Case study: proposed Adiron dack-Lake Champlain Basin Biosphere Reserve

The natural environment, including geology and hydrology, vegetation, and fish and wildlife are sketched together with the framework of natural resources protection and management for a proposed Adirondack-Lake Champlain Basin Biosphere Reserve of nearly 4 million ha (10 million acres). The wilderness areas and wild lands of the New York State Forest Preserve inside the Adirondack State Park, together with the designated federal wilderness areas of the Green Mountain National Forest and one small proposed wilderness island, are recommended as the conservation and monitoring core of the biosphere reserve. The remaining public and private lands of the Adirondack Park are described as a buffer area for research, education, tourism and traditional agricultural and forestry activities. The portion of the Lake Champlain drainage basin outside the Adirondack Park in New York, Vermont and the Canadian Province of Quebec is described as a cooperative area of research, tourism and traditional commercial activity.