560 acres to be protected for recreation, education, habitat restoration
Austerlitz is one step closer to getting a new Community Forest, thanks to a $3.5M grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Open Space Conservation Grant program!
The future Austerlitz Community Forest is a 560-acre property with steep forests, a pond, two swamps, and nearly a mile of streams that drain into the Green River. With a successful fundraising campaign, CLC will secure the property, protect it from development, care for it in perpetuity, and build a community of volunteers inspired to manage it.
“The funds from this grant will make it possible to purchase the land, but conservation doesn’t stop there,” says President Troy Weldy. “CLC needs members of our community to step up to support this project and help reach our fundraising goal, which will make it possible to open the property to the public and care for it for generations to come.”
“This project was identified as a top priority in The Plan to Conserve Columbia County,” says Terence Duvall, Director of Conservation Programs. “The property is home to climate-resilient forests and wetlands and is part of a block of conserved forests and wetlands that’s nearly 10,000 acres in size. Developing this land would have fragmented a crucial wildlife corridor.”
The Austerlitz Community Forest would be CLC’s second property of this type. A community forest is a conservation model in which land is permanently protected and managed in partnership with community members. CLC pioneered this approach with the Taghkanic Community Forest. Rather than managing the land solely through staff, CLC establishes a committee of trained volunteers who help design trails, participate in habitat restoration, monitor ecological health, and make shared decisions about land care. CLC provides technical guidance and conservation expertise, and ultimately owns the land.
“This is another ambitious and innovative project by CLC that will benefit not just Austerlitz but all the surrounding towns for generations with a beautiful, conserved landscape,” says community member and neighbor Deb Lans.
To learn more about the project and other ways CLC is advancing The Plan to Conserve Columbia County, visit ColumbiaLand.org/progress.
