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Rensselaer Land Trust and Rensselaer Plateau Alliance announce steps to merge

Together, we write from the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance (RPA) and Rensselaer Land Trust (RLT), with good news for the land, water, people, and ecosystems of Rensselaer County. 

After years of parallel and collaborative conservation work, we are excited to announce that our two organizations have begun taking steps to merge. As you may know, RPA and RLT have explored merging in the past. Today, the time is right for both groups.

As a merged organization, with the skills, knowledge, assets, and member support of both land trusts, we will be able to go even further on behalf of this land we all love. Joining forces will advance and strengthen our mutual goal of conserving the natural areas of Rensselaer County—and engaging a community of people who care as you do.

Both RLT and RPA have incredibly dedicated supporters, members, and volunteers. We hope and trust that you will join us on this journey—and that together we will make even greater strides on behalf of our local ecology and our future generations.

Next steps for our two organizations include due diligence to review land management, legal, and financial responsibilities. The merger itself will take a year or more to complete and we will keep you updated and engaged as we move forward.

Once the merger is final, the new organization will undergo a rebranding process with input from our members and supporters. As always, your ideas and energy will help to guide the next steps for conservation in Rensselaer County.

All conserved lands of both organizations will remain protected, forever.

Great programs like Rensselaer Youth Outdoors, the Tomhannock Rural Land Campaign, and the RLT/RPA joint volunteer Trail Crew—and all the momentum built over the years for land conservation—will continue and grow.

We’re excited about this new adventure—and the opportunity to increase the pace of conservation in Rensselaer County even more, at a time when it could not be more vital.

If you have any questions at any point in this process, please reach out to Jim Bonesteel (jim@rensselaerplateau.org or 518-712-9211) or Bob Crowley (crowleyrh@aol.com or 518-659-5263)

Yours in conservation,

Deb Balliet

Outgoing Executive Director

Rensselaer Land Trust

READ DEB's MESSAGE TO RLT MEMBERS

Bob Crowley

Board President

Rensselaer Land Trust

Jim Bonesteel

Executive Director

Rensselaer Plateau Alliance

Fred McCagg

Board President

Rensselaer Plateau Alliance

About Our Organizations

The Rensselaer Land Trust was founded in 1987 with a mission to conserve the open spaces, watersheds, and natural habitats of Rensselaer County, NY for the benefit of our communities and future generations. 

The Rensselaer Plateau Alliance was founded in 2008 with a mission to work with the community to promote and facilitate the conservation of the Rensselaer Plateau’s undeveloped and unfragmented forests and other ecologically important areas. 

Collectively, the two organizations have conserved more than 15,000 acres of forests and open space in Rensselaer County. In 2019, RPA and RLT worked together to conserve the 76-acre Poesten Kill Bends preserve in the City of Troy. Both organizations have achieved national accreditation by meeting high standards for land protection, stewardship, and financial and organizational management. 

Frequently Asked Questions

When did RPA and RLT first begin discussing a merger?

RPA and RLT first explored merging 4 years ago. We decided not to merge at that time, but to continue to discuss and consider the possibility in the future. Today, the time is right for both organizations.

What will happen with RLT and RPA Conserved Land?

All land conserved by both organizations will remain conserved in perpetuity. Volunteer committees for community forests and other projects will remain intact. The new organization will continue all the great work begun by both organizations and ensure we can do even more for conservation in Rensselaer County.

Will there be any staff or leadership changes because of the merger?

All of RPA’s staff and leadership will remain in place. Some members of RLT's Board of Directors will join the new organization's Board. RLT does not currently have staff.

When will the merger be complete?

There is still a lot of due diligence before the merger can be completed. There is no date established. RPA and RLT have been partnering very closely and will begin to act together as a single organization.

What will the new, merged organization be called?

The new organization will undergo a re-branding process that will include community and stakeholder input. There is currently no new name selected.

I'd like to make a donation to one or both of these land trusts. Who should I donate to before the merger is complete?

You can continue to support either or both organizations. Your gift will support the work that both land trusts are doing together. We hope that if you've been donating to both organizations, you'll consider continuing to do so.

I have more questions or ideas I’d like to share. Who should I talk to?

Please reach out to Jim Bonesteel at 518-712-9211 or jim@rensselaerplateau.org or Bob Crowley at 518-659-5263 or crowleyrh@aol.com.

2022 President’s Message for the Rensselaer Land Trust

Message from the President

bob Crowley

Another year brings another President’s Message. This might begin with a rerun of RLT’s accomplishments over the past year, followed by the initiatives planned for the new year, followed by a reminder that everything RLT does depends on generous donations of time and money, followed by a THANK YOU to all our members and supporters.

I thought I’d focus on something different this time and use this message to remind us all of the truly remarkable inventory of outdoor recreation resources we have here in Rensselaer County and the ongoing conservation efforts/challenges that go along with those places. RLT is proud to be one of a number of organizations working to maintain these conservation goals while providing open space for the public. We’re all part of a diverse community working to make our environment healthy and, in turn, promote our society’s health through that environment.

Twenty years ago, the then Rensselaer-Taconic Land Conservancy (predecessor to RLT) published a 175-page “Guide to Natural Areas of Rensselaer County” which listed and described 35 natural areas/ parks/ preserves/ points of interest/ forests that were open to the public in our county. It’s interesting to note that only one RLT property, our Geiser Preserve in Taborton, was included on that list.

If we did that guide today (and there is an effort afoot to do just that) RLT’s properties would number 16 with 9 open to the public—but RLT is not the only organization contributing to this effort. Hiking access has expanded greatly at our State Parks in Grafton and Cherry Plain, the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance has created its community forests, and let’s not forget Troy’s Riverwalk. What greater natural asset could a community want than the Hudson River!? Moreover, there are many less visible but very important, parallel conservation efforts such as: RLT’s Water Quality Improvement Program (Tomhannock Rural Lands) conserving property around the Tomhannock Reservoir; the protection of the crucial watershed on the Rensselaer Plateau; private property owners who wish to conserve their land through conservation easements; the weekly work of our volunteer trail crew . . . and the list goes on.

With all this comes the risk of taking these accomplishments for granted. And we’ve seen recently how tenuous some of our assumptions can be. It’s up to all of us to realize the work needs to go on and put that concept into action, whatever small (or large ) form that action might take. Just as we each need nourishment, energy, and exercise to thrive, this is true of the outdoor assets of Rensselaer County.

Let’s get out there and be a part of it.

Bob Crowley, President of Rensselaer Land Trust

Albany-Hudson Electric Trail Opens to the Public!

AHET December 2020 Opening Update 1 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.

2020 Newsletter/2019 Annual Report

Message from the President

bob Crowley 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.