Protect the Adirondacks! (PROTECT) is a non-profit, grassroots, membership supported organization dedicated to the protection and stewardship of the public and private lands of the Adirondack Park, and to building the health and diversity of its human communities and economies for the benefit of current and future generations.
PROTECT is the result of a 2009 consolidation of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) and The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks (AFPA).
Founded in 1990, the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks is one of the Park’s newest environmental advocacy organizations. The RCPA’s strong voice for protection of the Adirondack Park and its communities, and deep research programs, made the organization highly influential in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Founded in 1901, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks is the oldest non-profit advocate for the long-term protection and health of the natural and human communities of the Adirondack Park. AFPA was directly involved in virtually all of the seminal events that comprise the environmental legacy of the region.
Both of these organizations employed education, citizen action, research, partnerships and strong advocacy in support of a common vision for the Adirondack Park, which integrates strict protection of public wildlands with sustainable stewardship of private farms and forests to promote the mutual well-being of the Park’s natural and human communities. Both fought to maintain the integrity of Article 14 of the New York State Constitution, the “Forever Wild” clause that protects the publicly-owned NYS Forest Preserve in the Adirondack and Catskill regions.
Today, most of our members reside in New York State, but many others live throughout the country. They all share a common desire to protect the legacy of the Adirondack Park.
Click here to join and become a member of Protect the Adirondacks.
Click here to read about our most recent actions.