Dr. William S. Webb owned a 42,848 acre tract named Ne-Has-Sa-Ne Park, including Lake Lila and Nehasne Lake. The Rockefeller family owned over 84,000 acres spread over five townships in Franklin County. By 1908 the value of Adirondack forest land had risen dramatically, selling for as much as ten dollars an acre.

During the Great Depression paper mills closed and land prices dropped. Many of the region's resorts had trouble keeping their doors open. While World War II fueled demand for material from Adirondack forests and mines, gasoline and automobile tire rationing further hurt the tourist business. Even some of the exclusive private preserves and clubs were forced to sell land to pay taxes. But with the return of prosperity after the war, a new wave of tourism and vacation-home development began, and property values rose once again.

In 1959, after several years of debate, voters approved an amendment to the State Constitution allowing the construction of the Northway, a 175 mile superhighway between Albany and the Canadian border, with over 90 miles running through the Adirondack Park. Many people feared the new highway would subject the Park to a development boom similar to the one changing the character of neighboring Vermont.

In 1968, replying to the growing concern about the future of the Adirondacks, Governor Nelson Rockefeller appointed a commission to study the Adirondack Park. He named as chairman Harold K. Hochschild, a business executive, historian, longtime Adirondack resident, and founder of the Adirondack Museum. On December 15, 1970, the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks delivered its report to Rockefeller.