Land-Use Change in the Adirondacks

Land-Use Change in the Adirondacks
(ODST203/ENVS 347)

Using the Adirondacks as a case study, this course examines current activities in land planning and the importance of historical context. Study of Adirondack history begins with sixteenth-century verbal and visual information from early European explorers and Native Americans. Considerable emphasis is then placed on use of the Adirondacks for industrial and recreational purposes during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course highlights formation of the State Forest Preserve, the Adirondack Park, and regulations governing private land-use. Study of the present utilizes political theory such as internal colonization and core-periphery. Concepts in land planning are defined, including notions of sustainability, footprint analysis, and various approaches for policy-making. To understand application of such ideas, the course employs local examples through discussion and fieldtrips. Assigned reading is from a basic text in planning and several writings specifically on the Adirondacks.
(One unit credit)