© Nancie Battaglia
update Spring 2020
In March, Adirondack Land Trust staffers Megan Zack, land protection manager, and Becca Halter, stewardship specialist, explored five acres of future Forest Preserve purchased by the land trust on Upper Saranac Lake.
Wild Shoreline Protected on Upper Saranac
E
arlier this year the Adirondack Land Trust purchased five acres of forest on Upper Saranac Lake to ensure that the shoreline between Indian Carry and Indian Point remains forever wild. We are now working to transfer the land to New York State to close a gap in the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, which is protected under the forever wild clause of New York’s constitution as part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
“I’m sure my father would be very happy to hear that this land is going to Forest Preserve,” said Ed Petty, of Canton, NY, son of pioneering Adirondack conservationist Clarence Petty. “He thought it was a great place because it was surrounded by state land.” Clarence and his brother Bill Petty, who was once the state’s regional environmental director for much of the Adirondacks, spent the first years of their lives on Forest Preserve just south of this tract, until 1908, when the New York Forest, Fish & Game Commission ended
the practice of squatting on state land, and the Petty family moved to nearby private land. In 1952 Bill purchased the inholding, which is accessible only by foot or, because of rocky shoals, by canoe. Bill hoped to build a retirement cabin there, but he worked into his 70s and never found time. The land changed hands several times, and the Adirondack Land Trust acquired the property in January for $200,000. The purchase was made possible by donations to the land trust’s Wild Adirondacks Fund. Indian Carry and Indian Point are named for Abenaki residents who had settlements at the southern end of Upper Saranac Lake and along the portage to the Raquette River until the early 20th century, according to the 2019 book Rural Indigenousness: A History of Iroquoian and Algonquian Peoples of the Adirondacks, by Melissa Otis. Now this part of the Adirondacks is along the path of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a 740-mile route of paddling and portaging from Old Forge, NY, to northern Maine. spring 2020 | 1
BOARD MEMBERS
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT THE ADIRONDACKS?
Bill Paternotte, Chair Jonathan S. Linen, Vice Chair David Henle, Treasurer Barbara Glaser, EdD, Secretary Stephen H. Burrington Executive Committee Member Kevin Arquit Barbara Bedford, PhD David Brunner Charles Canham, PhD Lee Keet Joe Martens Vinny McClelland Amy McCune, PhD Elizabeth McLanahan Peter S. Paine, Jr. Holly Rippon-Butler Anne C. Stuzin Kip Testwuide Julie Willis Advisory Directors Tim Barnett Mike DiNunzio Bill McKibben Amy Vedder, PhD Chairs Emeriti Lionel O. Barthold James C. Dawson, PhD Harry Groome Edward W. McNeil Charles O. Svenson STAFF Bill Brown, Conservation Manager Mike Carr, Executive Director Kimberly Corwin Gray, Donor Relations Manager Becca Halter, Stewardship Specialist Henrietta Jordan, Conservation Assistant Doug Munro, Stewardship Manager Susie Runyon, Finance and Office Manager Mary Thill, Communications Manager Nancy Van Wie, Director of Philanthropy Kathy Woughter, Philanthropy Assistant Megan Zack, Land Protection Manager 2861 NYS Route 73 PO Box 130 , Keene, NY 12942 (518) 576-2400 info@adirondacklandtrust.org adirondacklandtrust.org
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We recently asked our supporters and friends to tell us what about the Adirondacks you hold most dear, and here we share the words that appeared most in your responses. Thank you for giving us hope and inspiration to keep working for the things all people need and love. Keep in Touch Sign up for e-news by contacting us at info@adirondacklandtrust.org. You’ll receive regular emails about field trips, volunteer work, and conservation news about Adirondack lands, waters and communities. Whether you are an Adirondacker or Adirondacker at heart, you can share your nature breaks with us, see us at work, and get conservation news at @adklandtrust and @adirondacklandtrust
CELEBRATING COON MOUNTAIN’S TRAILS ©Nancie Battaglia
Steve Ovitt, owner of Wilderness Property Management, checks a re-rerouted section of the Hidden Valley Trail at the Adirondack Land Trust’s Coon Mountain Preserve.
