Preserved RLT Properties
Preserved RLT Properties |
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The Broderick property and Broderick-Olsen property contain
a total of 86 acres of land in the Town of Grafton, adjoining the Dyken Pond
Environmental Education Center on the west. A network of two miles of marked
trails connect to trails on the Center property. The public are permitted
on this property subject to the rules and regulations of the Dyken Pond Center.
In addition, horses and mountain bikes are not permitted.
Teal Brook flows through this property and a vernal pool, red maple-hardwood
swamp, and part of a spruce-fir swamp are found here as well. Most of the
land is covered with "northern" type forest, including some spruce-northern
hardwood forest and spruce flats, forest types known primarily from the Adirondacks.
A spring is found on the property as well as a cistern and an abandoned
family cemetery dating from the early 1800s. The most unusual plants found
on this property are the Rattlesnake-plantain, Goodyera tesselata and the Bog aster, Aster nemoralis.
The Ward property consists of a 6.8 acre red maple-hardwood swamp (a wooded wetland) in the Town of Brunswick, south of Pinewoods Avenue. When a larger parcel was subdivided a few years ago, the Town Planning Board set this parcel aside from development so that it could serve as a buffer area in a residential neighborhood. There is no public access to this property.
The Friends of Dyken Pond property is an approximately two-acre parcel of land bordering the Poesten Kill in Brunswick. Located at the end of Kenworth Avenue on the south side of State Route 2, the property preserves valuable open space in a suburban neighborhood, and provides a starting point for protecting the stream corridor. The property, which is forested, slopes steeply toward the Poesten Kill, and includes a small island. Located on a scenic section of the Poesten Kill just upstream from a narrow gorge, it provides impressive views of the creek, both up and down stream. This property will be used a nature preserve, in conjunction with educational purposes. At present, access is restricted and prior permission must be obtained through the Friends of the Dyken Pond Center, Inc. or the R-TLC.
The Kirchner property is a parcel of ca. 50 acres located in the Town of Poestenkill, immediately west of Camp Rotary Scout Reservation. It is located on the western escarpment of the Rensselaer Plateau and is covered by Appalachian oak-hickory forest and chestnut oak forest. There a number of exposed rock ledges, where lichens are prevalent and offering some scenic overlooks. Access involves crossing private property of adjoining neighbors on either the west or east, and prior notification of the landowner must be obtained through the R-TLC.
The
Geiser Preserve is beautiful woodland of 95 acres, high on the Rensselaer
Plateau. The access route follows a level dirt road (Lindeman Road) through
attractive woods. The preserve has only one trail, a short section of the
old Eastern Turnpike of 1802. Elevations here range from 1600 to 1900 feet.
The forest consists of sugar maple, American beech, and eastern
hemlock. The understory is full of witch hobble, striped maple, and an incredible
carpet of ferns. Fern gathering for florists was one of the sources of income
for Plateau residents years ago. There are small wetlands and rocky knolls
within the preserve. There are a number of seasonal flowers. Jack-in-the-pulpit
and many violets are found in the spring, and asters, white snakeroot, and
goldenrods in the late summer and fall. Ferns include royal, interrupted,
lady, wood, marginal shield, Christmas, maidenhair, hay-scented, bracken,
and grape.
From the highest elevation on the former Turnpike, in the preserve,
you can bushwhack to the north, following the height of land and reach the
summit of Perigo Hill. It is a rocky ascent, and difficult to see your footfalls
in the abundance of ferns. In late fall and winter the view is well worth
the effort. If you bushwhack, take along a compass. The Conservancy has
plans to mark trails through the area in the future. The roads are good
for cross-country skiing.
The preserve was a gift of Ruth Nevin, a former Taborton teacher,
who purchased the land in 1932. She remembers school picnics there when
the land was open and the views superb. The name "Geiser" was chosen in
memory of her parents. In the past, gathering of ferns and club mosses for
holiday greens was a substantial cottage industry in this part of the County.
The
Bear's Den Preserve consists of 15.4 acres on the summit and western escarpment
of Butternut Hill, located the middle of the Taconic valley on the Berlin-Stephentown
line. The principal feature of the parcel is Bear's Den, a rock shelter
cave with a main chamber about 15 feet in diameter. The cave was known to
early settlers and probably Native Americans as well.
The hill is composed of limestone rock, which accounts for the
presence of the cave, and is also visible on steep exposed cliffs on the
western face of the hill. A wide variety of plants are found here because
of the limestone influence. These include two native orchids, Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, Yellow ladyslipper, and Galearis spectabilis,
Showy orchis. A rich sloping fen (a calcareous wetland) is found on the
southwest corner of the property. The Shrubby cinquefoil, Potentilla fruticosa ssp. floribunda, grows here.
This property was donated to the R-TLC by the Smith family. Because
access involves crossing private property of adjoining neighbors, prior permission
must be obtained through the RLT. Access is restricted to interested groups
and researchers and through the RLT's outings program.
Here is a map to the bear's den
Mud
Lake is a 38 acre property located in the southwest part of the Town of Sand
Lake. The predominant feature of Mud Lake is its well preserved inland poor
fen (a "kettlehole bog,") located at the center of the property, surrounded
by a floating sphagnum mat, where on finds Cranberries (Vaccinum species) and the fascinating Pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
The narrow zone of the bog mat grades into a border area of open-canopy Black spruce (Picea mariana) and Larch or "Tamarack" (Larix laricina)
bog forest, which grades into a hemlock-northern hardwood forest. At the
north end of the swamp is a red maple-hardwood swamp, dominated by red maple
(Acer rubrum var. rubrum.)
The land is minimally disturbed and is mostly in its natural, pristine
state. The agricultural lands surrounding Mud Lake Swamp are under development
pressure and provide a significant buffer to the swamp's benefit. The agricultural
lands and swamp are synergistic in that they each enhance the benefit to
the wildlife contained in the general environs.
This property was donated to the R-TLC by the Shuba family. Because
access involves crossing private property of adjoining neighbors, prior permission
must be obtained through the RLT. Access is restricted to interested groups
and researchers and through the RLT's outings program.
The Teal property is a 13.3 acre parcel in Grafton that is now part of the Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center. Through a generous contribution from a local resident, the RLT purchased this parcel and donated it to Rensselaer County. Much of the land consists of a sedge meadow, which is crossed by a long boardwalk, allowing observation of the wetland and its wildlife. This was formerly a spruce-fir swamp but beaver activity raised the water level and killed the evergreens. This open wetland is surrounded by a narrow band of balsam flats, a conifer forest type known primarily from the Adirondacks.