This year the Adirondack Common Ground Alliance is about successful projects rooted in regional collaborative work.  Water quality, recreation and sustainability projects are profiled and discussed.  Here is a link to our presentation.  We have also released an updated version of the ADK Futures vision.

Last year, we presented the results of all the workshops, featuring the strong alignment of results across many groups.  This year, we review what has actually happened over the past 12 months compared the the scenarios.  We are adding to the Forest Preserve, enhancing the Wild Park. for example.  DEC, partnered with many groups, combined with NCREDC funding to rebuild many outdoor recreation facilities all over the Park, developments of the Usable Park scenario.  The Sustainable Life scenario saw the widest variety of projects.

So what is developing looks like a combination of the Usable Park’s recreation with the economy of the Sustainable Life scenario, all built up the strong and unique foundation of the Wild Park as expressed in the recent additions to the Forest Preserve.

The state is clearly rewarding projects that benefit more than one town.  This, along with the tax cap impacts, is moving us slowly toward the ideas written about in the ADK County scenario even it the actual creation of a country isn’t in our future.  The time when each town or hamlet was an island is passing, slowly.