“Dan Plumley has been a tireless advocate for wilderness since the days he wore a ranger’s uniform, and the pace and commitments he set then have never slackened,” David Gibson, managing partner of Adirondack Wild, said in a press release. “We owe Dan a great debt of gratitude for the founding of Adirondack Wild, for the gains we’ve made over the past nine years, and for his achievements in wild land conservation over the past 37 years.

“In the short term we are reluctant to lose his knowledge, drive and spirit. Longer term, we know he will continue to make important contributions to the Adirondack region and to wilderness and cultural landscapes, both here and internationally.”

Plumley, a former forest ranger who lives in Keene, said he is not relocating and will continue to work on some Adirondack issues. But his new venture – which he said will likely be rolled out later this winter – will focus on bringing the successes of the Adirondack Park to more far-flung regions of the world.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I know I’m going to be fully engaged both in the Adirondacks and internationally,” Plumley said. “I’m literally in the design stage – of what I expect to announce in late February or early March at the latest – of a new format of environmental consultancy that fosters new partnerships and tackling unique issues in some new and exciting ways, with partners all over the world.

“I’ve been blessed with my Adirondack work … but in addition to that, I’ve had these amazing experiences sharing the Adirondack model in Siberia, Russia, Mongolia (and) with Chinese colleagues. The international component is going to pick up a little bit for me, but a lot of that is not necessarily going to involve me going away.”

Plumley said he wants to spread the idea of Adirondack conservation by “building a bigger table,” and that he also wants to expand on his conservation work with minorities, youth and Native American communities.

“I’ve been doing this for most of my career in not-for-profit,” he said. “The earliest I possibly could in my career, I took some focus on youth and minorities, and that’s expanded over the years. And I’ve found that really important.”

Plumley said he plans to continue to work with Adirondack Wild’s two other managing partners, Gibson and Ken Rimany – albeit in a different role.

“I won’t miss them, because in one sense, I’m going to be moving from the not-for-profit sector to a private consultant business,” he said. “I hope that my skill set and my spirit and my diligence and my enthusiasm will gain me some interesting projects through any number of not-for-profits that care about the Adirondack Park.”

Plumley said he’s got too much work he wants to do to consider this a semi-retirement, and plans to stay at his home in Keene.

“The bottom line is, I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m going to be doing more international work: I’m going to be in Siberia, and I’ll be in Mongolia and probably China.

“But I’m not leaving the Adirondacks. This is where my main bread and butter will have to be made.”