Clarence Petty is an Adirondack native with a difference; make that several differences. First, he is about to turn 100 years
of age, a not insignificant achievement in its own right. But he is unlike any centenarian you are likely to meet. He continues to live alone in the family homestead located in the heart of Adirondack wilderness. He continues to shovel his own driveway, write letters prodding legislators to support protections for the Adirondack wilderness and to attend numerous board meetings of a wide variety of groups that serve as advocates for wilderness protection.
This extraordinary and independent-minded man has crammed more experiences into his years than a dozen normal men. He began working as a wilderness guide at the age of ten. He and his brother, Bill, would take calls from as far away as Albany or Buffalo from hunters and fishermen who needed experienced Adirondack guides. This early profession instilled in him the sense of self-reliance that served him well through a bewildering blizzard of professions, Forester, District Ranger, Aerial firefighter, Personal pilot to Governor Averill Harriman, flight instructor and member of numerous Adirondack park agencies charges with setting public policy in the Adirondack Park.
Today, Petty is widely respected throughout the region. As a native Adirondacker, his views have great credibility when it comes to discussing environmental protections within the park. He is not an outsider from the cities who comes to the backwoods to tell the locals how they should think about things. When he stands up at a public meeting and expresses his views, he is not shouted down as others might be.
Of course, there are many who despise this warm and committed native of northern New York. Those who want to develop the backcountry, flount the rules, use motorized vehicles at will on wilderness land and pollute the waterways have made Petty a target at times throughout his long career. He has had friends who have been shot at and had their homes burned down. He has always tried, however, to keep matters from becoming personal. It is the issues that are important, not the personalities, he declares.
About to turn one hundred in August of 2005, Petty shows no signs of slowing down, and he is as sharp mentally as he is physically, one sign, perhaps, of a life filled with hard work, exercise, family and commitment. That is a template we could all emulate.