A new community forest on the Rensselaer Plateau

The accredited Rensselaer Plateau Alliance in eastern New York recently celebrated the opening of the new, 416-acre Valentino Family Community Forest. Despite hazy conditions from the Canadian wildfires, an eager crowd showed up to watch a lineup of notable figures cut a hemlock "ribbon" with pruning shears. In the lineup were Valentino family members young and old, municipal officials and leadership and partners.

After hearing remarks, visitors hiked on new trails to an Adirondack-style lean-to built by Eagle Scouts. In the forest, the haze was less present, making a clear case for forest conservation. Bill and Kay Valentino, who made the community forest possible through a generous donation to RPA, brought their children and four grandchildren. Each grandchild has a trail named for them.

With streams, waterfalls and beaver ponds, the new community forest adds to an almost entirely connected seven-mile conserved corridor along the northwest escarpment of the Rensselaer Plateau. The corridor includes sensitive wetlands, rocky outcroppings, deep forest and spectacular views.

"Our goal for this project is to engage a new community in this part of the plateau while at the same time conserving an extremely important piece of this forested region," said Jim Bonesteel, executive director of Rensselaer Plateau Alliance.

Located in Grafton, New York, this project was made possible through a generous donation from Bill and Kay Valentino, a grant from the U.S. Forest Service Community Forest Program, and from 's Forests Forever Campaign donors.

The Rensselaer Plateau Alliance / Rensselaer Land Trust Volunteer Trail Crew built the trails, kiosk and other infrastructure. These improvements were funded by a grant from the New York Conservation Partnership Program that is administered by the Land Trust Alliance. The Valentino Family Community Forest created a land management plan and guidelines for visitor use, and two volunteer stewards help care for the land.