Close  PHOTO PROVIDEDAdirondack Council Director of Government Relations Kevin Chlad stands holding the 2020 Paul Schaefer Wilderness Award, presented to him by Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve. Chlad was recognized, in part, for his work in 2016 to organize statewide volunteers for the Adirondack Park Wilderness Campaign, which resulted in a Wilderness classification for the Boreas Ponds and to the most significant expansion of the High Peaks Wilderness area in decades. He has also helped to up funding each year for Forest Preserve stewardship, an important part of the stateâs Environmental Protection Fund. Chlad played an instrumental role in organizing the 2020 Adirondack Park Environmental Lobby Day to heighten legislatorsâ consciousness about the Adirondack Park which led, in part, to passage of the Randy Preston Road Salt Reduction Act of 2020 which was recently signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. âAdirondack Wild has admired Kevinâs work for a number of years,â Managing Partner David Gibson said. âWeâve worked with him as part of a coalition of Adirondack groups and weâve noticed how he steers citizen advocacy for the Adirondack Park in very productive directions, just as Paul Schaefer used to do. He puts himself in the shoes of others and lets them take the credit to advance Park goals. That was Paul Schaeferâs way of accomplishing great things for the Adirondacks.â