Living with the Adirondack Forest

"While locals are inherently integral to land use decisions, their story is seldom coherently placed within the context of competing interests. Knott effectively places local perspectives in the Adirondack land use conflict to illustrate the need for participatory approaches to decision-making." Valerie A. Luzadis, SUNY College of Environmental Science and ForestryAttitudes about land use, Catherine Henshaw Knott suggests, may reflect profound differences in class, religion, and life experience, pitting urban Americans who see nature at risk against rural Americans whose lives are dominated by nature's forces. She documents the thoughts and feelings of people whose lives are intimately connected to the forest, including loggers, trappers, craftspeople, and guides, as well as tree farmers and maple syrup producers. After describing the key players in the conflict and chronicling battles and bridge-building between stake-holders, Knott concludes that the participation of local people in decision making is the only process that can shift an increasingly hostile cycle toward resolution."