Land trusts have always considered trails to be essential social infrastructure. Trails are a community resource, allowing us to stay healthy and find peace in nature. Three years ago when we began to rebuild the trails at our Coon Mountain Preserve, in Westport, we didn’t know how much we would appreciate them today. At 1 p.m. Saturday, June 27, the Adirondack Land Trust plans to hold a re-opening of Coon Mountain’s trails. It’ll be just a brief celebration at the trailhead—the trails are already open and available to enjoy. But we will acknowledge those who have cared for this special place across the ages, and those who recently made it possible to rethink and rebuild trails so that more people can enjoy the outdoors with less impact. Wilderness Property Management, of North Creek, did the recent trail work, which was funded in part by a grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund administered by the Land Trust Alliance. That grant was leveraged by an outpouring of community support in the form of matching contributions from 21 households, the Ellen Lea Paine Memorial Nature Fund, and the Fields Pond Foundation.
We will unveil a new trailhead kiosk designed by Adirondack Research, in Saranac Lake, and built by Plan B Woodworking, in Newcomb. Then we’ll hit the trails, with two hiking options: • Staff will lead trips on the Summit Trail (1.4-mile round trip). This trail is rich in spring wildflowers and ascends ~500 feet, including a steep ravine, to views of the Champlain Valley’s patchwork of farms and forests.
Coon Mountain Preserve Ribbon Cutting and Field Trips 1 p.m. Saturday, June 27
• A guest naturalist will lead a walk on the Hidden Valley Trail (.9-mile loop). This rolling trail crosses a small brook and meanders through a maturing forest of hemlock, beech, maple and oak. ----Timing and other details will be available at AdirondackLandTrust.org. In the meantime, if you have questions please contact Kimberly Corwin Gray, donor relations manager, at kimberly.gray@adirondacklandtrust.org or (518) 524-0205. If you think you will participate, please let us know as we may have to limit attendance or change plans according to weather, and health and safety guidance.
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Agriculture
The Spaulding Family: 200 Years of Farming In 1801, Stephen Spaulding cleared a three-acre fallow in southern Essex County. A year later, he and his wife and their three children left their home in Vermont, crossed Lake Champlain, and moved into a small log cabin. They were the first family to settle in the town of Crown Point. “They were farmers,” says Chris Spaulding, a descendant who still farms in Crown Point, although he works closer to 700 acres. Chris, with some help from his two sons and one full-time employee, runs Maple Lawn Farm. You can find milk from their 160 grass-fed cows in supermarkets, in Organic Valley cartons. Farming in Essex County is challenge. “Dairy farms are under siege,” Chris says. Low milk prices, trade disputes and other factors cut the number of small-to-midsize dairy farms by 25 percent across New York State between 2012 and 2017, according to the most recent agricultural census data. Chris has made sure that at least 113 acres of his land will stay in farming through a conservation easement with the Adirondack Land Trust. The easement helps ensure continued agricultural use of the land, including raising and pasturing cows, haying and some timber harvesting. “I’m a conservationist’s dream because I’m a total grass farm—no runoff, no tillage, no anything,” Chris says. He’s considering putting more of his farmland under conservation easement, including a field with osprey nesting platforms and sweeping views of Lake Champlain.
Caring for the Land, Forever In order to entrust our lands to future generations, we’ve got to take care of them first. Many Adirondack farmers have taken this to heart in their role as stewards of our soils and waters. It is rewarding to partner with farmers such as Chris Spaulding, who manages part of his land under a conservation easement. Every conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement with individual landowners, and each is tailored to protect different conservation values. All conservation easements are perpetual and stay with the land even if it is sold. With agricultural conservation easements, the goal is usually continued farming and preventing subdivision for other uses while allowing farmers to provide homesites for their family and employees. Easements can provide farmers with tax benefits, and they may help ease the transfer of operations to the next generation.
