Forever wild for everyone: Aaron Mair’s call for action

Environmental activist Aaron Mair bridges conservation and equity to inspire the next generation of stewards

By David Escobar

Aaron Mair believes the Adirondack Park conservation movement stands at a turning point. Rising visitor numbers and the effects of climate change have begun to strain the region and its natural resources, challenges the Schenectady-based environmental activist warned will intensify.

“We’re beyond recreation,” Mair said. “This is an ecological necessity to protect humanity.”

Mair, 64, a former epidemiological-spatial analyst for the state Department of Health, is moving on from his post-retirement job at the helm of the Adirondack Council’s “Forever Adirondacks” campaign. His three-year post ends in December.

In addition to lobbying for the region to transition to a green job-based economy, Mair has focused on protecting the park’s wilderness areas and waterways, which he said play an outsized role in maintaining the state’s air quality and water supply.

Despite his desire for a diverse coalition of environmental advocates, Mair said he confronts a persistent myth: that conservation is only for affluent white people.

“Environmentalism is not a petit bourgeois white thing — it’s an all-people thing,” said Mair. “The environment does not care about your politics, your race, your class or your cast . . . We are all equally, and could disproportionately be, as affected by it.”

A lifelong ambition

Mair’s inclusive approach to conservation traces to his early years on the front lines of the environmental justice movement. In the 1980s, he worked to shut down a state-owned trash-burning plant in Albany, which had been producing toxic ash that blew directly onto his community. Mair said he had attempted to collaborate with the Sierra Club. However, Mair and other Black advocates were turned away and told to direct their requests to the NAACP.

“So even within the environmental movement, we were just the wrong complexion for protection,” he said.

Mair later joined and ascended through the historic green group and became the club’s first Black president in 2015.

He sought to convince more people of color to join its coalition — a mission he has carried to the Adirondacks.

“People of color have always had a particular fingerprint, signature and impact on this park.”

As part of “Forever Adirondacks,” Mair sought to forge connections with diverse leaders, including state legislators from New York’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian caucus. Through tours of John Brown Farm near Lake Placid, Mair said caucus members learned about the park’s connections to the early abolition movement and the historic Timbuctoo settlement for Black farmers.

“A sense of hallowed ground was kindled in the heart of our legislators,” said Mair.

Rocci Aguirre, executive director of the Adirondack Council, said Mair’s experience as a community organizer has helped the group expand its reach outside the park, which has connected more diverse communities to the Adirondacks.

“We often say that we want it to be forever wild for everyone,’’ he said. “That’s one of Aaron’s legacies.”

Molding future stewards

Mair’s outreach to caucus leaders helped alert policymakers, but he wanted to get the attention of younger people as well.

Mair said one of his proudest accomplishments has been his collaboration with the Timbuctoo Institute, a SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry program that brings high schoolers from urban areas into the park to learn about environmental justice and climate science.

Many institute students come from marginalized backgrounds and lack exposure to the Adirondacks.

They become enchanted with the park’s natural spaces as soon as they set foot on a trail, he said, and they show interest in science.

“It’s the opportunity,” said Mair.

As for the future, Mair will continue working to increase opportunities for people of color to visit the Adirondacks. Drawing on the success of the Timbuctoo Institute’s work with students in Brooklyn and Syracuse, he founded the Timbuctoo Mountain Club in the summer of 2024.

This new not-for-profit aims to connect underserved communities with outdoor recreation, addressing what Mair describes as a long-overlooked gap in New York’s environmental efforts.

“We’re breaking into a neglected space,” he said, pointing to a need for state investment in programs designed to bring people of color to the outdoors.

Unlike his earlier student-focused initiative, the Timbuctoo Mountain Club will reach beyond schools and engage diverse communities in urban areas like Albany and Rochester. Mair also plans to collaborate with partner organizations to secure resources for housing and transporting program participants.

As New York’s population grows more diverse, Mair believes creating equitable access to the park is essential to cultivating a broader appreciation for its natural beauty. Over the coming months, he plans to fundraise for his organization, which he hopes will empower underserved communities to be part of the next generation of park stewards.

“We need them because we need to protect nature for nature’s sake,” he said.

David Escobar is a Report For America Corps Member. He reports on diversity issues in the Adirondacks through a partnership between North Country Public Radio and Adirondack Explorer.