Adirondack Land Trust

08/25/2026

Earlier this month, the Adirondack Land Trust's Next Generation Council paddled Boreas Ponds, a place with a conservation story worth telling.

The 20,000-acre Boreas Ponds tract was added to New York’s forever wild Forest Preserve in 2016. The state purchased the land from The Nature Conservancy for $14.5 million, thanks to the Environmental Protection Fund, which supports initiatives across the state to safeguard clean air, clean water, healthy forests, and healthy communities.

That transaction was part of a larger conservation effort led by The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter, which also included two properties—a combined 1,980 acres—under permanent protection through conservation easements held by the Adirondack Land Trust.

Today, the Adirondack Land Trust continues our commitment to steward these lands forever. The first easement property is a working forest in Hamilton County. The second is the Newcomb Fen, an ecological gem now owned by the Town of Newcomb, in Essex County. These are among 67 conservation easements across 10 counties we steward in partnership with private landowners to protect the forests, farmland, waters, and wild places of the Adirondacks. Every visit to these protected places reminds us that conservation is a community effort.

Our Next Generation Council paddled together after their meeting at Paradox Brewery, where they offered input on upcoming conservation projects, learned about project selection criteria from our land protection staff, discussed the ethics of AI, and planned future events.

Trips like this are about more than scenic views—although the sight of the High Peaks from Boreas Ponds is awe-inspiring. Getting out on the water together is about connecting the next generation of conservation leaders to the landscapes they'll one day be responsible for stewarding.

Thank you to everyone who paddled, and to the decades of conservation work that made this trip possible.

📸 by Kathy Woughter

08/20/2026

If you could peek inside the pages filled on yesterday’s Nature Journaling field trip, you’d find notes and drawings about finding a monarch caterpillar, making tree bark rubbings, pressing flowers, and gathering delicious blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries at High Meadow Preserve.

Thank you to the families that joined us yesterday, and a huge thank you to Thea Duane, our 2026 Intern for the Future of the Adirondacks, for planning and leading this outing. Thea’s skill and enthusiasm helped us all slow down, follow our curiosity, and appreciate the wonders of the natural world.

Our next field trip is a guided interpretive hike on Poke-O-Moonshine on Wednesday, September 16, where we’ll explore the link between conservation and recreation on the way to a summit with a fire tower and sweeping views of Lake Champlain and the High Peaks Wilderness. Sign up here: https://adirondacklandtrust.org/poke-o-moonshine-hike/

Photos by Kathy Woughter

08/11/2026

This summer, we've been fortunate to have Theadora Duane as our 2026 Intern for the Future of the Adirondacks. Thea is focusing primarily on environmental education as she researches and develops materials and lesson plans to connect conservation work with community interests.

Thea graduated in May from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science. She minored in studio art and has developed environmental curriculum and hands-on activities for preschoolers, school-aged children, and college students. In her time at Dickinson, Thea also completed research on the impact of charcoal hearth remnants on understory vegetation and implemented programs to educate the campus community about bees, habitat, and pollination.

Already, Thea has updated our Birding for All birdwatching backpack kits with birding bingo cards for all four seasons. She's also developed rack cards that pair conservation priorities like biodiversity and public access with kid-friendly activities to help all ages better understand our work. Next up is developing lesson plans for educators to use in classrooms, summer camps, libraries, and more to share knowledge about wildlife connectivity, climate change, and other environmental topics.

Get to know Thea: https://adirondacklandtrust.org/adirondack-land-trust-intern-to-focus-on-environmental-education/

📸 Lisa J. Godfrey

08/09/2026

📝 Join us for a family-friendly, all-ages nature journaling field trip on Wednesday, August 19!

This field trip will visit High Meadow Preserve, a protected natural area in Lake Placid not yet open to the public. As you meander through wildflower meadows and shady forests, you’ll pause to sketch, write, make leaf rubbings, press plants, take photos, and try new ways to record outdoor experiences.

Blank journals, pencils, and crayons will be provided; you are also welcome to bring your own writing and drawing materials. This trip is free, open to all, and limited to 15 participants. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sign up here: https://adirondacklandtrust.org/event/nature-journaling/

📸 Kathy Woughter

08/04/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Stony Creek last week for the final stop of our Summer Tour celebrating conservation accomplishments across the Adirondacks!

We began the afternoon at Dean Farm Heritage Trails with Stony Creek Town Board member Nathan Thomas and Jill Diamond of the Stony Creek Free Library. We first learned of these trails through our Adirondack Park-wide survey report on accessible wildland trails, and it was a treat to explore them on a sunny afternoon with pollinators buzzing in the meadows and birds singing in the forests. The Stony Creek Historical Association generously welcomed us to the Dean Homestead Museum, where we explored how living amid mountains and rivers continues to shape the community.