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The Next Generation The Essex County Farmland Protection Board received a grant from New York State’s Department of Agriculture and Markets in 2019 to develop a plan to protect working farms throughout the county and create opportunities for new farmers. This project is also taking a broader look at how farms interplay with larger food systems. Chris Spaulding in Maple Lawn Farm’s milking barn.
According to 2017’s Agriculture Census, half of the county’s farmers are at retirement age. With an estimated 196 farms covering more than 49,000 acres in Essex County, many farmers are considering the future of their land.
© ALT/Erika Bailey; ALT/John Davis (above, left and right)
Since its founding in 1984, the Adirondack Land Trust has partnered with farmers to protect 19 working farms totaling 7,116 acres, most of them in the Champlain Valley, the Adirondack Park’s primary concentration of agricultural lands. Now, with a new grant from the Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Adirondack Land Trust is partnering with Essex County and agriculturalsupport organizations to protect and promote local farms by conducting outreach to farmers and providing resources such as professional services for financial and successional planning. Outreach activities will include targeted mailings, workshops, one-on-one consultations and farm tours. The land trust is also working with Essex County to inventory viable agricultural lands.
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O rg anizational U pdates
Adirondack Land Trust Staff Grows by Two Kathy Woughter, Philanthropy Assistant Kathy Woughter plays a major role in building support for the Adirondack Land Trust’s mission, and in connecting people to different aspects of conservation work. Before moving to the Adirondacks in 2019, Woughter worked in higher education in Western New York, most recently as Vice President of Student Affairs at Alfred University. Woughter has won awards as an ally for diversity and cultural unity, and she is eager to continue this work in the North Country. Outside of work, she can be found hiking, cycling, kayaking and snowshoeing, or feeding her addiction to books. She and her husband, Bob, brought their two sons to the Adirondacks when they were growing up, and one is an assistant forest ranger with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Bob is the principal of Keene Central School.
Megan Zack, Land Protection Manager Megan leads the Adirondack Land Trust’s efforts to work with communities, landowners and partners to protect critical lands and waters. She was born and raised in Northeast Pennsylvania and spent summers in the Adirondacks with her parents and two sisters on Balfour Lake in Minerva, near where her mother grew up. Zack earned a B.A. in environmental studies from George Washington University and an M.S. in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University. After working for The Conservation Fund in Pennsylvania for several years, she is excited to join the Adirondack Land Trust and set down roots where her mother’s family has lived for over 150 years. Outside of work, she can be found at music festivals and concerts, and finding new trails with her dog, Ziggy.
We Welcome New Directors Vincent McClelland Vinny McClelland, of Keene Valley, NY, has been exploring and working in the Adirondacks most of his life. After earning a forestry degree from the University of Vermont, McClelland worked in land-use planning in Alaska and the Adirondacks, and ran the family business, The Mountaineer, in Keene Valley. He works with the timberland, consulting and real estate marketing groups at LandVest. McClelland serves on the board of Champlain National Bank and the Adirondack Landowners Association, and heads the Keene Food Pantry and the Adirondack Foundation’s #507 Fund in support of the Adirondack High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program. He has three children with his wife, Barbara, and enjoys chasing them climbing, hiking and backcountry skiing. Holly Rippon-Butler Holly Rippon-Butler is the land access program director for the National Young Farmers Coalition, a grassroots network of farmers and ranchers that advocates for policy change, builds farmer networks and provides business services to help young farmers succeed. From her first job at an apple orchard, to positions with regional and national land conservation 6 | spring 2020
organizations, Rippon-Butler has focused on food, farmland protection and policy. She grew up hiking and skiing in the Adirondacks. Since receiving a master’s degree in sustainable land use and agriculture, she has split her time between her family’s multigeneration dairy and beef farm in Schuylerville, NY; the Champlain Valley area, where she established her craft ice cream business, Farmers Cone Creamery; and travel to work with farmers, policy makers and land trusts. When not thinking about farming and land, she is most likely scheming about outdoor adventures or eating ice cream. Anne C. Stuzin Anne Stuzin, of Keene, NY, and Baltimore, MD, is a civic volunteer. A career in advertising and communications took Stuzin to New York, Los Angeles and San rancisco prior to Baltimore. She now serves on the boards of the Young Victorian Theatre Company and Roland Park Civic League, and she does freelance photography for a number of nonprofit organizations. Originally from Fairfield County, CT, she spent her childhood in Vermont, where a love for the outdoors was nurtured. She discovered the Adirondacks as a college student at Skidmore, spending winter terms instructing skiing at Gore Mountain. Family vacations in the High Peaks later reconnected her to the region. Stuzin has three children with her husband, Ken, originally an upstate New Yorker. She is excited to be three hikes away from becoming a 46er.
