Roughly half of the 6-million acre Adirondack Park is privately owned.There are more than 70,000 acres of timberlands for sale in the northwestern Adirondacks, and the state should buy most of it, according to the Adirondack Council.

The Associated Press reports that the parcels include boreal forests, wetlands, streams and rivers that flow into the St. Lawrence River. In a letter to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis, the council urged the state to acquire sensitive parcels and all remaining development rights on other pieces to protect wilderness and wildlife

DEC has shown an interest in preserving working forests, and those are among the priorities in plans for open space, but the agency hasn't committed to buying them, according to a spokeswoman.