Today’s Mapping Efforts

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Good evening,

We had a very successful trailblazing walk this morning! Thanks to Gary, Peggy, David and Judy for helping to layout the proposed route along the western most side of the forest. The trail diverges from Back Woods Road shortly after climbing the hill from the gate where we started last Saturday and goes north below the main ridge until it merges with the trail the we laid out Thursday close to where we had planned.

At just over a mile, it goes through some of the most heavily wooded terrain that we have encountered and it took all five of us to probe potential pathways and then agree on and record the best route. Me, Gary and David acted as scouts to find ways through the woods and sections with heavy timber fall. After discussion from our different locations in the woods, a path would be agreed to and Judy would walk the agreed route with the tracker and Peggy would tie on blazes. We identified a spot where a small log bridge may be needed to cross what may be a small stream in the Spring and a place for a bench on a partial clearing overlooking a pond and wetlands below.

We will get the track and dropped pins transferred to the shared drive this weekend.

Here are some photos showing our work. Let us know if you have any questions.

Gary Siegel

[Elisabeth Albert]

Fantastic effort!
Great way to map!
Thanks for the comprehensive update.
Betsy
Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 13, 2025, at 6:25 PM, 'Home' via Taghkanic Community Forest <taghkanic-com...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
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> Good evening,

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[Gretchen Stevens]

Dear everyone,

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to join the trail-mapping effort, but it looks like you're doing a great job!

I have just skimmed the November draft of the Forest Stewardship Plan (by Cory Creagan) and have put together a few notes, attached. I'm sure that we'll have many conversations about plans for uses and management of the site. 

One important idea is that, before we actually decide about which parts of the site to open for public uses and where to put new trails, we should conduct some biological surveys and habitat assessments. The results will help us identify places that may be more sensitive to human disturbance and thus less compatible with public trails. We may also want to think about other potential uses of the site--e.g., for scientific research--that may be more or less compatible with public uses. 

-Gretchen

[Helen Forgione]

Wow! Amazing work! I’m so grateful for all these efforts!

> On Dec 13, 2025, at 6:25 PM, 'Home' via Taghkanic Community Forest <taghkanic-com...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>

> Good evening,

[Linda Reardon]

Great way to map Gary, I'm available for the next outing if anyone is going out once this cold spell subsides!

[Elisabeth Albert]

Greetings Everyone!

Gary, Peggy, David, Judy and Gary, thank you for the latest mapping!

Gretchen - thank you for the thoughtful review of Cory's Stewardship plan. Many of the issues you address were also discussed on our forest walk with Cory. 

Let's all (committee and stewards) plan on sitting down together in January to discuss how to move forward. I will also invite Cory.

I propose January 13th or the 16th, at Taghkanic Town Hall, 4pm? 

Please respond by this Wednesday, Dec. 17, which date would would for you and if 4pm is suitable. 

Many thanks,

Betsy

[Pam Burns & Earl Hotaling]

The 16th works better for me.  

Pam

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[Gretchen Stevens]

I could do either date.

-Gretchen

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-- 
Gretchen Stevens
Director Emerita, Biodiversity Resources Center
Hudsonia Ltd.
PO Box 5000
Annandale, NY 12504
(ph) 845-758-7024
(fax) 845-758-7033
ste...@bard.edu

Hudsonia is a tax exempt, nonprofit, non-advocacy institute for scientific research and education. Please support us at http://hudsonia.org/support/

[Eve Kaplan]

Either date works for me.

Eve 

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

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[Helen Forgione]

I’m excited to meet in January. The 16th works better for me and 4:00 is good also.

Helen

On Dec 15, 2025, at 2:35 PM, Eve Kaplan <kapl...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Gary Lewis]

Peggy and I prefer the 16th  but can do either date. We are looking toward to it. Thanks, Gary

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 16, 2025, at 8:53 AM, Helen Forgione <hmfor...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Celine Kagan]

Hi there! No preference here on date. Very much hoping to join, but 4p is a tricky time for me. Will do my best. 

Celine

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[Joshua Kaplan]

Either date works for me. 

Joshua

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[amblemartin]

Hi - not sure I can make either date at this time

Martin

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[Greg Whalin]

Sorry for the late response to all the site visits and trail scouting as I have been pretty slammed lately. I am excited to see this email from Gretchen as it captures some concerns I have had about all the energy to cut in new trails. I 100% agree with Gretchen that we need to make sure we are being very thoughtful about the impact on the ecosystem in which we add new trails. Gretchen mentions a concern about avoiding areas that might potentially house rare species, but given that sounds costly and difficult to determine, I would like to see us avoid cutting and clearing to create trails and do our best to minimize trail encroachment on "wilder" areas. Meaning, ideally we are following existing previous woods roads / trails, keeping more to the exterior of the property and remembering that this is meant to be a forest and not a park. By no means am I advocating for a preservation over conservation approach, but from my understanding, trail cutting has very real risks in disturbing local wildlife, increasing the spread of invasive plant species, and in my honest opinion, making a wild place feel considerably less wild.

Greg

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[Charlene Paden]

Hello All, I'm sorry to be so late in coming to this group/discussion. I just figured it out!!

Sadly, I will not be around from Jan 16-18. 

Happy Holidays, 

Charlene

[Elisabeth Albert]

Hi Greg-

Very happy to hear your thoughts! Would you be able to attend a January 16th meeting at 4pm at Taghkanic Town Hall? 

Betsy

[Greg Whalin]

Are we doing a zoom option again?  I am sure either Brandon or I will be able to do that.  I live over an hour drive away and Brandon is even further so remote would be easiest.  

Greg

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