Our open space is your personal space
2020 Field Trips and Workdays Glenview Preserve, on Harrietstown Hill. © Jenna Cook (above)
The Adirondack Land Trust invites you to get outside with us this spring and summer at our preserves and other conservation sites. Together we hope to hike, do trailwork, plant pollinator habitat and share the peace of wildlands and wide open spaces.
Saturday, June 6
Wednesday, August 26
National Trails Day – Light trailwork, garlic mustard removal Coon Mountain Preserve, Westport
Paddle and portage to Lows Lake conservation easement and Forest Preserve addition (strenuous) Lows Lake, Near Tupper Lake (Canoes provided, $40 rental fee per person)
Saturday, June 27
Grand re-opening of trails, naturalist-led walk, summit hike Coon Mountain Preserve, Westport
Wednesday, July 15
Workday – Site cleanup and light trailwork Future Forest Preserve Addition, Town of Jay
Wednesday, July 22
Moderate hike on the private Forever Wild site of our first conservation easement Streeter Pond, Near Brant Lake
Wish List
Saturday, October 24
Workday – Pollinator habitat seeding Glenview Preserve, Harrietstown For details, see adirondacklandtrust.org. To sign up or learn more, please contact Kimberly Corwin Gray at Kimberly.Gray@adirondacklandtrust.org or (518) 524-0205. All events are subject to weather, group size limits, and changes in health and safety guidance.
Donations of all kinds make our work possible. The Adirondack Land Trust is always in need of field gear to help care for conserved lands. Support of this nature is considered a gift-in-kind and is eligible for tax deductions under charitable giving as defined by the IRS. For more information, please contact Nancy Van Wie, director of philanthropy, nancy.vanwie@adirondacklandtrust.org, (518) 817-9244.
Field Equipment • Trail Cameras • Survey Compass • Snow & Nealley
Hudson Bay Ax • Post-Hole Digger • Loppers
Bigger Wishes • Bow Saw • Silky Saw • Pole Saw • Skill Saw • Saw Horses • Weed Whacker
• Conference room display screen
and camera • Hybrid sedan for staff travel • Small outboard boat and trailer
for monitoring conservation easements
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PO Box 130, Keene, NY 12942
update Spring 2020
In this issue • Get Outside: Field Trips • Focus on Family Farms • New Faces of Conservation
Save the Date
The Great Lawn Paul Smith’s College Saturday, August 15 1 p.m. Featured speaker: Charles Canham, forest ecologist and author of the new book Forests Adrift: Currents Shaping the Future of Northeastern Trees Walks and field trips to follow
Adirondack Land Trust
Annual Meeting
Summer is traditionally the time to bring people together to celebrate the wonder of the Adirondacks. We are following the best available guidance for gatherings and will adjust or cancel plans as needed to protect the health of our communities and friends. Find updates on adirondacklandtrust.org, or subscribe to e-news by sending us a message at info@adirondacklandtrust.org