ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the significance of the Adirondack experience as an example of biodiversity protection. It offers an historical overview of the decision-making process responsible for today's patchwork quilt of the public and private lands within the Adirondack Park. The chapter discusses the developments in research and decision innovation that seek to bridge the knowledge gaps between various stakeholder groups, decision-makers, and those most affected by land use decisions. The Adirondack Park located in Northern New York State of the United States of America is a unique combination of protected State and privately owned land regulated by zoning laws. Given the tensions, controversies and political shake-up that resulted from the Adirondack Park's top-down protection efforts, decision-makers agreed that a more open and participatory process was needed for guiding the Park's future development and conservation strategies. Indicators can then be used to evaluate land use planning decisions from a local perspective while taking non-local conservation and protection interests into account.
