Not To Be Missed in May

By: Timothy Kennelty & Sarah Katan

Mark your calendars, folks! There are not one but TWO fantastic events hosted by Taghkanic Climate Smart in May.

The first is on Saturday, May 10th at 10am. It is the next Taghkanic Talk in the Forest Series and will be held at the Taghkanic Fire House. Tracey Testo of Cornell Cooperative Extension will discuss “What Landowners Can Do to Maintain and Improve the Ecological Health of Their Woods."

The second is the following Saturday, May 17th from 10am-2pm. Join the Columbia Land Conservancy and Taghkanic Climate Smart for a tree planting event at the brand new Taghkanic Community Forest. Not only is the Community Forest a 500+ acre piece of land that contains beautiful forests, a large pond, and is a key piece of the Taghkanic Headwaters watershed but it is also the FIRST community forest in the area. So, while CLC is purchasing the land with a grant from the NYS Water Quality Improvement Program, it will be residents of Taghkanic alongside neighboring towns who will make key decisions about and be responsible for managing the property.

The volunteer tree planting day on the 17th will be the first event to kick off this amazing project. More than 1,200 trees will be planted by volunteers in a roughly 3-acre area that will be enclosed by deer fencing. It’s going to be lots of fun and a great way to show your community spirit. There will be opportunities that day for folks to express interest in becoming land stewards or to serve on the management committee for the community forest.

More details and an opportunity to register are at: https://columbialand.org/event/volunteer-season-kick-off/