New York (State). Adirondack Park Agency.

The Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks was appointed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1968 to investigate issues that would impact use of the Adirondack Park as a whole, integrated entity. At the time there was pressure on private land owners to convert their holdings from forests to second-home developments. The mandate of the commission was to assure development on private lands was consistent with the long-range well-being of the Adirondack Park.

To that end the commission proposed the establishment of the Adirondack Park Agency by the legislature, and that the agency be instructed to prepare a comprehensive plan for approved development of private land in the park and be granted the necessary plan and land use control.

The Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo. Peter A. A. Berle was chairman, and George D. Davis was executive director of the commission. Issues studied by the commission and for which technical reports were prepared include: Adirondack Park economy and quality of life; private land regulation; subdivision and development trends, including zoning rules and regulations; forestry, the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and state land classification and management; land acquisition, management, and parking planning; and natural resources, including biological diversity, aesthetic resources, water quality, and soil productivity.