The Rensselaer Land Trust is pleased to announce Christine Young, Esq. as our new Executive Director. Christine has been providing Rensselaer Land Trust with pro bono legal counsel for the past one and a half years, assisting with negotiations, meetings and drafting conservation easement documents. Christine is a Cum Laude graduate of Albany Law School. She also holds a MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh Scotland and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Christine's professional affiliations include the Land Trust Alliance, New York State Bar Association, Rensselaer County Bar Association, Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Estate Planning Council of Eastern New York, and Capital Region Bankruptcy Bar Association.

The Rensselaer Land Trust, with the help of volunteers from the Junior National Honor Society, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Appalachian Mountain Club, Town of Hoosic Falls, and individuals from the community, planted 300 trees at our Hoosic River public boat launch and fishing access site on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Special thanks are due to Brunswick Agway on RT 7 for donating tree fertilizer and to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the trees. The site is located between Buskirk and Eagle Bridge on RT 67 in Northern Rensselaer County. The property is owned in fee by the Rensselaer Land Trust with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation holding the public access and fishing rights easement. This project is an example of what small local land trusts, such as the Rensselaer Land Trust, working in cooperation with the State and local communities can achieve for the benefit of the people of Rensselaer County and the State of New York.

RENSSELAER LAND TRUST HOOSIC RIVER COMMUNITY BOATING & FISHING DAY!

On Saturday, July 31, the Rensselaer Land Trust held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a boat launch built on conserved farm land along the Hoosic River between Buskirk and Eagle Bridge. The project was a team effort between the Land Trust and the state Department of Environmental Conservation with funding provided by the state Attorney General's Office through a settlement resulting from the 2001 Oak Mitsui chemical spill.

The site is a mile and a half east of Buskirk on Route 67.  It is open to rooftop boats only.  Many of the visitors took advantage of the fine weather to launch their kayaks and canoes to play on the river.  There was also a fly fishing competition.  The highlight of the ceremony was State Sen. Roy McDonald teaching Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino how to cast for fish.

Here are links to writeups about the event in the Troy Record and the Albany Times Union