Summit Stewards Return to High Peaks

May 22, 2023 — Lake Placid, NY — The Adirondack High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program has started its 34th season of protecting New York’s alpine ecosystem. Summit stewards will be educating hikers on high peaks summits—namely Marcy, Algonquin, Wright, and Cascade—through Indigenous People’s Day.

“We are excited to continue the important work of protecting New York’s alpine ecosystem,” said Liam Ebner, ADK Summit Steward Coordinator. “The Summit Stewardship Program has been and continues to be one of the best examples we have of an outreach effort that has successfully shown people how to protect sensitive ecosystems while they enjoy them.”

Since the program’s founding in 1989, summit stewards have educated over 600,000 hikers about alpine vegetation and how to protect it. The result has been a remarkable recovery in vegetation on alpine-carrying summits in the High Peaks region, a trend that has held despite increases in visitor use over the last decade.

To ensure that this continues, the Summit Stewardship Program encourages hikers to take five steps to protect alpine vegetation:

• Do the “rock walk” and stay on the marked path
• Keep dogs on a leash
• Don’t camp above 3500 feet
• Remind others kindly to stay off the alpine vegetation
• Pack out trash and poop

Learn more about the Summit Stewardship Program at ADK.org/summit-stewardship-program/