THE CANOPY - Fall 2025 - Climate Solutions Week, new trail work & upcoming events

Five Ways Winnakee's Work Makes an Impact for our Future

It’s Climate Solutions Week. When it comes to climate change, the challenges we face can feel overwhelming. Winnakee is highlighting how some powerful solutions are already hard at work right here at home, through scalable land protection and restoration.

Local Land Stewardship is a Global Climate Solution

by Todd Waldron

Senior Program Director

I have always loved being in the woods in late September. Growing up, countless early-Autumn weekends were spent with my grandparents on their 45-acre woodlot along the Hudson River. They purchased this maple, pine, and birch forest for $800 way back in 1951, and it was a foundational part of our family’s connection and commitment to each other. Our land was a haven for song birds and wildlife, a quiet place of respite and contemplation, and a working woodlot where all of us gathered when it was time to cut next winter’s wood. Every September, it offered up the twelve cords of maple, ash, and oak that heated my grandparents’ home. Here, under a dappled canopy of colors, was where I learned how to love trees. This was the crucible that forged my conservation ethic. READ MORE

Trail Building Begins in Hyde Park

Fresh off the completion of trail expansion at Winnakee's Saw Kill preserve, a similar community-involved trail building project will begin this October at Robert's Refuge in Hyde Park—one of Winnakee's newest preserves.

The first loop is planned to be approximately one mile and pass by vernal pools and interesting rock formations, leading up to a robust hemlock forest that has a view of the Shawangunk Mountains (see above photo).

"One of the main goals of this trail-building model is to involve the local community in the construction and maintenance of the trail to foster ownership and connection to the land and nature within their own community."

—Jen Adams, Senior Conservation Biologist & Director of Parks and Ecological Preserves

Last year, Winnakee completed a parking lot to better facilitate future public access at Robert's Refuge, funded by a grant from the Land Trust Alliance and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Conservation Partnership Program . While this preserve is not yet open to the public, with the soon-to-built new trail loop, Winnakee will be able to welcome hikers to enjoy this interesting, forested preserve in 2026.

Learn more about volunteering any Wednesday in October.

Fall Landowner Workshops Offer Ways to Improve Your Land

As the largest stakeholders of forested land in NYS, private landowners have a powerful role to play in the sustainability of our landscapes.

Winnakee is here to help by offering landowners workshops with our expert staff and partners to help you improve your land's resilience and the biodiversity within it. You will learn a landscape level approach to active land stewardship, essential to our region's future.

Don't miss: Two beloved fall traditions

Visit historic barns in Rhinebeck, Red Hook and Tivoli, followed by a fun-filled reception at Heermance Farm with live music by The DeCoys, farm fresh foods, local beer and wine.

Experience Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill after hours—take in spectacular views of the setting sun, the rising moon, and with live music by Austin Bonk and Beer Caps & Quarters.

www.winnakee.org

ALL UPCOMING EVENTS