BIRD WALK AT PAULSON PRESERVE MAY 18
The Schoharie Land Trust is pleased to welcome the public to a Bird Walk at its 342-acre Paulson Preserve in the Town of Jefferson on Sunday May 18 at 8:00 am. The bird walk will take place rain or shine, so dress accordingly.
Chestnut-sided Warbler--Rick Bunting
The Paulson Bird Walk has been an annual tradition that SLT President Andy Mason began soon after Liselotte Paulson donated the land to the local conservation non-profit. The walk will be led by fellow Board Member and birder Philippa Dunne.
The 342-acre Preserve encompasses hardwood and conifer forests, meadows, overgrown fields, and wetlands where beavers have built habitats for a wide range of species.
We’ll be looking for birds, including warblers, orioles, thrushes, flycatchers, sparrows and possibly raptors, and other wildlife. Past Bird Walks at the Preserve have featured American woodcocks, black-billed cuckoos, indigo buntings, bobolinks, as well as Cape May, bay-breasted and mourning warblers.
Children are welcome. This is a great way to spend time together outdoors listening for the many songs and calls of our colorful birds, amphibians, and pollinators. We’ll be out for about two hours, with some uneven terrain and moderate climbs.
To reach the Paulson Preserve from Cobleskill, take State Rte. 10 south to Peragile Road, which is 4.7 miles south of Summit and 3.1 miles north of Jefferson. (Do not take Baldwin Rd. off Rte. 10.) Turn left on Rum Hill Road – parking is about one mile at the end of the road.
For further information, please contact Fred Mauhs at
(845) 675-3741; or Kathryn Bogardus at
The Schoharie Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting the beauty, land, heritage and rural character of Schoharie County. More information is available at www.schoharielandtrust.org.
HIKING IN SCHOHARIE COUNTY PRESENTATION MAY 22
The Schoharie Land Trust will feature two speakers on hiking opportunities in Schoharie County at its annual meeting, Thursday, May 22, 7:30 p.m. in the Middleburgh Library.
Steve Babbitt will talk about the Long Path, a 358 mile trail running from NY City to the Helderbergs in Albany County, with nearly 60 miles traversing southern Schoharie Co. Steve will take us on a visual tour of the local portion of the Long Path, plus discuss the complications that long distance trails face.
Steve, an inveterate hiker, says he will walk just about anywhere around town, in almost any kind of weather, and enjoys hiking on woodland trails both nearby and in the northern Catskills. He leads hikes for the local Long Path North Hiking Club, serves on its board of directors, and is a trail maintainer for a Long Path segment near West Fulton. But he has not yet walked the Long Path end-to-end...!
Fred Mauhs is a land trust officer and point person for the organization’s recently established Settles Mountain Nature Preserve north of Cobleskill. He will lead an audience discussion of hiking opportunities generally in Schoharie County, while also soliciting views on the best places to hike and x/c ski, and the best ways to protect yourself from local dangers (e.g. ticks, poison ivy, common injuries, losing your way). Come any share your experience!
Fred spent his Schoharie County youth rambling the woods and looking for swimming holes, with excursions to the "Dacks" to backpack and climb peaks. He learned to ski at Snowy Acres and took up x-c skiing our town roads in 1970 and on trails he and his Dad cleared on the family Tree Farm in Richmondville.
The presentation is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
For further information, contact Andy Mason, (607) 267-8491,
Land Trust Opens Nature Preserve for Public Use
sign by Rafael Domenech Photo by Rita Murtagh
In October, 2024, lifelong Schoharie County resident Richard A. Norton donated 270 acres of his real estate holdings in the Towns of Cobleskill and Seward to the Schoharie Land Trust for the purpose of creating a nature preserve available for non-motorized recreation. In addition, the descendants of Cobleskill resident Paul Berard have pledged the donation of an additional 10 acres to the preserve at its north access. Named "Settles Mountain Nature Preserve", the property officially opened to the public on October 19, 2024.
The Preserve is located at the summit of Settles Mountain, just west of the Village of Cobleskill, and extends down the south face of the mountain. It commands views of the Cobleskill Creek valley.
The land is comprised of a beautiful mature and healthy upland forest (with stately hemlock, red oak, white oak and white pine specimens), several large fields that Mr. Norton regularly mowed over the years, and a portion of a very large beaver complex (technically, an “Emergent Open Water Wetland”). Most of the Preserve is free of today’s most pernicious invasive species, an important factor for the Land Trust in evaluating potential donations of real estate and conservation easements. Photo by Rita Murtagh
The motto of the Settles Mountain Nature Preserve is “Conservation—Education—Recreation
”. This reflects the desire of both Mr. Norton and the Land Trust that (a) the significant conservation values of the land be preserved in perpetuity; (b) institutions of learning—in particular area secondary schools and neighboring SUNY Cobleskill—may use the preserve to enhance understanding about our natural world as well as the forces that threaten it; and (c) fellow residents of Schoharie County may find the Preserve to be a place to enjoy all the benefits that the natural world has to offer our health and well-being.
Ribbon Cutting at SMNP
WELCOME TO THE SCHOHARIE LAND TRUST
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
"It is the mission of the Schoharie Land Trust to protect the beauty, land, heritage and rural character of Schoharie County and adjacent areas by acquiring real property, holding conservation easements, and providing technical assistance and planning information to landowners, public agencies, and others interested in safeguarding our natural assets."
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