Preservation of Wilderness: Adirondack Issues and Prospects

Policy in the Adirondack forests of New York is to maintain a wilderness condition. That policy, while subject to long-standing debate, continues to receive significant support from city dwellers who place a high value on wilderness as a contrast to the urban environment. In the near term, present attitudes are likely to prevail. In the more distant future, the definition and value of wilderness may be altered by changes in the urban environment and new developments in the systems by which New Yorkers obtain the forest's goods and services. In the future as in the past, the key issue will be the desirability of manipulating vegetation. If timber harvesting and transport are to become acceptable to the general public, there must be significant developments in technology and improved communication between resource managers and users.