Friends and visitors,

As of November 1, 2008, the community forums Adkhighpeaks and ADKForum are being run through the ADKhighpeaks Foundation, a IRS 501c(3) non-profit, grass roots charitable foundation dedicated to assisting positive wilderness efforts in NYS Forest Preserve lands. As such, there are several modifications to existing rules that need to be enacted. By way of definition, henceforth Adkhighpeaks Foundation Forums will include both the online community forums Adkhighpeaks.com and ADKForum.com. The modifications take effect November 4, 2008 and all material to the contrary before this date will be left as it stands.

The purpose of these forums is documented in the “Mission Statement” which I encourage everyone to also read over. From that, it should be understood that these forums are primarily to serve as a source of information and meaningful conversation/debate into issues related to hiking and backcountry travel in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. In order to be as clear as possible in differentiating between appropriate or non- appropriate discussion, we have developed these rules and regulations to govern the use of the forums. We hope that it helps. The forums will be closely monitored.

As with any information-based forum, participation is crucial to the continuous exchange of information, so we encourage everyone to freely post within the guidelines listed below. It should also be noted that individual sub-forums may have additional restrictions placed on them as dictated by "sticky posts". EXAMPLE

FORUM RULES:
1) Registered users may feel free to post as often as they’d like. When posting, it is important to match your inquiry/information into the area of the forum that is most appropriate for the topics to be posted. We ask that every attempt to do so be made. (Ex. A question about the Northville-Placid Trail would be most appropriate in the “Other Adirondack Places” section.)

2) No profanity, personal attacks, derogatory remarks, deliberate goading (trolling) or taunting will be tolerated. It is understood that, at times there will be disagreements and dissenting opinions. We only ask that they be done in a civil, reasoned and rational manner.

3) Topics/discussion should generally be relevant to the nature of the community it serves (each Adirondack based forum serve slightly differing communities - which much crossover). However, there is some latitude for discussions outside this topic (brief ones) as long as it does not alter the completion and overall nature of the forum itself. It should be noted that this type of posting is particularly moderated and if, at the sheer discretion of the moderating team, the content is deemed inappropriate or outside these guidelines, you will be asked to either cease the discussion, remove the content or some other course of action will be taken that we feel proper. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

4) There are several topics that are not allowed under any circumstances and any post containing them will be deleted immediately and the user subject to “loss of privileges”. THIS INCLUDES AVATARS, IMAGES AND SIGNATURES with images or text containing these topics. Members witnessing such, are encouraged to report violations without delay.

5) The use of the private messaging system is likewise site specific. There will be no unsolicited commercial spamming allowed. Ditto for the e-mail message system. All rules listed above apply in the messaging system, with the exception of portions of # 4. Politics and religion, provided both parties wish to discuss them, are fine. Sexually explicit discussion, particularly solicitation, is still off limits.

6) Solicitation & Personal communication: ** amended: November 4, 2008

A) This is a non-commercial site and there will be NO personal solicitation of any kind involving commercial or personal for profit enterprises. Links to personal commercial sites will continue to be allowed, but they must be unobtrusive. Signature lines may contain one link only with no oversized text or other distracting attributes. Additionally, no emoticons or smileys may enhance the text. If you are seeking to promote a non-profit event or organization, it must be cleared by the administration of this site (Neil or Mavs00).

B) Individual opinions/reviews on commercial products and services are allowed, so long as no particular forum-wide bias is shown towards one product/service over another. All individual opinions presented are not to be considered endorsements by the forum (or Foundation in general) or represent anything other then individual opinion.

C) There will be no unsolicited offline communication (including written) or other physical interactions between forum members without the consent of all members involved. Any unsolicited contact that is derogatory, threatening, or ongoing/unwanted in nature will not be tolerated. Violators will be banished from the forums for life and referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

Chance meetings and encounters along the trail or in the backcountry will, of course, continue to occur, and are acceptable so long as both parties continue to mutually engage each other in discussion. Group hiking, forum gatherings and other other types of consensual social activities involving forum members is not only acceptable, but encouraged.

7) There will be no public posting of specific GPS data for any NYS Forest Preserve location. This specifically includes tracklog data. Individual waypoint data is fine so long as multiple waypoint data is is a least .75 miles separate from each other. General verbal route description are fine, but please refrain from specific route data unless it is in the done in a non-puplic way (PM or E-mail). This rule is enacted in an specific attempt to prevent "herd path" formation along specific Adirondack bushwhack routes.

8) Adkhighpeaks Foundation Forums are strong supporters of Leave No Trace (LNT) principles and we do not condone or advocate ANY alteration to the Adirondack backcountry as it pertains to information found on the forums. It is understood that if any information from this forum leads you into the backcountry of the park, you will travel, camp and otherwise practice responsible LNT principles when doing so. Any evidence route cutting, view improvement or other significant permanent unnatural alterations/destruction discovered to have been done as the result of information gathered here will result in a automatic lifetime ban from the site and referral (including e-mail) to the NYS DEC.

9) Adkhighpeaks Foundation Forums forbids the discussion of trespassing along any property that is posted as private. Private ownership is one of the foundations that made this country great and is to be respected at all times in the open forum. Trespassing is considered a criminal violation, and taken seriously here. If you were given permission, by an owner or leaseholder of private property, to cross said property and make reference or discussion of in an open thread, YOU MUST CLEARLY INDICATE that the route is not public and permission was granted.

MODERATION:
Moderation is done on a volunteer basis and moderators are chosen because they have a firm understanding of the culture within this site. Moderators do the best they can in interpreting the overall vision of the Foundation. Therefore, I would respectfully act that members not berate them, not harass them, or treat them unfairly. If you feel they’ve made an error in their tasks, you are welcome to bring the issue to the Administrators of the forums. Chances are good that they will side with the moderators, but you can always give it a try.

We reserve the right to remove offensive material or ban members with or without warning. We will almost always attempt to correct the situation before taking the drastic step of banning someone. However, it is not always required. Moderators cannot ban members, only the administrators can.

Finally, have fun and be yourself. We are all here because of our passion and love of the Adirondacks and this forum is not only place to seek specific answers to Adirondack questions, but also a place to share our knowledge and stories in a comfortable, relaxed and friendly setting. For some, myself specifically, this place is my “spiritual Adirondacks,” when I cannot physically be there.

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the Adkhighpeaks Foundation Forums.

Adkhighpeaks Foundation Staff
Tim Dubois, Neil Luckhurst, Dick Hihn and Jack Coleman