Draft-phase walk with Forester Cory Creagan

[patric...@columbialand.org]

Hey all, 

Please join us for a walk with Forester Cory Creagan at the Taghkanic Community Forest on Friday, 11/21 at 1 pm. Cory is drafting a forest management plan for us and has offered to take interested committee members and land stewards out for a walk to share observations about the forest and identify potential opportunities for management projects to improve the health of the forest. 

At a future committee meeting, we will select the conservation practices to have written into the finished forest management plan. This will be informed in part by what we learn on the walk with Cory.

We will park and meet near the tree planting area. For now, the nearest address is our neighbors': 1330 County Route 27, Craryville, NY 12521; there will be signs with the CLC logo by the entrance, directing you to veer left at the fork rather than entering private property. Click here for more precise coordinates for our meeting place.

Please register if you are planning to attend: https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/registration-form/?formId=3327c16d-6f1a-4702-a051-dc426deed132&envId=p-kp_maaF1AkG3hga9xjrIbw&zone=usa. 

Have a great weekend!

Pat

[patric...@columbialand.org]

Hi all, in preparation for Friday's walk with Cory, please take a look at the first draft of a Forest Management Plan and associated map, found in the Forest Stewardship Planning folder of our shared drive. Please keep in mind that these are only drafts. A final plan will include the management practices that the committee agrees upon. For now, this draft can at least shed some light on what a forest management plan looks like and fuel our conversation on Friday. If you are planning to attend and have yet to RSVP, please register here. Looking forward to it!

Pat Knapp

[patric...@columbialand.org]

Hey all, I had a great time walking the land with Cory and those of you who could make it there. It felt like there was a great appetite for active forest management and excitement to get to work! Up next, we will need to drill down on prescribing some activities and getting them on a schedule in the plan. Post-walk feedback will be important for determining what activities the committee / community are most interested in pursuing, and therefore what we put in the plan. I have added Farmscape Ecology Program's maps of potential ancient forest remnants to the drive. We may want to consider these, as well as the draft site plan and recreational opportunities as we begin prioritizing forest management activities. It would be helpful if we could make a plan for collecting feedback and synthesizing it as a committee to then design a schedule with Cory. Feel free to use this thread/ group as a place to voice your thoughts about the draft plan, future management activities, and ideas about how and when we can bring the community's input back to Cory. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pat

[Betsy Albert]

Greetings all-

Pat, thanks for getting the dialogue going. The walk with Cory was great. Informative, inspiring, Cory is a gift! 

One of our goals is to get the community engaged and involved in visiting and caring for the forest. I am intrigued by the idea of tackling the many projects Cory outlined (removal of invasives! tree tubes! deer fencing!) AND beginning to address what we need to do to get this place ready for visitors next year. People who come will need to know where to walk. What if we firm up the location of the trails and then begin outlining work on clearing the problem areas alongside them - the heavy thickets of invasives we saw as we walked up the road to the pond for example… identifying trees alongside trails that need protection (tree tubes)…prepping for benches....

Let's see how much of the planning we can do in this forum, and then find a time to meet. 

Looking forward to hearing ideas on how to proceed from everyone!

Betsy

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[Linda Reardon]

Betsy 

Good idea. 

I’m available to work on firming up the trails and would be happy to go out with someone to verify the existing or  proposed trails ( if that’s a task that’s needed ). I will play around with the Avenza app this week. 

Linda

On Nov 30, 2025, at 12:27 PM, Betsy Albert <betsyalbert...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Eve Kaplan]

Im also interested in laying out the trails and think it should be a first priority.  I’m familiar with some of the old trails, but the work will be in making a loop if desired. I think that’s always what people prefer. And of course the parking area.  

Looking forward to this, I would be interested in going out on Sunday if anyone’s interested?

Pat, do you know if John is hunting in his lot off rt 11?  I’ve seen a pickup up there and the gate has been open.  Is this area posted so we all know the boundaries? 

Eve

Eve Kaplan Studio
740 County Route 11
Craryville, NY 12521
(917) 363-2812
Instagram: @kaplaneve

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[Linda Reardon]

I can do Sunday also 

On Dec 1, 2025, at 6:58 AM, Eve Kaplan <kapl...@gmail.com> wrote:



[Betsy Albert]

Morning!

I could also do Sunday, but let’s make sure one of us knows how to use a mapping tool so that we can document our efforts. 

Patrick, Linda and I both have the Avenza app, think that’s a good place to start?

Bets

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[Linda Reardon]

I’ll spend an hour with the app today and report back ! 

On Dec 1, 2025, at 7:40 AM, Betsy Albert <betsyalbert...@gmail.com> wrote:

Morning!

[Jeffrey Kiplinger]

I would love to help with the trails and mapping, but I am away on Sunday.  Please keep me in the loop!

Jeff

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[Timothy Kennelty]

I will try to be there on Sunday. I would like to learn more about the mapping software. In response to Betsy's original entry, I agree that prioritizing trails makes sense. However, if these posts are in lieu of a meeting for now,  my feeling is that we should start thinking about a first project after the trails are established, perhaps to be completed for the opening on June 6. My vote is to focus on an area that will be most visible to the public, like possibly cleaning up the invasives we saw with Cory at the end of our walk, if indeed once the trails are laid out that becomes a highly visible area.  Wondering about thoughts from the rest of the group.

[Linda Reardon]

Just realized I have family commitment Sunday, I’ll join those going out Sunday if I can in the PM 

I will still work on the mapping app. I agree with Tim about tacking the area we saw at the end of the walk. 

On Dec 2, 2025, at 11:27 AM, Timothy Kennelty <tjken...@gmail.com> wrote:

I will try to be there on Sunday. I would like to learn more about the mapping software. In response to Betsy's original entry, I agree that prioritizing trails makes sense. However, if these posts are in lieu of a meeting for now,  my feeling is that we should start thinking about a first project after the trails are established, perhaps to be completed for the opening on June 6. My vote is to focus on an area that will be most visible to the public, like possibly cleaning up the invasives we saw with Cory at the end of our walk, if indeed once the trails are laid out that becomes a highly visible area.  Wondering about thoughts from the rest of the group.

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