2019 Annual report Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park The mission of Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park is to conserve ecological systems and natural settings, while providing opportunities for environmental education and outdoor recreation, working in partnership with the Town of Wilton, Saratoga County, The Nature Conservancy, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. 80 Scout Road, Wilton, NY 12831 518-450-0321 www.wiltonpreserve.org [email protected] Conservation Environmental Education Outdoor recreation Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park works with our Our environmental education program continues An important part of our mission is to encourage partners to support a wide range of conservation to grow as we work with schools and groups from people in our community to get outdoors and efforts in the Saratoga Sandplains Our partner, the Town of Wilton, Saratoga County, and beyond. experience the beauty and healthful benefits found NYS DEC takes the lead role in conservation At the end of 2019 we restructured our staffing in nature. We work closely with our partners to management,. This year saw Saratoga County which will allow us to work with more college help provide year round outdoor recreation by working with the DEC to create new Karner interns and to work more closely with schools, working with them in maintaining existing trails and butterfly habitat on County Forestland as part of camps, after school programs, and other groups helping to create new trails and linkages. This year, the airport mitigation project. from preschoolers through adults. the Town of Wilton and NYS DEC worked to com- Group programs are just one part of what we do. plete a connector trail along Scout Road. Our For the public, we offer nature walks and talks, volunteer trail stewards are dedicated to helping pond explorations and craft programs year-round. monitor the trails and assist in their upkeep. During the two broods of the Karner blue butter- fly, we have guided walks to educate about our best known species! We have an annual Wildlife Festival and bring our exhibits and hands-on activities to many community events and festivals. This year we received funding to bring outdoor painting workshops and musical performances in nature. We work with so many different community groups it is hard to list them all, but here is list of many of the groups we worked with in 2019: Outdoor recreation means different things to differ- We coordinate with our partners to provide sup- 4H, Academy for Lifelong Learning, BOCES, Boy ent people but it is all important! New York State port and manpower . We assisted with most of the Scouts, Colonie Youth Center; Franklin acknowledges the importance through many of its year’s projects with our Environmental Education Community Center’s Project Lift, Gavin Park, Girl plans and initiatives and we are proud to be able to and Conservation Interns and volunteers. Scouts, Hudson Crossing Park, Malta Community help get people outdoors. We see people using the Karner blue butterfly monitoring Center, Moreau Lake State Park, the Prevention Preserve & Park to go on a nature walk, go bird Blanding’s Turtle Research Project Council, Saratoga Spa State Park, the Saratoga Reptile Monitoring watching, get out to photograph nature, for walking Springs Public Library, Skidmore College outdoors for themselves and for their pets, for going Habitat preparation work at Fox Environmental Studies students, and Washington DEC habitat mowing and brush removal for fitness runs, for mountain biking, snowshoeing, County Important Bird Area. Pheasant release at Old Gick cross country skiing, and more! With all of the Wild Blue Lupine seed picking parcels of protected land, there are over 25 miles of New Jersey Tea seed picking trails for people to enjoy. Butterfly Milkweed seed picking and cleaning Our commitment to year-round outdoor recreation Woodcock Survey includes our winter trail grooming program at Camp FrogWatch USA training Saratoga North. We will be better able to accom- FrogWatch surveys plish this with Trevor Borden’s Eagle Scout Project Transect marking in Karner habitat Earth Day Transect Marking to build a new grooming equipment shed. It was Easement Monitoring completed with great assistance from the Town of iMap Invasives Training Wilton Pa ge 2 The Saratoga Stryders running club is a valued partner, holding a series of 5k fun runs in the summer and an 8k snowshoe race in the winter. 