Governor Kathy Hochul has nominated to the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) board an environmental attorney who would become the board’s first Latino member, and a nuclear physicist and former U.S. Congressman from New Jersey. The APA oversees protection of the Adirondack Park. The New York State Senate is expected to confirm the appointments before the current legislative session ends.
Among the nominees is Jose Almanzar, an environmental attorney from Nassau County, who would serve as one of the three board members from outside the Adirondack Park. Also nominated is 76-year-old Rush Holt, who is now a Clinton County resident, bot served as U.S. representative for New Jersey’s 12th congressional district from 1999 to 2015.
Holt is a former assistant professor of solar physics at Swarthmore College and a former director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He most recently served as CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
That organization is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the betterment of all humanity.
Hochul also reappointed several board members whose terms had expired, including:
Zoe Smith, scientist, Franklin County
Benita Law-Diao, former Department of Health employee, Albany County
Mark Hall, Town of Fine Supervisor, St. Lawrence County
Dan Wilt, business owner and former Town Supervisor, Hamilton County
Kenneth Lynch, retired attorney, Department of Environmental Conservation, Onondaga County
The length of each member’s new term will depend on how long ago their previous term expired, with some dating back to 2022. Board member Art Lussi, a resort owner from Essex County, is currently serving a term that expires June 30, 2025.
The APA oversees land-use planning and zoning for both public and private lands within the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park — the largest park in the contiguous United States. Roughly half the park is public land, protected as “forever wild” under the New York State Constitution. Private lands include timberlands, farms, resorts, large estates, and about 130 rural communities, ranging from small hamlets to the Village of Saranac Lake, home to 5,000 year-round residents.
The APA board is composed of 11 members. Three are ex officio delegates representing the Secretary of State, the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, and the Director of Economic Development.
Of the eight citizen members, five must reside within the Adirondack Park’s 12 counties, and three must reside outside the Park. No more than five members of any one political party may serve simultaneously, and no single county may have more than one resident representative.
“The Adirondack Council welcomes the addition of both legal and scientific expertise to the APA board,” said Raul J. Aguirre, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council.
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