Group aims to help communities access infrastructure, climate funding

Adirondack Climate Outreach and Resilience Network plans listening tour as first step in efforts to address climate change impacts

By Chloe Bennett

As the Adirondack Park experiences unprecedented flooding, tornadoes and warmer winters, local governments are racing to repair and plan for extreme weather. To lend help, a newly formed group plans to centralize funding opportunities for infrastructure and climate mitigation. 

The Adirondack Climate Outreach and Resilience Network (ACORN), formed officially in May, is made up of representatives from Paul Smith’s College, The Wild Center and the Adirondack Research Consortium. The initiative is funded by a $50,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and $10,000 from the Adirondack Foundation. 

Starting in late October, the group will travel to seven locations around the North Country to hear from residents and officials about the local effects of climate change. Most dates are not yet set, though stops along the Champlain Valley and the central and northern Adirondacks are planned. 

Sunita Halasz, project coordinator for ACORN, said the group will produce a roadmap and a database with grants and other opportunities. The Adirondacks can be forgotten for project funding in the state, she said, necessitating a stronger network of help from neighbors and local organizations.

“It takes individuals caring about communities in the Adirondacks and wanting to see them thrive to really pull us all up by our shared bootstraps,” Halasz said. 

Zoe Smith, vice president of strategic initiatives for Paul Smith’s College, said working with organizations like The Wild Center will help identify more resources for climate solutions. In 2025, the college plans to launch a research institute focused on climate change and environmental justice, which could house ACORN’s work. 

“My motivation for working on this project is really to help connect those dots and help provide a resource for other communities, other organizations that are looking to solve problems,” Smith said.

The network began to form after the 2023 Adirondack Research Consortium, with ideas for a model similar to New York City’s Center for Climate Solutions on Governors Island. 

Where the city-based climate hub focuses on urban research and projects, ACORN aims to prioritize rural resilience. 

Cali Brooks, president and chief executive officer of Adirondack Foundation, said her nonprofit contacted ACORN during its early stages to offer help. “As our region continues to experience more climate-driven disasters, we see a greater need for proactive regional approaches to support community resiliency,” she said. 

The park was hammered with rainstorms in July, causing millions of dollars in damage. The event hit exactly one year after flooding damaged bridges, dams and trails in the central Adirondacks. Human-caused warming makes intense storms more likely, scientists say, with hotter ocean temperatures. 

Hurricane Beryl, which scattered remnants in the North Country this year, was at least 100 times more likely to occur because of climate change, a report from Climate Central states.

Prioritizing local infrastructure projects is one way to address climate change, Halasz said, while emissions continue globally. 

“Whether we can deal with what’s happening in the atmosphere or not, we can still be improving our stormwater structures, improving all of our aging infrastructure, improving conditions for families in the North Country who have lower incomes and less access to resources and social safety networks,” she said.

Photo at top: Mason Road in Lewis is one of several eaten up by flood waters after several inches of rain fell on July 10, 2024. Photo courtesy of town of Lewis