More than 100,000 annual visitors enjoy the seven treasured Dutchess County parks and preserves that Winnakee Land Trust has created since 1989 to protect and preserve threatened natural habitats, vulnerable forests, watersheds, and productive farmlands. Favorite spots include Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill in Rhinebeck, the Winnakee Nature Preserve in Hyde Park, and Winnakee’s newest preserve Vlei Marsh, with trails along Rhinebeck’s second largest wetland.
But preserving land for recreation and public enjoyment is just one part of Winnakee Land Trust’s mission. Since executive director Bob Davis joined the team in 2019, the organization has kicked its conservation efforts into a higher gear, focusing on active management of its land holdings in order to help those ecosystems truly thrive.
One of its prominent new projects is the Forever Forest program, a nature-based strategy to address our climate crisis by protecting and restoring 10,000 acres of forest in the next 10 years.
According to the organization, up to 70 percent of New York State’s forests are not regenerating adequately on their own. And the Hudson Valley’s forest-regeneration rate is even worse due to issues like deer browsing, pests, and the spread of non-native plants.
Winnakee’s stewardship-focused model aims to help forests reset their regenerative capabilities and re-establish their natural life cycle so that younger trees and at-risk wildlife that depend on that habitat for breeding, can thrive. Its conservation strategy includes creating forested corridors connecting intact forest blocks that protect biodiversity and support climate-change resilience.
“Winnakee is firmly dedicated to the natural places that matter most for families, their well-being, and for healthy communities,” says Davis.
“In ten years, our added focus on protecting irreplaceable local forests and restoration of the natural ecosystems in the lands Winnakee protects will have a transformative impact on the direction of our region’s environmental health," he continues. "Forever Forests is a meaningful way to impact global climate change mitigation goals at the local level with a nature-based strategy that also enriches our region’s quality of life.”
