in the creation of the modern Adirondack Park.

Having grown up in the shadow of the Adirondacks, and with my tremendous love for all things nature and hiking, this was a really interesting book. I am definitely glad I picked it up! I purchased this book at the fabulous @bookstoreplus in Lake Placid.

[Bill Chaisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eponymous "wild idea" is the Adirondack Park Agency, which was established in two stages in 1971 and 1973 during the height of the first wave of environmental awareness in the U.S. Brad Edmondson started work on this book years ago, put it down and picked it up again in 2018. In his closing acknowledgements, he tells of being brought on an Adirondack camping trip as a boy, which made him fall in love with the region. Variations on his own story are repeated throughout the book in several interviews.

Edmondson's prose is transparent. He does his own presence intrude at all. In that sense, this is an old fashioned sort of book, a bit like something by John McPhee, but he doesn't allow himself an affectations of style that McPhee does. Edmondson's profiles of his cast of characters are a nice mixture of biography and deeds. I might have liked to get to know some of them a bit better, especially the more eccentric ones like Clarence Petty or Peter Paine.

One of the striking aspects of this story is that the supporters of the APA came from both inside the park and outside of it. The group that was appointed to the Temporary Study Commission (TSC) by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller tended toward the upper end of the economic ladder, but not exclusively. But there were Adirondack-bred people like Petty who knew the woods upside down who were invaluable to describing what was worth saving.

There is just enough context in this book to let you know how extraordinary a feat it was to create the APA. At the time it was established there was really nothing like it. What is it? It is a planning commission with enforcement capabilities that oversees land use on both public and private lands in the largest park in the country. Edmondson brings the reader through the welter of compromises that were made on the way to getting the N.Y. legislature to actually approve both the APA and the colossal land-use and development plan that set its parameters. It represents the kind of political deal-making and compromising that simply does not exist right now.

The author does not bang on the drum very loudly, but he does make it clear that this was largely a project perpetrated by wealthly white men. Very few women were involved and even fewer people of color. Not only did the events in this book unfold over 50 years ago, but they did so in a rural and conservative part of the country.

Edmondson is careful, however, not to paint any of this in stark good guy versus bad guy terms. Instead, everyone's motivations are spelled out dispassionately, so that even if the reader does not agree with someone's perspective, they can at least understand it. This story also does not include any really scandalous or underhanded behavior (although a briefcase with the final land-use plan in it did mysteriously disappear). Anyone looking for a pot-boiler will have to look elsewhere. Instead A Wild Idea tells the story of a devoted group of zealots who worked long and hard to get what they wanted, mostly.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really indispensable book for understanding Adirondacks history. A detailed look into the creation of the Adirondack Park Agency and the genesis of the modern day Park as we know it in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It's fascinating to read of a time when the environmental lobby actually had influence; seems like another world.

My only beef is that for most of the book, the undertone was an overly simplistic morality tale of bad guys (know it all enviros and their plutocratic sponsors) vs good guys (good salt-of-the-earth locals and virtuous, if misunderstood, developers). The only variation seemed to be the apparent grudging respect the author had for the hard-working staff of the Temporary Study Commission and early APA.

And yet, the Conclusion chapter was much more balanced. It seemed to concede that the conservationists actually were right about at least some of their concerns.

That aside, it truly did seem largely like a battle between millionaires (developers) and billionaires (AfPA), with locals powerless in helping shape their own future. The best aspect of the book is the way it weaves in the voices of those locals.

[mary mustard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. Edmondson relies very heavily on oral histories, which are all well and good, but falls to the temptation of what were - I am sure - very charming anecdotes about this or that administrator on such and so day of planning, or the rosy look of the trees that bureaucrat number 6 remembers as he drove into the mountains for the first time as a small boy. The effect ultimately muddles the narrative as each interview brings us back and forth in time. These interviews also structure the book almost entirely around the government officers who built the APA. Dissenting voices and auxiliary voices are given their due, but are not themselves major characters in the book.

That said, it is certainly a comprehensive text, and for those who see the APA as heavy handed government regulation (which it certainly is) one still walks away with a much better understanding of the monumental effort that went into its creation.

