THANK YOU to the MANY generous community members that took action this summer to help us reach our $99,000 fundraising goal to purchase the 76-acre property along Poesten Kill Creek in Troy and Brunswick. As we approached our September 1 deadline for the property sale closing, we had an unwavering response from passionate supporters who wanted this urban natural area protected. This is a huge victory for land conservation in our area, THANK YOU!

Rensselaer Land Trust and Rensselaer Plateau Alliance are now co-owners of this beautiful riparian and woodland habitat, the largest undeveloped forest block in Troy. This natural oasis is an excellent place to offer educational programs and recreational opportunities to our communities today and in the future.

Poesten Kill Bends is located along the south shore of the Poesten Kill and much of the area is floodplain of this mid-sized river. Protecting natural areas like this property is a climate resiliency* strategy that needs to happen locally and globally. Many southern coastal cities are evacuating this week in the face of Hurricane Dorian's destructive rains and flooding and even more close to home, many communities in the Capital District have been hit hard this past month with significant flooding from heavy rains and high winds. Extreme weather pattern changes are becoming our new normal–protecting natural areas like Poesten Kill Bends from development is a key solution in helping communities and nature adapt to our changing climate.

Thankfully we have the support of our communities to ensure our conservation efforts of today will be relevant in the years to come.

Read more: We did it! New Urban Nature Preserve at Poesten Kill Bends in Troy and Brunswick

Rensselaer Land Trust (RLT) is pleased to announce that it has received two NYS Conservation Partnership Program grants. The NYS Conservation Partnership Program is funded by the state’s Environmental Protection Fund and administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Rensselaer Land Trust will use a $20,000 grant to support the preparation and implementation of a three-year fundraising and outreach plan that will help the land trust become more financially sustainable and better poised to achieve its goals. The grant will also support the hiring of a AmeriCorps/VISTA member who joined RLT in February.

RLT will use a $9,000 grant to support the training and outfitting of the joint Rensselaer Land Trust/Rensselaer Plateau Alliance Trail Crew to work on trail construction and maintenance projects on land trust preserves that are open to the public.

Read more: RLT Receives Two New York State Conservation Partnership Program Grants

The Board of Directors and Staff of the Rensselaer Land Trust recently developed a new strategic plan to guide our intentions and actions for 2019 to 2021. The plan includes 24 activities under three priorities:

1) Protecting Key Lands
2) Stewarding Land and Water for Conservation and Community
3) Building RLT for the Future

It also includes a set of performance indicators, implementation schedules, and a set of organizational values to guide our work.

As has been our history over the past 31 years, we seek to engage our members, conservation partners and allied organizations, government at all levels, and the citizenry in protecting the important land and water in Rensselaer County and the surrounding area. Together we can ensure that the high quality of life in our region is maintained and that the protection of open space and biodiversity is balanced with the need for economic growth for our community.

We invite you to join us as a volunteer, donor, or to become a Board member to help.

Click HERE to DOWNLOAD our eight page Strategic Plan.