Then we gathered at Stony Creek Park & Pavilion for snacks, conversation, and sharing stories from the land. We also welcome the Stony Creek Free Library to the Birding for All program with a birdwatching backpack kit for people to check out like a book. As always, we came away inspired by the ideas and interests shared to do more for the Adirondacks.

Thank you to the supporters, community members, and partners whose commitment to the lasting protection of forests, farmlands, waters, and wild places makes successful conservation possible.

📸 by Kimberly Corwin-Gray, Anne Stuzin, Thea Duane, Susie Runyon

07/26/2026

Our Summer Tour continues in Stony Creek this week! This event is free and all are welcome to attend. Here are a few reasons to join us in Stony Creek on Thursday, July 30:

🪨 Hear how we tripped over wollastonite and then reassembled separated mineral rights in just 60 days on the way to protecting 2,390 acres in the Champlain Valley.

🚶‍♀️Explore the Dean Farm Heritage Trails. Join our staff at 3:30 p.m. for a nature walk through meadows and wetlands, and hear the story of how the Dean Farm Heritage Trails connect people of differing ages and abilities with nature.

✅ Get the key takeaways from Ground Truthing Accessible Wildland Trails, a report from the Adirondack Land Trust that investigates opportunities for people with mobility disabilities to experience nature in the Adirondacks.

🎁 Your chance to win an Adirondack Land Trust baseball cap or winter beanie!

Let us know you'll be there: https://adirondacklandtrust.org/event/summer-tour-stony-creek/

07/24/2026

Here's a peek at the smiles, views, and footsteps that inspire us to give back to the Adirondacks.

Photos from an outing on Buck Mountain near Lake George earlier this week that brought together members our staff, board, and supporters to share ideas and make memories that renew our commitment to protecting the forests, waters, farmland, and wild places in the Adirondacks.

📸 Kathy Woughter

07/20/2026

💚 🎉 Thank you to everyone who joined us last Thursday in Newcomb for our Summer Tour event celebrating conservation accomplishments across the Adirondacks! We were thrilled to share the excitement of protecting the 2,390-acre Drake Mountain property in the Champlain Valley—and the tale of how we had to reassemble severed mineral rights in just 60 days.

We’re grateful to Town of Newcomb Supervisor Mary Lamphear and biologist Charlotte Demers, who led a wonderful field trip to the Newcomb Fen, an ecological gem protected by the town in partnership with the Adirondack Land Trust. We applaud the town’s plans to make the trail along the fen accessible to more people in the future. Many thanks to the town for becoming a partner in our Birding for All program and offering a backpack birdwatching kit available to borrow free of charge from the Newcomb Community Center.

Our Summer Tour continues next Thursday, July 20, in Stony Creek! Join us to explore Dean Farm Heritage Trails and celebrate the conservation of forests, waters, wild places, and farms that make the Adirondacks unique. Register to attend: www.adirondacklandtrust.org/summer-tour-stony-creek/

📸 by Connie Prickett

07/15/2026

TOMORROW! 🎉 Celebrate conservation accomplishments with us in Newcomb! Three reasons to join us on Thursday, July 16, at the Newcomb Community Center:

🍦 Get the inside scoop on how we protected 2,390 acres in the Champlain Valley—and how the discovery of separated mineral rights put us on a path to find the heirs who held them.

👀 Peek inside a Birding for All backpack as we welcome Newcomb as the newest community to receive a birdwatching kit to make available to community members as free way to get to know our feathered neighbors.

🛶 See what’s happening in Newcomb! Before or after our Summer Tour event, check out the Adirondack Interpretive Center—which hosts a 7 p.m. lecture tomorrow on conserving hemlock forests in the wake of hemlock wooly adelgid—or visit the Upper Works Trailhead to explore the historic mining hub and choose from scenic hikes and paddles.

Register here—and find out if there are still spots available for a field trip to the Newcomb Fen: https://adirondacklandtrust.org/event/summer-tour-newcomb/

07/09/2026

Thank you Tupper Lake Public Library for partnering with us to help more people get to know our feathered neighbors!

For the full list of 14 Adirondack libraries across five counties with Birding for All backpacks, visit https://adirondacklandtrust.org/get-involved/birding-for-all/

New to birding and need some help getting started? This kit from Adirondack Land Trust has everything you need to get out there and begin building your life list! Library card holders can check it out at the circulation desk.