Never Needed More

Never Needed More 2019/2020 Annual Report Newsletter Open Space Goes Viral Dear Friends and Supporters, Over the past months, we’ve seen Here’s how HHLT is responding: Thank you for your continued support many of you out on the local trails, and engagement— not only to HHLT, but Protecting More Open Space: Increasing enjoying birdsongs and figuring out across all our communities’ needs. demand for open space will coincide who makes what sound in the woods. with increasing pressure to build more Please stay safe and healthy, and There is something about being cooped houses next to open spaces. We need to continue to enjoy the great outdoors as up inside, with everything closed, be creative with conservation financing we head into the summer of 2020. that heightens our curiosity about the solutions and municipal planning tools natural world and makes us appreciate With gratitude, to accommodate both. it all the more. Nancy Berner, Board Chair Increase Human Diversity as well Michelle Smith, Executive Director While everything was closed, at least as Biodiversity: We will broaden our open spaces were open. Well, except for work across a variety of stakeholders the ones that were closed. And they were by partnering with diverse closed because we live next to a city of Your support is more important communities and taking a critical eight million people who were also tired look at our own operations. now than ever. We know many of being stuck inside, and our popular trails “went viral” like never before. Technology Innovation: Throughout of you are donating time this crisis, we’ve seen that Open space is the one place where the and money to food security technological innovation can coronavirus does not have a stronghold. programs, small business overcome physical limitations. So, Sunlight, fresh air and space to distance too, with monitoring and stewardship recovery, and towns and cities frustrate the attempts of the virus to of protected lands. By using aerial leap from person to person. Plus, being across the Hudson Highlands monitoring tools, we can care for the in nature is a time-tested and proven land more effectively than ever. to help neighbors in need. therapy to relieve the stress of daily life. Community Engagement: Here, too, Thank you for supporting all Here’s what we know: technology is vital to keep us all • Open space is more highly valued the needs of our community— connected. We hope you are enjoying than ever, including protecting open our webinars and “Nature Time” videos. • More people want to be in it and Plus, we’re continuing to partner space—through this crisis. live near it, and with State Parks and the New York- • We need to make our great New Jersey Trail Conference on the landscapes more inclusive. Trail Steward Program, so critical to protecting our parks under the stresses of record-breaking popularity. | 1 Connecting Open Spaces for Wildlife and People Green Corridors in Action By connecting habitats, you are helping us ensure wildlife will be here for future generations. With your support, and partnering with our peers in presented itself to have this land preserved for everyone to conservation, we have several examples of connectivity enjoy, especially given its proximity to Fahnestock State Park, wins from the past year. we were very happy to work with Scenic Hudson and Hudson Highlands Land Trust to make this goal a reality.” First, we joined forces with Scenic Hudson in 2019 to protect around 50 acres in the North Highlands of Philipstown, Next, in 2020, we worked with Westchester Land Trust and adjoining Fahnestock State Park. We provided financing a visionary landowner to permanently protect more than and transaction support to Scenic Hudson so they could 40 acres next to Wonder Lake State Park in the Town of permanently protect this critical connection between Kent. Again, we employed a unique partnership model to Fahnestock and 345 acres we previously partnered with them bring together the human and financial resources of our two to conserve in East Fishkill—including 240 acres of woods and land trusts to work toward our shared goal—creating more wetlands along Wiccopee Creek and 105 agricultural acres linkages to our state parks for people, plants and animals. now sustaining the operations of historic Fishkill Farms. Part of the 50,000-acre Hudson Highlands forest block, the newly In this case, the partnership also created something deeper protected land provides key habitat for birds and certain for the landowner: a permanent legacy. threatened and endangered species, and is visible from the “I’m so happy that the Westchester Land Trust and Hudson Appalachian Trail. s people continue to settle in the be lost. With your support, we are You’ll be hearing more in the coming Highlands Land Trust protected this land,” said John AHudson Highlands, we change the working to conserve and protect months about