Winnakee Protects 140 New Acres of Vulnerable Wildlife Habitat
We were interested in donating the land to Winnakee because we knew of their impressive work to increase biodiversity in wetlands and grasslands by protecting and creating habitat for native wildlife on their other properties.”
—Jeffrey Scales, donating landowner
Winnakee Land Trust wrapped up the end of 2024 with the exciting acquisition of 140 acres of land in the Town of Clermont, in Columbia County, NY. This generous donation of property ensures the permanent protection and active management of over 2,000 feet of streams, 16.8 acres of woody wetlands, over 100 acres of forestland and meadows. The conservation of these natural resources has impacts far beyond the footprint of this property. For instance, the New York Natural Heritage Program identified approximately 24 acres of the property as riparian buffer areas particularly important to stream health and resilience. Vegetated streamside areas – i.e., riparian buffers – have important implications for wildlife habitat, water quality, and flood protection both on-site and further downstream.
Such positive impacts to water quality can result in benefits for our broader regional community, especially given that the stream on the property is less than two miles upstream from the Hudson River, and several communities downstream rely on the Hudson River as a source of drinking water.
While the land is already protected from poorly planned development by a conservation easement held by our partners at Scenic Hudson, Winnakee Land Trust’s ownership and active management will build on the efforts of the prior landowners to further enhance wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration capabilities, and forest health. The donated property is adjacent to other protected lands, including an interconnected group of public lands and conservation easements totaling 1,614 acres in the Town of Clermont.
The generous donation of this important 140-acre property is a fantastic example of how different land protection mechanisms can be leveraged together to optimize conservation outcomes. The initial layer of the conservation easement granted to Scenic Hudson over 15 years ago ensured that the most important conservation values of the property would be protected in perpetuity. Now, with this generous donation of the property, the fantastic land management work of the prior landowners can be continued by Winnakee Land Trust to achieve both protection and restoration of the property’s ecological resources.”
–Laura O’Brien, Winnakee Land Trust’s Conservation Project Manager
In addition to combining multiple tools for land protection, this project also demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships. Like much of our region, the donated property has been impacted by heavy browsing of white tail deer populations and non-native invasive species, both of which can impact forest health. Prior to donating the property to Winnakee Land Trust, the landowners were awarded a Regenerate NY Forestry Cost Share Grant from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, which funded activities to improve forest regeneration including the construction of fenced deer exclosure areas that they installed. This fencing will allow a young forest understory to recover without overbrowsing of deer.
Native flowers and shrubs can be observed such as nannyberry, dogwoods, cardinal flower, buttonbush, turtlehead, blue flag iris, jack-in-the-pulpit and native persicaria. The restored grassland area on the property is home to nesting Bobolinks from spring to fall. The forest hosts important mammals such as fisher and bobcats.
Winnakee Land Trust’s continuation of land management work on the property will be dedicated to additional deer impact mitigation, invasive species removal, and native tree planting.
Winnakee’s vision aligned with our conservation goals for this 140 acres as well as their commitment to creating more enjoyable public access trails and programs.
–Jeffrey Scales, donating landowner
We knew Winnakee would continue the model of good stewardship of the land. As we continue to be involved, we look forward to joining Winnakee for on-site public programs about regenerative land stewardship practices that increase native biodiversity and have a net positive effect on carbon sequestration.”
–Leola Specht, Scales’ partner and land steward
While the property is not currently open to public access, Winnakee and the previous landowners, who will remain active in stewarding this land, plan to host environmental education programming in the near future. In fact, Winnakee Land Trust will be hosting a volunteer workday on the property to remove dense patches of buckthorn, a highly invasive shrub, to help encourage tree regeneration in certain areas of the preserve on March 8th, 2025. If you would like to volunteer at this event, please RSVP to Jen Adams, Director of Land Stewardship at jen@winnakee.org.
