Rensselaer Land Trust, one of the Capital Region’s leading land conservation organizations, announces that Troy resident John Winter has been hired as its Executive Director. In this role, Mr. Winter will advance and expand RLT’s longstanding mission of protecting key lands and bringing people together through conservation.

As RLT’s new ambassador, Mr. Winter will spend the summer months engaging supporters and partners as the organization continues its preparation of a countywide land conservation plan. Once completed, the plan will guide RLT in its conservation priorities over the coming years.

“We are very excited to welcome John to the RLT family,” says Board President Kristina Younger. "He represents all we had in mind when we sought a leader to guide us into our fourth decade as a conservation organization. John is a natural people person and an experienced and enthusiastic champion of conservation. We are looking forward to a bright future with him.”

Mr. Winter has a Masters of Environmental Management degree from Duke University. He has experience in land trust management having previously served as executive director of two land trusts in New York. He also has experience in conservation finance, corporate social responsibility, and public housing.

"I am grateful to RLT’s Board of Directors for trusting me with this important role," says Mr. Winter. "Our land and water here in Rensselaer County mirror our people – hard-working, diverse, and generous with their gifts. I look forward to connecting with RLT’s many friends and to making new friends for land and water conservation.”

Learn more at John's staff bio here.

Rensselaer Land Trust has received a $7000 grant through the New York State Conservation Partnership Program to support the expansion of the Mud Lake Preserve in Sand Lake.  The Conservation Partnership Program (a partnership between the Land Trust Alliance and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, with funding from the Environmental Protection Fund) announced $1.8 million in grants awarded to land trusts across the state.

The Rensselaer Land Trust was one of 58 nonprofit land trusts in New York to receive a grant award this year from this program.

Funding will support the transaction costs associated with the purchase of a parcel last year that expands the Mud Pond Preserve in Sand Lake - home to one of the few remaining kettle bog wetland complexes in Rensselaer County. The purchase itself of the new parcel was funded through a generous private contribution that will be honored at an event in September.  The Preserve will be renamed in honor of the donor's family. Stay tuned!

We thank the State Legislature and Governor Cuomo for their support of increased funding for the Conservation Partnership Program and the Environmental Protection Fund.

Rensselaer Land Trust is the recipient of two stewardship planning grants through the Hudson River Estuary Program of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation totaling $85,000.  The grants are funded from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund.  

A $50,000 grant will promote better protection of water quality in western Rensselaer County by identifying locations of non-point sources of pollution that may threaten human health. The grant will fund water sampling by citizen scientists and lab testing for enterococcus, a bacterial indicator of fecal contamination. Additional testing will be done at certain locations to determine the presence of hormones, pharmaceuticals, detergents, personal care products, flame retardants and other compounds that can impact fish and human health. Water samples will be collected from Hudson River tributaries in Troy, Rensselaer, North Greenbush, East Greenbush, Schodack, Castleton, and Sand Lake. Rensselaer Land Trust is partnering with the Hudson River Estuary Program, River Haggie Outdoors, Watershed Assessment Associates, LLC, and U.S. Geological Survey, with Riverkeeper providing technical advice.

The second grant for $35,000 will augment other funding for a Rensselaer County Conservation Plan, which will include an inventory and map of the natural resources and significant open spaces and landscape features of Rensselaer County, such as water resources, wildlife habitat, scenic areas, lands valued by communities, and lands offering resilience to climate change. This project will then assess which lands contribute most to these resources and features, and produce a Conservation Plan that will help Rensselaer Land Trust and others to focus their conservation projects where they will have the most impact. Rensselaer Land Trust is partnering on this project with the Hudson River Estuary Program, Hudson River Valley Greenway, Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, Agricultural Stewardship Association, Louis & Hortense Rubin Community Fellowship Program, Open Space Institute, and Ecological Intuition & Medicine.