1917-1979: Preservation and Recreation

Throughout the twentieth century, public recreation in the Adirondacks was truly on the rise. With the development of the National Park Service “providing professional custodianship for certain national land resources dedicated to the purpose of public recreation,” mountain trails were built and marked (Verner xxx-xxxi). Because of the invention and development of the automobile, drive-in campsites were constructed. Private clubs (such as the Adirondack Mountain Club) sprung up with the increase of state budgets. People started to concern themselves with the aesthetic benefits of wilderness conservation (xxxi). After World War II, The Adirondacks saw “a veritable explosion of books, periodicals, and articles” (xxxv). People began to feel the economic “requirements” to the wilderness “resource” (xxxvii)