I guess what I really wanted is a more technical book about the planning, the politics, the implementation, and the park of the 1970s, and what I got was oral history about Nelson Rockefeller and some mildly kooky poindexters from Albany.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wild Idea is a well-written telling of the creation of the Adirondack Park Agency in NY State. It describes the complicated story in a straight-forward manner with a nuanced discussion of the tensions between preservation and economic development. It also captures the political atmosphere of the time, explaining how that affected the outcome - and comparing it to today’s political climate. And it does a very good job of keeping track of a long list of actors. Whether you spend lots of time in the Adirondacks or are interested in the politics of conservation, this is a good read.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging and enlightening in depth look at the teams and personalities involved in establishing limitations on development in the Adirondack Park. It provides background that gives context to the APA and driving forces behind it, as well as insight into politics in the North Country. If you love the wildness in the Adirondacks, this book will help you understand what went into protecting it, and alternative views.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book, especially during these last couple of weeks with everything that is happening nationally, has been emotional for me. The author does an excellent job introducing the reader to the Adirondacks and the APA. I did find parts of it to be dense and hard to follow just because so many new names are introduced constantly and the chapters were very long. Still, this book is important as we think about the conservation of our natural resources in the face of overwhelming opposition.

[Katya Zablocki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn’t say that I found A Wild Idea to be riveting, but I do think it’s important to know about (approximately) local history and I think that Edmondson did a good job. I wish that there had been a timeline and/or a list of frequently mentioned people in order to keep events and people straight, but I would say that the book is still informational.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very detailed account of the initial development of the Adirondack Park Agency. I'd recommend for readers who really want an insider account of the personal dynamics at play on the commission and a play-by-play account of how things unfolded. A little too detailed for me, but an impressive documentation of this important time period for the Adirondacks.

[Brendan Wiltse · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent history of the events leading up to and the early of the Adirondack Park Agency. I appreciate the author’s ability to take what could be a dry historical account of the formation of a state agency and turn it into an engaging read. If you are interested in the history of the Adirondack Park, this book should be on your reading list. Those who love and value this unique landscape must understand the political and bureaucratic landscape in which it exists.

[William E. Samuelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good historical read about the APA

As a land owner within the Adirondack Park I remember when the APA was created. However, I never knew how it came about. This book is very interesting, educational, and a good read. If you love the Adirondacks you will enjoy this book.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought about giving it a 2 or 2.5, but the discussion we had for our book club helped bump it up to 3. In brief, this was a very difficult book to read, and I (as well as others in book club) found it to be incredibly dense. I would consider myself to be an ideal audience for this book, having hiked all 46 peaks, went to Cornell CALS, and now a student at ESF. I understand many of the places in this book very well, yet I really struggled reading it and enjoying it. There was almost *too much* information, especially in places where it wasn't needed for the storyline. An audiobook probably would have helped me power through the legal monotony.

[Thomas Lambe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lucky find for me. I was visiting the Adirondacks for a few days and stopped in North Creek at a wonderful store in the downtown area. It sells gifts/books/clothes...etc. I picked this title up and store owner told me about this book which had just come out I think. This book is so interesting, so well-written, so compelling! Highly recommended for any Adirondack enthusiast! I read it over two days, paused everything so that I could stay with it. I'd read anything by this author!

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 rounded up.

This book is going to be most interesting for a niche sect, and I think as a result could be somewhat dry unless you are specifically interested in this. I grew up as a 4th generation, so-called "Adirondacker" and despite at the moment living outside of the park, I still very interested in the policies that resulted from the APA's birth in the 70s. The economic struggles in the Adirondacks then are still prevalent, and the debate between the haves and have nots that the APA protects is divisive. As someone who loves the land in the Park dearly, I have mixed emotions about the APA. I believe the initial mission was in the right place and still support that importance of that protective environmental vision, but over time, I do think that the policies have at times been more supportive of folks who aren't living there full-time but can afford to be there part-time. The book was read by the author, who has a pleasant demeanor, and is a nice companion piece to a similarly themed special that aired on the local PBS stations. I love the Adirondack Mountains more than almost anywhere on earth, and thus, this book, for me, was an excellent read. It was also interesting to learn much more about names I have heard all my life like Clarence Petty and Sen Ron Stafford. I would recommend this to anyone who cares about the Adirondack Park, nature as a whole, and the importance of protecting it.