how you can get involved “My wife and I have always appreciated the beauty and Armstrong, the landowner. “My family has had a connection wonder of nature and especially the Hudson Valley,” to the property for more than 60 years—I roamed its landscape by clearing vegetation, and key green corridors in the Hudson in efforts to secure these corridors. We said John Kincart. “Over the years, we assembled three wetlands and uplands when I was a boy. By protecting it, building houses and roads—creating Highlands—often in partnership with hope you will heed the call! parcels and for decades appreciated the rugged beauty you have given us a great legacy. Thank you.” a “patchwork quilt” of land uses that other conservation organizations and and spectacular vistas of this land. When the opportunity can be seen from ridgeline drives, agencies that HHLT has convened as the mountain trails, or the birds-eye New York Highlands Network. view from an airplane. Over time, natural areas have become separated from each other. But plants You Can Help Our Wildlife Thrive and animals can’t thrive in habitats that are fragmented. All species need large There are many ways you can help the efforts of the New York Highlands Network and connected areas of natural lands to so our wildlife can continue to move across the land and thrive. stay healthy and resilient, and wildlife Learn more and get involved with conservation efforts in your town, like the needs to move through these lands to Philipstown Comprehensive Plan update and/or Climate Smart Communities Task find food, shelter, and mates. Science Force, next steps for the Putnam Valley Natural Resources Inventory, and the shows that many birds and animals Cornwall-Blooming Grove Natural Heritage Project. can’t, or won’t, move across gaps of open space. The only way they will move is if You can also contribute to scientific research through community science separate patches are linked by what we projects like the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Monitoring and Managing call “green corridors.” Ash Trees, Globe at Night, or North American Butterfly Count. Your contributions of nature observations through nature Without these pathways connecting apps like iNaturalist, Seek and eBird can also make our parks and preserves, wildlife a big impact. You can find many more community populations will become smaller and science projects listed on the Community Greenways more isolated, sensitive species may Collaborative website (communitygreenways.org). disappear, and critical ecological services like plant pollination could 2 | | 3 Tech Tools Help Care for Our Land Our Exceptional Stewardship Volunteers Combining tried-and-true practices with new technology for better land stewardship. With a small staff, part of our on-the- “Volunteering on Granite Mountain gives me an opportunity ground stewardship efforts depends on to do something that I enjoy doing—being outdoors—and a the hard work of dedicated volunteers. chance to help enhance an outdoor experience for others. One of these volunteers, Jason Cohen, It’s a great place to spend time alone with one’s thoughts, has stepped up over the past year to or with friends and family.” Jason also encourages people make Granite Mountain an even better to visit the Preserve often to observe first-hand the seasonal nature preserve for the Putnam Valley variations: “Everyday on the trails is different!” community. As a lifelong Putnam Valley resident and a local Thank you to Jason, and to all our loyal volunteers, biology teacher, Jason has a particular affinity for Granite for working alongside us to protect and steward the Mountain. Witnessing a bald eagle soar over the mountain Hudson Highlands. one day last spring solidified that connection for him. For a complete list of volunteers, please see the online version If you’ve visited the Preserve recently, you may have of this report on our website (hhlt.org). encountered Jason on the trails. He’s spent countless hours blazing the new trails, clearing invasive species around the trail entrance and trailhead kiosk, monitoring and maintaining the trails, and simply offering a friendly face hirty years ago, when HHLT got that we can still meet our stewardship to help orient new hikers to the trails. Tits start, our staff monitored obligations, we adopted some exciting Do You Want to Become conserved lands by walking through new technology: aerial imagery. a Land Steward? forests and fields with landowners, Aerial imagery has been used by making notes with paper and pencil. We are always in need of enthusiastic land conservation organizations for a The only technology we used was a decade. In the early days, land trusts volunteers! We have ongoing volunteer compass, folding map, binoculars, sent their stewardship staff up in small needs at Granite Mountain Preserve and a 35-mm camera.

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