The Eastern High Peaks is a subdivision of the High Peaks Wilderness in the Adirondacks of New York. This division took place to instill proper regulations to the various sections of High Peaks that get varying amounts of visitation. The Eastern High Peaks is the most visited area in the entire Adirondack park, so it requires some of the strictest regulation. Namely, specialized bear canisters are required for any back-country camping in the area from April 1 - November 30, and no wood fires are allowed.
Bear Canister Regulations
These regulations were put into place as over the course of many years, black bears became habituated to seeking food from campers, and more skilled at retrieving it from them. Because of this, not only are bear canisters required, only a specific type of bear canister is proven to work as many Adirondack Black Bears have outsmarted the most popular types of canisters. Some bear canister companies send their test models to this region for testing to ensure their newer products will be able to hold up against these bears who are exceptionally competent at stealing food from hikers and campers.
Fire Ban
The fire ban in the Eastern High Peaks is not to prevent forest fires, but to protect the resources of the area from overuse. In the mid 20th century, so many hikers had flocked to the area to recreate that there was not enough fallen or dead wood to sustain the quantity of fires. Campers would resort to cutting down live trees to fuel them, and eventually this became a problem in the areas surrounding popular campsites. Once the fire ban was instilled the clearings of trees began to shrink as new trees grew. Today, the effects of the trees being cut down is mostly unnoticeable.
