444 Acres of Woodlands Protected in Wilton and Greenfield

SARATOGA SPRINGS — 444 acres of wooded forestland within the Southern Palmertown Range in the towns of Wilton and Greenfield have been permanently protected, Saratoga PLAN (Preserving Land and Nature) recently announced.

Landowners Joanne and Thomas Klepetar, working in partnership with Saratoga PLAN, ensured that the forested property was protected from development.

“Being temporary stewards of this land has given us, along with our four children, the ability to roam it for the past four decades since acquiring the first parcel in 1988,” the Klepetars said. “Our future hope is to work with PLAN to help develop trails for public access.”

Forested parcels of this size are increasingly rare in Saratoga County, the second-fastest growing county in New York State.

“Growth is an important and inevitable part of Saratoga County’s future, but how and where that growth happens matters,” said Robert Davies, executive director of Saratoga PLAN. “When we work together as a community and plan strategically, protecting places like this helps guide smart growth, build more resilient communities, and maintain the character of the region. After all, we don’t want to lose the very reason people want to live, work, and play here.”

The recently conserved property is part of a larger initiative to protect remaining forestland in the Southern Palmertown Range area, a prioritized conservation area spanning 40,500 acres within the Southern Adirondack Foothills. The area provides a critical corridor for wildlife movement and the ability to adapt to changing climate conditions, said Saratoga PLAN.

The newly-protected, 444-acre property has the potential to play a connecting role in the future expansion of the Sarah B. Foulke Friendship Trails, an envisioned network of more than 50 miles of trails with a core trail running from Saratoga Spa State Park to Moreau Lake State Park.