The Extraordinary Adirondack Journey Of Clarence Petty

Author and naturalist Christopher Angus profiles for the first time the adventurous life of Clarence Petty, one of the great pioneer conservationists of the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State. Raised in the heart of the Adirondack wilderness between Tupper and Saranac Lakes, Petty overcame his humble beginnings and pursued a variety of careers as wilderness guide, forester, Civilian Conservation Corps camp director, World War II pilot, district ranger, and aerial forest-fire fighter—ultimately leaving his indelible mark as a lifelong advocate for the protection of the wilderness. The story of Petty's life reads like a Horatio Alger novel. His father moved to the mountains in the 1880s to work as a guide. His mother was a cook for one of the popular sportsmen's hotels in the area. Young Clarence and his brothers enjoyed the kind of childhood freedom and independence that today's youngsters can only dream about. Their father's sense of self-reliance and their mother's drive to educate her sons led all three to attend college. Clarence followed a path of service to the American landscape. His influence on state policy regarding the Adirondack Park and especially its millions of acres of wilderness has been profound. His life story provides a window into the politics of conservation in the Adirondack region from the early days of the twentieth century to the present.

Anne LaBastille and her German shepherds experience more daring, death defying encounters in the wilderness, and with humans, than ever before. WOODSWOMAN IIII covers five years, rather than ten, since life has speeded up both at her log cabin and old farm. Anne juggles hard to achieve balance between making a living as a freelance writer and publisher, and as a cabin-dweller and contemplative. Her humorous descriptions of the miserly book factory show the complex demands on her time. These are contrapuntal to her exquisite images of Adirondack nature and wildlife and the harmony she finds therein. Despite fewer days at the cabin, each visitation holds greater intensity, more loveliness, interdependence and familiarity with her pets and wildlife. Her message to women everywhere is: Be Courageous, Be Independent, and Be Compassionate. Her message to readers is captured in this visionary chronicling of sociological events and ecological changes over 35 years in the Adirondack Park. WOODSWOMAN, WOODSWOMAN II, WOODSWOMAN III, also available from West of the Wind Publications, Inc., Westport, NY.

The Oswegatchie begins its journey in whitetail forests and ends in Holstein farmlands. It rises deep in spruce woods first ventured into by Native Americans and a handful of Jesuit priests and spills, finally, into the St. Lawrence river. Along its path are 135 miles of navigable waters, tall pine eskers, black flies, bogs, mosquitoes, down-at-the-heels villages, coyotes, the rare moose and wolf, power boats, riverside camps, and kids rope diving into deep black pools. This collection of writings about the Oswegatchie includes essays by Hallie E. Bond, Donald Morris, Maurice Kenny, Christopher Angus, Nina H. Webb, Clarence Petty, Neal Burdick, Dick and Barbara Tiel, Charles Brumley, Mason Smith, Christine Jerome, Michael Kudish, Paul Jamieson and Gary Randorf.

A Wild Idea shares the complete story of the difficult birth of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The Adirondack region of New York's rural North Country forms the nation's largest State Park, with a territory as large as Vermont. Planning experts view the APA as a triumph of sustainability that balances human activity with the preservation of wild ecosystems. The truth isn't as pretty. The story of the APA, told here for the first time, is a complex, troubled tale of political dueling and communities pushed to the brink of violence. The North Country's environmental movement started among a small group of hunters and hikers, rose on a huge wave of public concern about pollution that crested in the early 1970s, and overcame multiple obstacles to "save" the Adirondacks. Edmondson shows how the movement's leaders persuaded a powerful Governor to recruit planners, naturalists, and advisors and assign a task that had never been attempted before. The team and the politicians who supported them worked around the clock to draft two visionary land-use plans and turn them into law. But they also made mistakes, and their strict regulations were met with determined opposition from local landowners who insisted that private property is private. A Wild Idea is based on in-depth interviews with five dozen insiders who are central to the story. Their observations contain many surprising and shocking revelations. This is a rich, exciting narrative about state power and how it was imposed on rural residents. It shows how the Adirondacks were "saved," and also why that campaign sparked a passionate rebellion.

This lyrical narrative history reveals how the love affair between Americans and the Adirondacks--America's first wilderness--has grown and changed over time. 40 photos.

Article abstracts and citations of reviews and dissertations covering the United States and Canada.

This book is a list of citations covering the wealth of information written about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's favorite and most respected New Deal program. It provided economic assistance and hope for the future to the many enlisted men and their families during the height of the Great Depression. These men developed state parks, built roads and bridges and restored the environment from the devastation caused by droughts and deforestation of the west. Through hard work, they found renewed pride in themselves and their country. Their efforts can be seen in former camp sites and parks across the nation. There continues to be a fascination with the CCC. It is often studied as a model program of youth service work, conservation, and adult education. This collection will be useful to all who study the New Deal era and especially to those who concentrate on the CCC. The bibliography is organized by material type, including Federal Government documents, magazine, and journal articles, ERIC documents, books (including theses and dissertations), videos and films. further assist the researcher.