Ed Ketchledge dies at 85

[beverly]

Adirondack ecologist Ketchledge dies at 85

POTSDAM — Ed Ketchledge, a botanist and environmental educator who launched a decadeslong effort to preserve rare alpine plants atop the highest Adirondack peaks, has died. He was 85.

Ketchledge died at home in his sleep Wednesday after a long illness, according to Garner Funeral Home in Potsdam.

An avid outdoorsman, Ketchledge taught at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse from 1955 to 1985. His work on Mount Marcy and Algonquin Peak led to the High Peaks Summit Steward program, which protects rare alpine plants once trampled almost out of existence by hikers.

Whenever I am up in the Alpine Zone of the High Peaks, I think of his name and the work he did to preserve these fragile areas.

Nice write-up here
http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/514127.html?nav=5008

Kogut came upon a quote from her father that summed up the way he felt about life.

"The proverbial bottom line for me is the simple truth that a man is not in full command of life if he cannot at least one day each week go fishing in his canoe, or go cross-country skiing, or go exploring a new mountain," Ketchledge wrote in 1989 in his notes.

 

[RTSpoons]

Thanks

I remember back in the sixties the lean-to before the summit of Marcy and the flowing water. There was so much vegetation compared to now.

The restoration is a slow process but important.

Thanks Ed!

 

[Grumpy]

There is little to say here, save that our Adirondack high places have lost a pioneering giant advocate and protector. We are enriched by having had Ed Ketchledge among us for so many years.