Saratoga PLAN Raises Nearly $100K, Announces New Trailhead

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local nonprofit Saratoga PLAN (Preserving Land and Nature) held its fourth annual PLAN for the Future fundraising dinner on Sept. 18, drawing a sold-out crowd of supporters who raised nearly $100,000 for the organization.

Kicking off the program, Executive Director Rob Davies announced PLAN’s latest land acquisition, the “Northern Gateway,” a 20-acre property in the Town of Greenfield that will expand Graphite Range Community Forest (GRCF) to the north. Opened in late 2023, GRCF is Saratoga County’s first federally recognized community forest and has already become a recreational hub, serving as an access point to the envisioned 50-mile Sarah B. Foulke Friendship Trails Network (SBFFTN). Once completed, the SBFFTN will feature a core trail connecting the City of Saratoga Springs to the northernmost corner of Moreau Lake State Park.

The vision for Northern Gateway is to offer a second trailhead featuring more accessible walking paths with gentler grades. Saratoga County will enter into a memorandum of agreement with Saratoga PLAN for the addition and development of the Northern Gateway parcels to the Graphite Range Community Forest. Once all improvements are completed, the ownership of the land will be transferred at no cost to the County with Saratoga PLAN as the designated land manager. (Saratoga PLAN and Saratoga County routinely partner on conservation projects to permanently protect agricultural and open space lands including farmland, natural areas, wildlife habitats, preserves, and other important open spaces.)

The evening continued with Saratoga PLAN’s event honorees, who were recognized for their dedication and contributions to local conservation. This year’s honorees included:

• Conservation Hero Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, Saratoga Lake Association, and Stewart’s Shops for their contributions in the permanent protection of Snake Hill, the forested dome on the eastern side of Saratoga Lake;

• Conservation Hero Barry Ostrager, who placed 280 acres of his Stillwater horse farm, Questroyal North, under protection, connecting more than 4,500 acres of protected lands near Saratoga Battlefield;

• Conservation Heroes Jan Kropp and Chuck Rowson, who protected their 81 acres of forestland in the Town of Moreau, creating a protected wooded buffer to Moreau Lake State Park;

• Volunteers of the Year Tom Nelson and Ann Henderson, who were recognized for their commitment to caring for the lands that PLAN protects. The duo has been actively volunteering for over 14 years;

• Conservation Champion Awardee Jim Sevinsky. During Jim’s 40-year legal career with the New York Attorney General’s Office, he led the Environmental Protection Bureau in landmark cases including Love Canal cleanup, acid rain litigation in the Adirondacks, and advocacy to strengthen the Clean Air Act. A lifelong resident of the region, Jim has dedicated nine years to PLAN’s Board and continues to serve on the Emeritus Board.

Reflecting on the work ahead, Executive Director Robert Davies emphasized the ongoing challenges of land conservation in the region. “As many of you know, the work of land conservation is not easy… for every acre conserved in Saratoga County, 1.8 acres are converted and lost to development of some kind. We are losing almost twice as much as we are protecting,” he said. “We are working hard and making the changes necessary to enable PLAN to pick up the pace of land protection and trail connections for the benefit of all. But we can’t do it alone.”

Saratoga PLAN has helped conserve over 14,000 acres of land in Saratoga County.