Message from the President

I’ve now had the pleasure of being President of your Land Trust for two years and have been pondering the one most important message I want to share with you in this Annual Report. The background for this comes from a list of accomplishments we generated to prepare our video presentation for the virtual Annual Meeting. With just a first draft, we were at no less than 40 tangible accomplishments over the past year! We all know that RLT is involved in a wide range of conservation activities but I was really surprised at how many we found when we put them all in one place. So, what does all this have to do with my message?

The message I want to send is to amplify as much as I can that YOU made all the items on this list happen…you might not know much about some of the items, but YOU are responsible for their success.

And, taking that idea a bit farther, I want to encourage you also to amplify and let other people know what you, through your Land Trust, have achieved. You have provided support for years….. you’ve provided financial support…. you’ve responded as volunteers. Now, my most important message is for you to be sure and take credit for all you’ve achieved so far and will continue to accomplish in the future.   

Some of these accomplishments are large, some small… some readily visible and some behind the scenes, but they all are here now, and were not here before you, acting through your Land Trust, enabled these things to happen. So, when you read the Annual Report or receive our Emails or notice RLT mentioned in the news or view one of our informative videos, remember YOU made these things happen.

Along with success comes responsibility and in our case that takes the form of stewarding and maintaining the new properties we are engaged in. Our Year End Fundraising Campaign focuses on fulfilling this responsibility and I’m confident you will be generous with your support…after all….you always have.

Sincerely,
Bob Crowley, RLT President

From the Executive Director

Like so many aspects of regular life, many of your land trust’s 2020 activities were cancelled due to health and safety concerns from COVID-19 pandemic. What wasn’t cancelled was RLT’s commitment to get people outdoors and into nature. We kept your much-needed nature preserves open and available for respite and recreation throughout the year – which turned out to be vital after so many recreation facilities closed to visitors. We thank you for your patience and support as we navigate these challenging times. And we especially thank the heroic front-line workers who have been keeping us safe these many months.

Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw us making more land available for open space, habitat protection, and climate change mitigation with the opening of the 45-acre Featherweald Preserve in Buskirk, the acquisition of 57-acre Palmer Road Preserve in Schodack, and just before year-end the opening of the Empire State Trail parking area, also in Schodack. All have since become great places to get outdoors. We also worked closely with municipal leaders to identify land conservation opportunities in their communities.

As always, we thank you for continuing to support land conservation in Rensselaer County in 2020. Through your financial donations, volunteer time, and enthusiasm you have shown us how important conservation is to you. We are grateful for the chance to do this important work on your behalf.

We look forward to seeing you out on the trails and invite you to ask questions, make suggestions, and otherwise let us know how we’re doing.

With gratitude,
John Winter

On December 30, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail (AHET), a 36-mile bicycling and hiking route from the City of Rensselaer in Rensselaer County to the Town of Greenport in Columbia County, is complete and open to the public. The Hudson River Valley Greenway constructed the project, which is part of the statewide Empire State Trail. Most of the AHET Trail is an off-road “rail trail” built on an historic electric trolley corridor, now owned by National Grid which donated authorization to NYS to construct the trail. The remainder of the AHET route is designated along public roadways.

NYS has created a comprehensive Empire State Trail website which provides detailed AHET trail segment descriptions: https://empiretrail.ny.gov/. The website includes an online map allowing visitors to zoom in to see the precise trail route, including asphalt and stonedust trail sections, on-road connections, designated parking areas, and nearby attractions.

Read more: Albany-Hudson Electric Trail Opens to the Public!

Message from the President

I’ve had the pleasure of serving as RLT President for almost a year and I must say, it has been quite an education in everything from Acquisition of land to running Zoom meetings. While that’s all been interesting, the most remarkable part of representing RLT is continuing to encounter a wider range of people committed to promoting conservation than I had ever imagined existed. Here are some examples of who I’m talking about: the Johnson family who graciously donated our Featherweald Nature Preserve; the Hudson Valley Greenway which RLT aided in developing the Albany Hudson Electric Trail; volunteers who devote every Wednesday to improving trails throughout the county; donors who entrust RLT with their thousands of dollars of financial support; community members who generously donate their weekends for everything from building bridges to painting houses to expanding parking lots; local government officials who see the value in RLT’s work; neighbors who (usually) enjoy and thank us for open spaces we maintain; donors who entrust RLT with fifty dollars of financial support; members of the former Schodack Area Land Trust who have joined forces with RLT and the list could go on and on…but I think you see my point.

Read more: 2020 Newsletter/2019 Annual Report