Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From its geologic origins to its contentious history of conservation, the Adirondack Park occupies a distinctive place among the world's protected areas. As the park enters the twenty-first century, more than half its land remains in private hands, and conflict is a recurrent theme in the Adirondack conservation legacy. More than 130,000 year-round residents strive to adapt to ever-changing economic challenges, while the beaver, moose, and martin thrive within a widely restored ecosystem. Yet for all its flaws, the Adirondack experiment is increasingly relevant in a world where people, wilderness, and wildlife must find ways to coexist.
The Adirondack Atlas uses geographical information systems to generate and interpret a broad range of information from social, economic, historical, and environmental documentary sources. The writers, in a joint effort with the Wildlife Conservation Society, provide a thought-provoking, multifaceted image of a fascinating region and include hundreds of full-color figures and maps that form a detailed analysis of every aspect of the Adirondacks.
Synopsis
The Adirondack Atlas offers a detailed geographic portrait of the largest protected area in the contiguous United States and the largest region of protected temperate forests in the world. Generously illustrated-complete with 450 full-color maps and 250 figures, graphs, tables, charts, and scientific drawings-this volume covers 130 topics on the six-million-acre Adirondack Park. As the first book of its kind, it is both a work of art and an authoritative reference.
The Park has a complex history. It is one of the only parks in the world to combine large wilderness areas with extensive private lands and a substantial residential population. Jerry Jenkins explores this connection between the wild and human communities within a protected landscape. As he maps out the diverse and ever-changing environment--the recreational growth, conflicts between users, development, pollution, and climate change--he highlights elements that threaten to alter the Park and undo the protection it now enjoys.
Jenkins includes old stories of fur routes and battles, log drives and Shea engines; new stories about school taxes and education, conservation easements and local economies, artistic ferment and social ills, about healthy towns, dying trees, and deer harvests. As a comprehensive and standard resource, the Atlas captures the full scope of the park's topographic, hydrographic, and ecological history for a wide audience of geographers, historians, and Adirondack enthusiasts.