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SARATOGA SPRINGS — On May 1, at the Moreau Lake State Park Nature Center, graduate students from the State University of New York at Albany (UAlbany) delivered their final presentation on conservation and recreation analysis of the Palmertown Conservation Area before an audience of state park officials, horseback riders, mountain bikers, birders, hikers, volunteers, and conservation and sustainability professionals.
The UAlbany class served as consultants for a “real-life” project, with Saratoga PLAN and the Open Space Institute (OSI) serving as their “clients.” The students’ analysis will provide a starting point for an upcoming initiative to involve the local community in developing a strategic and comprehensive conservation plan for the Palmertown Conservation Area, which stretches between Saratoga Springs and the Moreau Lake State Park.
The students spent their spring semester gathering baseline and historic information, assessing the biophysical, economic and social characteristics of the landscape, and conceptually outlining the challenges and opportunities for the Palmertown area, community forests, and a trail system that would connect Moreau Lake State Park to Saratoga Spa State Park.
Saratoga PLAN, OSI and New York state are focusing attention on the Palmertown Conservation Area as a conservation priority. The area includes un-fragmented forests that provide important wildlife habitat and timber, and protect the headwaters of the Snook Kill and Kayaderosseras Creek. A detailed landscape analysis by PLAN identified the landscape’s high potential for recharging groundwater reserves and its habitat resiliency for climate change, two important ecosystem functions.
The Palmertown Conservation Area is a 62-square mile landscape between Routes 9 and 9N encompassing portions of five towns in Saratoga County: Greenfield, Corinth, Wilton, Saratoga Springs and Moreau. The area also contains existing public lands and trail systems, which can be linked together to create a long distance trail network connecting communities and providing recreation opportunities that span the landscape.
Saratoga PLAN and OSI recently received a $40,000 Conservation Catalyst Grant from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program administered by the Land Trust Alliance for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Kim Elliman, OSI’s president and CEO, said, “OSI is grateful for the work of the University at Albany students to involve the local community in developing a conservation plan for the Palmertown Conservation Area. The students’ active participation and engagement in conservation is exactly what we need to build the next generation of environmental stewards. Their analysis will provide the first insight into how we can create a recreational and ecological corridor to be enjoyed by residents and visitors while protecting wildlife.”
Maria Trabka, Saratoga PLAN executive director, said, “the University at Albany planning students, under the guidance of international trail planner and professor Jeff Olson, did an impressive job of organizing themselves, researching the area, and professionally presenting their analysis and preliminary recommendations for the Palmertown area. Their work gives us the foundation to build upon for the planning effort with local residents and the Open Space Institute later this year.”
For more information, visit www.saratogaplan.org or call 518-587-5554.
