Welcome to Our Second Century

January 1, 2023

By Tom Andrews, ADK President

The Adirondack Mountain Club has officially entered its second century. Let that sink in. For over a century, this organization has fought to protect the Forest Preserve, put educators on mountaintops, built new and better trails in the backcountry, and much, much more. What started as a small gathering above the New York City Abercrombie & Fitch in 1922 has grown into an organization with influence across New York State from the legislature to the summit of Mt. Marcy.

Central to all of this has been the constant support of our members, donors, staff, and volunteers—you. And, last year, we achieved a lot together.

That year – 2022  – was, of course, our centennial year. From fundraisers to an event at Silver Bay, we spent the year celebrating how this organization has and continues to benefit New York’s public lands and waters and all who enjoy them. 

As we commemorated this legacy, we also made a big move to cement it by acquiring and opening Cascade Welcome Center, which we are working to transform into the Adirondack Park’s premiere resource for visitor information and community-based recreation. We successfully opened the Center this past summer for information services and are in the midst of our first winter of Nordic operations as I write this column.

On the policy front, we supported numerous successful efforts, including securing $8 million in state funding for the Forest Preserve and backing the successful passage of Prop 1—the Environmental Bond Act—which will provide much-needed funding for the environment.

In the Adirondack Park, we were equally impactful. Through our trails program, we partnered with the Adirondack 46ers, The Nature Conservancy in the Adirondacks, and Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine to continue building better trails in the region. Hikers can now enjoy safer and more sustainable trails from the Silver Lake Bog Preserve to the summit of Poke-O-Moonshine.

Above treeline, summit stewards completed another round of photopoint monitoring, all while continuing to educate hikers about alpine vegetation. Once analyzed, the results of this effort will tell us if and how recent increases in visitor use impacted the Adirondack Park’s alpine ecosystem.

And along the shores of Heart Lake, we continued introducing kids to the outdoors as part of our Marie L. Haberl School Outreach Program: Three Seasons at Heart Lake. To date, over 4,000 local children and their families have benefited from this program.

We asked for your support in all these efforts, and you answered the call. Now, as we welcome 2023, there are a number of things to be excited about, including: 

Suffice it to say, 2023 is going to be a big year. Every step we take as an organization is made possible by your support. Your backing has allowed us to continue increasing our impact as we work to protect the Adirondacks through education and a statewide community of stewards. With support like this, we are excited about all that ADK can do in 2023 and beyond