Fall updates

When the forest is quiet, a single squirrel can make so much noise that you think you’re sharing the trail with a much larger animal. They chitter and chatter, gnawing away at nuts and disturbing piles of leaves with their scurrying about. I’ve always been impressed by their willingness to take up space; their bravery in being seen and heard despite being such little creatures. It can be easier to slink through the forest on the bobcat’s silent paws, or glide through the dark of night like an owl. But the squirrels don’t shy away from noise – they seem to delight in their racket. It always makes me smile.

Squirrels can inspire strong feelings. We can chuckle as we watch their antics springing from branch to branch. Or we can gnash our teeth as they rob bird feeders or break into our attics to nest. Context is everything.

Sometimes we need solitude – quiet trails where the only sounds are the squirrels, the birds, perhaps our own breathing as we climb a hill. Sometimes we need connection – coming together with our friends to lighten our woes and spread our joy. Trails can be places we escape to, or landscapes we visit together.

Since CLC opened the first public property (Greenport, in 1994), some land management topics have been as polarizing as squirrels can be. What types of recreation are allowed? Is there such a thing as too many visitors? This year, a committee of staff and board members wrestled with those topics, gnawing away at them like squirrels with particularly nutty pinecones.

On quiet days when we seek solitude and a more wilderness-style experience, visit one of the Tranquil Oases. These properties, which include Borden’s in Chatham, Drowned Lands Swamp in Ancram, and Harris in Austerlitz, are quieter – you may be the only person on the trails. Amenities are more rustic. Signage is limited. Public programs held at these sites are relatively rare, and focus on low-impact activities and preserving sensitive habitats. Few projects are planned for these properties, with the exception of building a small wooden bridge at Harris to address issues with mud and protect sensitive seasonal streams.

Balanced Spaces celebrate all the landscape has to offer. Each is a little different, but all of them are home to multiple land uses and habitats. At Hand Hollow in New Lebanon, the level of water in the lake rises and falls depending on how busy the beavers – perhaps the only animal more polarizing than the squirrel? – have been. At Siegel-Kline Kill in Ghent, the fields are mowed by a local farmer, and the stream is stocked with trout for fishing. High Falls is both the most popular of all CLC properties, and also home to rare and sensitive plants. Future work at these sites is primarily focused on habitat management – forestry projects are underway at Schor and possibly at Hand Hollow. At High Falls, a project to increase seating at the overlook should help prevent trail traffic from damaging sensitive cliffside.

At Gathering Places, we come together to enjoy nature. These properties – Ooms in Chatham, Greenport just outside of Hudson, and Overmountain in Ancram – include more built features, like gazebos and picnic tables. They’re where CLC frequently hosts events like educational programs and workshops, and each has a habitat restoration project underway. Trails are more actively maintained and accessible. CLC has recently applied for grant funding to support significant improvements to each of these sites’ infrastructure and habitats. At Greenport, CLC hopes to expand the Access for All Trail along an existing corridor, and formalize a connection to the City of Hudson. At Ooms, access to Sutherland Pond will be improved by installing an ADA-accessible kayak launch and additional seating.

In the years to come, CLC will be using these three management styles to inform specific strategic plans for each of the ten properties currently open to the public, and for any new lands that are opened in the future. These plans are big-picture goals, and may be revised and adapted as time progresses.

In this way, creating these management plans isn’t so different from a squirrel preparing for winter: we do the best we can with what we have, and if the weather gets really cold, we forsake solitude and come together. Squirrels have notoriously poor memories, and scientists suspect that they never recover well over half the nuts they bury.

It’s easy to see this as a failure in terms of wasted nuts, useless effort, and a plan gone awry. But these aren’t wasted nuts – they’re future forests planted by tiny paws. I like to think of this as one of the lessons squirrels have to teach us. Alone, we can make a racket. Collectively, we can change the landscape.

Sincerely,
Troy Weldy
President

P.S. A gift of any amount before the end of the year would really help!