Dorene Warner

Julia Rubenstein’s dad, Stan Wiater, loved wildlife. Growing up in the 1940’s, he learned about hard work and respecting nature during the long days at camp in the town of Forestport, Oneida County.

As a young boy, Stan learned much from his mentor, Larry Frey, who had purchased their original 100 acres through the government veteran’s program when he returned from WWII.

Larry took Stan under his wing, and on weekends they would drive up from Utica together to visit the camp in Forestport. Stan learned the arts of forestry, trapping, hunting, and taxidermy, which he then shared with his younger brother Ed.

When Stan returned from the Army, and became a skilled mason, Larry and Stan purchased abutting land. Over the next 20 years they planted thousands of trees and built a spillway on Gulf Creek to create a pond for fishing and wildlife.

Ed (Julie’s uncle), still owns and enjoys the abutting parcel of land Larry and Stan gave him as a wedding gift in 1974. “I come up here as much as I can and find that time in the woods renews me,” explains Ed, who, until Stan’s passing in 2019, had seldom missed a weekend on the property since 1957.

A tribute to family and nature

Julie and her husband Jeff, are now conserving this land as a tribute to the men in her life who toiled to care for it, learned from it, and loved it. “My dad would be so pleased that we have protected this place that he loved so much, and was such a large part of the wonderful, generous, strong man he became.”

The Rubenstein’s will continue to own the property, pay property taxes, and manage it subject to the long-term conservation agreement.

Both critical and timely

This region is a central part of the Wildlife Connectivity project area; a partnership between local, state and national conservation groups to create a conservation corridor extending from the southern Appalachians up into Canada.

At stake are numerous wildlife like moose and black bear who find the changing climate necessitates increased movement for food, cover, and raising their young.

For the Rubenstein’s, conserving their land is important to protect significant habitat—and share the healing powers of nature. “We want to pass this love of nature on to others, too,” said Julie. “We hope to partner with area nonprofits to provide a place for young people from disadvantaged situations to find themselves, like my dad and I did, to find inner peace, and hopefully find a lifelong love of nature.”

It’s not truly wilderness, though the term “Lesser Wilderness” is sometimes used to compare the Heart of Tug Hill to the vaster wilderness of the nearby Adirondacks. The area consists of “core forest” with over 170,000 acres of unbroken forest land, wetlands, ponds, and headwater streams. Not only is this landscape vital to a multi-state wildlife corridor, but it also supports our regional traditions of forestry, hunting and hunt camps, fishing, hiking, bird watching, and snowmobiling.

Numerous rivers, whose headwaters are located in the Heart of Tug Hill rely on the forest’s health and resilience to sustain their flows throughout the summer, as well as absorbing heavy rainfalls. Much of Tug Hill revolves around these amazing landscapes and include the Salmon, Mad, and Deer Rivers, as well as the Sandy Creeks and the East and West Branches of Fish Creek.

Recent research has once again documented the importance of forestlands and their associated wildlife habitat. In 2019, the Tug Hill Chapter of Trout Unlimited found unique strains of brook trout in portions of some Tug Hill headwaters streams. These brook trout are genetically distinct, showing little evidence of introduction of non-native or hatchery-raised stock.

During the same period, research by The Nature Conservancy concluded that the Heart of Tug Hill faces development pressure that could fragment and disrupt the ecological health of the region. In short, it’s an area with an urgent need for thoughtful, accelerated and long-term conservation efforts.

There’s reason for guarded optimism, however. Landowners are asking for our assistance and funding may become available thanks to ongoing discussions at the state and federal levels to voluntarily conserve 30% of the U.S. land base and waters by 2030 (termed 30 x 30).

The 30 x 30 initiative recognizes that land conservation is not keeping pace with growing threats to our lands, waters, wildlife, and ways of life across the country. The Land Trust Alliance (the national conservation organization that provides technical assistance to local land trusts) has stressed the critical nature of this voluntary effort.

National Audubon notes its importance, too. North America has lost three billion birds due to climate change and habitat loss—29% of its bird population—since 1970.

Perfect Timing

The majority of landowners in the Heart of Tug Hill are elderly and many face the choice of selling their land, ideally protected, or passing it on to the next generation. Because of this, when combined with development pressure, the next ten years will define what Tug Hill looks and feels like.

Our task, therefore, is to make sure we have the capacity to seize opportunities presented like the 30 x 30 initiative and assist these families when they ask for help. That’s one of the reasons we launched the Tug Hill FOR Tomorrow Campaign. A huge thanks to so many of you who have already contributed.

Together, we can support our region’s desire to balance future development with the protection of the farms, forests, waters, and wildlife habitats that define us.

“It’s so peaceful out there. I love that we are working together to create a trail that is unique to Tug Hill.”

— Nancy Grisham

WANT TO HELP MAKE HISTORY?

Come join us and create the Tug Hill Traverse Trail

This summer and fall, we have a number of community trail workdays planned to continue work on the 20-mile long Traverse Trail, in forested portions of the towns of Osceola, West Turin, and Montague (lands we call the Heart of Tug Hill).

They’re a fun way to spend some time with family, friends, and co-workers; get outside; hear some birds; and get your hands dirty. Trail work consists of pruning branches and shrubs, building stream crossings, and putting up trail markers.

You’ll want to wear sturdy shoes and appropriate clothing for working in the woods, and bring pruners if you have them. We will provide snacks and water and recommend you bring a sack lunch.

List of trail workdays and register >>

The importance of accessible open space for recreation, physical and mental health, and connecting and learning about nature has become very apparent during the pandemic.

Providing a variety of places to explore and enjoy nature “close to home”—meaning within a 15 to 20-minute drive—is now recognized by social scientists as central to inspiring a lasting connection to wildlife, as well as improving public health. Because of this, one of our strategic initiatives is to establish at least one new conservation area per county over the next five years in Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and Oneida Counties.

Late last year, Dr. Marvin Reimer generously donated 121 acres to establish our newest public conservation area on French Settlement Road, in the town of Lorraine, in southernmost Jefferson County, NY.

The conservation area is comprised of a mix of northern hardwood forests with several large beaver ponds, wetland areas, and important habitat to resident and migrating birds. It also contains foundations from two historic farmstead sites.

Getting the place ready for the community took a giant step forward recently, thanks to a gift from Pure Water for Life (PWfL). This lead gift of $30,000 will help create a parking area, trails, signage, and educational programming.

“We thought it would be years before we could improve the public access—and then came this amazing gift from PWfL,” explained Linda Garrett, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust’s Executive Director.

The vision includes creating a parking area large enough for a school bus and several cars; non-motorized trails that meander throughout the property; and benches and resting areas. Funding permitting, we hope to create wildlife viewing areas and an accessible trail.

Additional grants and community donations will supplement the grant from PWfL. Once the parking area and trail improvements are complete, we will host guided nature walks and other educational programs for the public, youth groups, and schools.

Linda notes that the timing couldn’t be better. “It’s our hope that the next $15,000 needed for phase two of the trail and habitat improvements will be contributed by members of our community over the summer to keep progress going. This is such a special place. We can’t wait for people to see it.”