9th Annual 8th Annual Attendance for 2019 Photography Show Wilton Wildlife Festival The eighth annual Photography Show debuted at the Annual Meeting in December at the Pre- serve & Park Office. Winners were: Best in Show: Karner on Purple by Ron Harrower Judge’s Choice: Golden Rod Golden Hour by Amyjean Robbins Best in Conservation: Sunbeams and Lupine by Ashley Feiheit Best in Recreation: Conservation Past by Bernie Fabry Best Under 13: Feather by Bethany Myatt Best Karner Blue Butterfly Shot: Above the This annual event is held every year on the Sunday Lupine by Brian Herkalo after Memorial Day since that is the time of year Best Nature in Autumn: Pond in Fall when the wild blue lupine in the meadow is in full Splendor by Craig Horneck bloom and the first brood of Karner blue butter- Best in Education: Mets Fan by Howard flies have emerged. It is the perfect time to see the Lester Preserve & Park at its peak! Best Nature in Winter: Prints and 11,788 We had a wonderful event in 2019 after the previ- Reflections by Michelle O’Hare ous year’s rainy event. Hundreds of people from Best Animal Shot: Black Racer Head by Program Participants the community came to Camp Saratoga to enjoy all Ron Harrower of the activities, including the Silent Wings pro- Eric Avery, once again served as judge for the gram in the Dining Hall. Activities included pond more than fifty entries submitted by seventeen exploration, nature crafts, planting lupine, and photographers. All photographs were taken at going on nature walks into the meadow to look for Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park and highlight Karner blue butterflies. The Town of Wilton’s the amazing beauty and diversity of the natural historic Cornell Hill Fire Tower was open to the world that is right in our own community. public. As with all of our events, our volunteers Many of the photographs are featured in this made it all possible! Thanks to Ballston Spa Annual Report. National Bank and Southern Adirondack Audubon their sponsorship support. Yearly Attendance Comparison Pa ge 3 Visit us on-line for event notices, program updates, trail conditions and closures, trail maps, directions, volunteer opportunities, and more! www.wiltonpreserve.org You can also visit us on facebook: www/facebook.com/#1/WiltonPreserve Thank You to everyone who volunteered their time and expertise in 2019 2019 Income Volunteers contributed more than 1,500 hours in 2019! Our fantasitic volunteers help out in so many ways. Their work allows us to fulfill our mission and is key to our success. So a big, heartfelt T ha n k You to everyone who volunteered for Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park in 2019. More than David Luck Heather Coton Students 100 Hours Sue Matthews Chantal Coutore Lois Leonard Rachel Adamsky Dave Matteson Joe & Susan Crua Anna Lewis Linda Baker Peg McCanty Martha Devaney Johanna MacKay Jennifer Benaman Marci Revette Jenn Ferriss Wendy Mahaney Matthew Miczek Bob Rice Johanna Garrison Lori McCarron Ryan Riper 51 – 99 Hours Jodi & Taylor Jessica Plotnik Larry Dana Tim Schlachter Gurney Emily Popp Freddie Klaus Kurt Smemo Scott Harrington Bob Reepmeyer Richard Pine Karen Sosler Bridget Henry Brenda Sanchez Wilton Troop 24 Caroline Stem Shelby Himelrick Jessica Shea Under 20 20 – 50 Hours Jean Hoins Maja & Sophie Hours Eric Avery Linda Hovious Smemo Adirondack Sky Mark Bellantoni Watchers Parker Huer Snowden Family Trevor Borden Jeff Barnes Heidi Kaufmann Sophia Spellman Bob Fagan Liam Bell Peter & Tony Gretchen Stark Jeffrey Lawson Amelie & Katie Krackeler Malina Stawarz Howard Lester Benaman- Loy La Wendy Whittmore Robert Lippman Roginski LASAR Don Wildermuth Jill & Pieter Howard Blake LeMoyne College Wilton Rotary Litchfield Melissa Calabria Service Trip B o a r d o f Matthew Miczek David MacDougall Coordinator/ R y a n R i p e r Ray O’Conor Environmental D i r e c t o r s Tim Schlachter Frank Parillo E d u c a t o r Jennifer Benaman, K u r t S m e m o Mike Prutsman Erin McCabe, C h a i r Karen Sosler 2019 Expenses Caroline Stem, S t a f f Volunteer and S e c r e t a r y E m e r i t u s Margo Olson, Stewardship Coordinator/ Robert Rice, Bobby D’Andrea Executive Director Environmental Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park, Inc. is a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501 T r e a s u r e r Pieter Litchfield Alexander Garrigan - E d u c a t o r (c)3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and a registered NYS charity. Linda Baker Peg McCanty P i e l a , Roy McDonald Rachel Adamsky Mark Bellantoni E d u c a t i o n All contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. A copy of our Freddie Klaus Heather Coton Coordinator audited financial statements may be obtained by writing to us at 80 Scout Road, Gan- Advisory Council MarthaPa geDevaney 4 Environmental Victoria Herkalo, Education and sevoort, NY 12831 or from the NYS Dept. of Law Bob Lippman M a r k B a k e r G a r y D a k e E d u c a t i o n Conservation Interns Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.