On a drizzly Saturday morning, 77 volunteers gathered at a capped landfill just north of the Town of Indian Lake and got to work. By noon, they had planted more than 5,800 native plants across an eight-acre site, a milestone moment in an ongoing effort to transform one of the Adirondacks’ most unlikely landscapes into a thriving pollinator meadow.
The event, hosted by AdkAction in partnership with the Town of Indian Lake, marked the largest planting effort to date in a three-year demonstration project funded by $124,396 from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Adirondack Community Smart Growth Grant Program. The project is the first of its kind in the Adirondack Park, and aims to show how the more than 100 capped landfills across the region, most of which sit as mowed, grass-covered fields, can be reimagined as meaningful habitat for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
The planting day took place at the start of National Pollinator Week and built on test plots established at the site in 2025. Native species were selected by consulting ecologist Steve Langdon in collaboration with AdkAction and the Town of Indian Lake, with an eye toward plants that will provide nectar, pollen, and shelter for pollinators throughout the growing season.
The Indian Lake landfill was capped nearly 30 years ago under the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, which ended dumping in the Adirondacks. That same clay cap that sealed the site also shapes what can grow there: only shallow-rooted plants are suitable, which makes a native wildflower meadow not just a creative choice but a practical one. Seasonal mowing will continue on a pollinator-friendly schedule. The site’s open, sunny conditions, a byproduct of the landfill’s history, are well-suited for the native meadow plants taking root there.
“The transformation of a capped landfill to a pollinator garden could only be achieved through engagement, cooperation, and volunteerism,” said Indian Lake Town Supervisor Brian Wells. “It was an amazing number of volunteers for this project who braved the elements to plant an astonishing amount of native meadow plants. We look forward to a thriving environment that benefits the pollinators along with all who wish to enjoy nature.”
Volunteers came from across the region, motivated by a shared concern for pollinator populations, which are declining due to habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and disease. Pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of more than 85% of the world’s flowering plants, including many crops that people rely on for food.
AdkAction Executive Director Sawyer Bailey said the Indian Lake project offers a replicable blueprint for revitalizing closed landfills and similar underutilized spaces, not just in the Adirondacks but across rural America.
“Capped landfills are sitting in communities across the country, mowed and maintained but serving no ecological purpose,” said Bailey. “What we’ve shown in Indian Lake is that these spaces can become something alive, something that supports biodiversity, engages communities, and helps address the pollinator crisis. We hope this project becomes a roadmap that other Adirondack towns and rural communities far beyond the Park can follow.”
When complete in 2027, the site will feature a path with interpretive signage and scenic views of the surrounding mountains from the top of the landfill. The Town of Indian Lake is also establishing the Friends of the Indian Lake Pollinator Project, a volunteer stewardship group to support the ongoing care of the site. Community members interested in helping with summer watering or longer-term stewardship can contact Christine Pouch at [email protected].
AdkAction is also planning a Fall seeding event at the site later this year. Details will be announced in the coming months.
The project is supported by Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Hamilton County, in addition to the NYS DEC Smart Growth Grant.
