- Adirondack Wilderness Experience

Catalog description

The Adirondack Park is the birthplace of the American concept of wilderness and land conservation. It is the second oldest park in the U.S. and the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, larger than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon parks combined. Today, it is on the cutting edge of how to turn the abstract principles of environmental sustainability into a set of feasible political, economic, and ecological principles. This class will examine the natural setting of the park, the environmental impact of humans on the park, the evolution of popular views of the wilderness, the attempts to balance development and preservation, the prospects of bio-regional level governance, and the major challenges to ecological, social, and economic success in the Adirondack Park. The emphasis of the course is on experiential learning and will involve various hikes and/or canoe trips into the wilderness itself.