ALBANY- In recognition of Earth Day, the New York State Archives is highlighting the state’s environmental history with an online collection of records that focus on the Adirondack and Catskill parks dating from 1885-1990 at www.archives.nysed.gov, click on "Celebrate Earth Day."
The Environmental History Collection contains over 3,000 historical maps, photographs, documents, and other materials digitized from approximately 175 different collections in the state.
The collection illustrates the prominent role New York played in developing environmental policies setting both national and international precedents. It was the first state to define parcels of land owned by the state as "wilderness" requiring permanent protection, as stated in the New York Constitution Article 14, inspiring the federal Wilderness Act and similar legislation in other nations. New York was also the first state to codify a conservation law, establish an enforcement system staffed by fish and wildlife officers and forest rangers, and to create a state park system.
The New York State Archives played the lead role in assembling the collection with Cornell University, New York State Library, Adirondack Museum, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Warren and Ulster county governments.
Among the thousands of records in the collection are photographs of Victorian-era women in long dresses hiking in the mountains, pages from the journal of famous naturalist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, claims against New York City for damages from the construction of the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County, and maps of the Adirondacks drawn by Verplanck Colvin.
The New York State Archives preserves and makes accessible the essential recorded evidence - past and present - of New York’s governments, organizations, peoples, and events. At its Albany facility, the Archives cares for more than 200 million archival records of New York State government dating from the 1630s to the present. The State Archives also offers technical assistance, financial support, and other services to local governments and community organizations in every region of the state.