Adirondack Park Agency Administrative Files on Establishment and Early Planning of the Adirondack Park Agency

Records are organized under the following major initiatives: Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks; Harris Petition; APA Private Land Use and Development Plan; APA rules and regulations; Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System (WSRRS) rules and regulations; and APA State Land Master Plan. Audio Tapes of public hearings on initiatives are filed at the end of the series.

The Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks was appointed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1968 to investigate issues that would impact use of the Adirondack Park as a whole, integrated entity. At the time there was pressure on private land owners to convert their holdings from forests to second-home developments. The mandate of the commission was to assure development on private lands was consistent with the long-range well-being of the Adirondack Park.

To that end the commission proposed the establishment of the Adirondack Park Agency by the legislature, and that the agency be instructed to prepare a comprehensive plan for approved development of private land in the park and be granted the necessary plan and land use control.

The Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo. Peter A. A. Berle was chairman, and George D. Davis was executive director of the commission. Issues studied by the commission and for which technical reports were prepared include: Adirondack Park economy and quality of life; private land regulation; subdivision and development trends, including zoning rules and regulations; forestry, the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and state land classification and management; land acquisition, management, and parking planning; and natural resources, including biological diversity, aesthetic resources, water quality, and soil productivity.

The series consists of public hearing transcripts and audio cassettes, correspondence and memoranda, background material and notes, and final, draft, and working copies of technical reports documenting work of the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks, and subsequent work of the Adirondack Park Agency in planning for controlled development and management of the Adirondack Park. Also incuded is a copy of the published final reports of the Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century, which include a review of environmental planning initiatives for the Adirondacks.

The series contains files on the following major initiatives: the Temporary Commission to Study the Future of the Adirondacks, including public hearing transcripts, technical reports, and a 1970 report on the future of the Adirondack Park (1969-1974); the Adirondack Park Agency's private land plan, including drafts, correspondence, studies, methodology, data, studies, memoranda, and meeting schedules (1972-1973); changing rules and regulations of the Adirondack Park Agency, including summaries of public hearings, written statements, drafts, revisions, and final rules and regulations (1973-1974); the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System (WSRRS), including public hearings and correspondence on additions to its regulations (1975); and the State Lake Master Plan (SLMP), including hearing schedules, summaries of testimony and attendance, and public hearing records (1972).

Records in this series include: a two-volume publication of the technical reports of the Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century (1990); transcripts of statewide public hearings (1969-1973); 67 audio tape cassettes of public hearings on proposed rules and regulations of the Adirondack Park Agency, and on the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System; study documents, and a small amount of information on the history of the Adirondack Park; original drafts, working drafts, revisions, and printer's copies of material related to the State Land Master Plan (ca. 1973); petitions for amendments to the State Land Master Plan, including reopening of wilderness areas (ca. 1974); correspondence, position papers, and statements by government officials and organizations received by the Adirondack Park Agency on the private land use plan (ca. 1972-1973); schedules of meetings, meeting minutes/summaries, and mailing lists on the proposed private land use plan; transcripts, exhibits, and stenographic records of public hearings on draft rules and regulations of the Adirondack Park Agency (changes to clarify procedures for review of projects and map changes) and a copy of final rules adopted (ca. 1973-1975); and hearing schedules, summaries, and written statements concerning the Master Plan for Management of State Lands within the Adirondack Park (1972).

16290Series 16290, Subject, correspondence, and meeting files, contains other records of the Commission of the Adirondacks in the Twenty First Century

B1830Series B1830, Harold A. Jerry, Jr. Professional Papers, contains personal copies of records compiled during Jerry's service on two commissions documented in this series

18880Series 10984, Subject, Correspondence, and Meeting Files, contains additional records of the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks

18880-97: This accretion was removed from this series and merged into Series B1830, Harold A. Jerry professional papers.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.