Landkeeper's Blog

Right now, BNRC donors are helping put together one of the largest land protection projects in BNRC history—one that will result in over 14,000 acres of contiguous conservation land.

I’ll get to that in a minute. First it’s important to remember how these projects come to be.

When you walk a BNRC property, when you pick berries, spot birds, and pause to enjoy the rushing waters or the soft breezes, take a moment to remember that every one of these places was once cared for by a family who had a choice to make.

When the land’s future was up for grabs, they made a choice that benefits all of us. And you make it possible for families to make conservation-minded decisions that shape the Berkshires forever.

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As this very busy summer winds down, it’s my pleasure to report to you on what you make possible when you donate to BNRC in 2022.

But first, this note about the past… and the future.

When I arrived at BNRC, we’d just celebrated its 50th anniversary with a big party. This year, BNRC is 55 and there’s no party. Instead, there’s… planning.

Yes, planning. If you’ve read some of my letters to you in the last few years, you’ll know I’m kind of a planning nerd. Along with BNRC’s (incredible) staff and (amazing) board, and you, we’re looking out 5, 10, 20 years and asking:

What does the Berkshires need that only BNRC can accomplish? (And by “BNRC” I mean all of us—staff, board, volunteers, donors, hikers…)

• What lands are most endangered?
• How can we build climate resilience?
• Who doesn’t have access to nature?

About that last question: a few weeks ago, a team of Roots Rising Farm Crew teens took a walk at the Old Mill Trail in Hinsdale, with BNRC’s Director of Public Programs, Mackenzie Greer. She’s also a Roots Rising board member and is passionate about its mission to empower teens through farming, food, and meaningful work.

She shared with me that the teens were particularly excited that the Old Mill is accessible—they really connected to the importance of making it easy for people to experience nature.

The Old Mill, and Parsons Marsh, and the Hoosac Range, and over 50 other properties that you’ve helped protect, make it possible for teenagers to connect to nature. For people with physical challenges to get outside. For toddlers to discover their first salamander.

You help people experience the transformative power of nature.

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So, about those 14,000 acres.

You are leveraging enormous investment in nature.

Right now, you’re helping BNRC with one of the largest projects it has ever done—connecting over 14,000 acres in Monterey and Tyringham. It includes 836 acres of new conservation land (about the size of NYC’s Central Park).

Over $800,000 in donations from BNRC supporters will leverage nearly $2.4 million in grants and in-kind donations from state agencies and foundations.

The result: connecting, and adding to, large swaths of already-conserved land to create a habitat corridor for black bear, moose, and bobcat. Opening new opportunities for hiking, snowshoeing, fishing, mountain-biking, and swimming. Building the climate resilience of the Berkshires.

This happens when we build partnerships:

• with families, who trust BNRC to look out for their interests and care for their land;
• with other conservation organizations, who work together on projects;
• and with state agencies, who know they can rely on BNRC to complete large and complex projects with integrity.

Huge as it is, this is only one of the projects in progress right now.

New land and farm conservation is going on in West Stockbridge, Richmond, Lenox, Great Barrington, Lanesborough, Williamstown, Sandisfield, and New Marlborough.

And trail and habitat improvements are underway in Great Barrington, Lee, North Adams, Dalton, and Pittsfield.

In other words, ALL OVER THE BERKSHIRES.

Thanks to you.

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You’ll see some new faces in the field… and in the office.

The NEW office, I mean—BNRC recently moved to sunny, spacious new digs in Lenox. In the Landkeepers Report, you met the summer crew—those hardworking folk who are doing the backbreaking work of moving rocks, heaving logs, and creating those effortless-looking foot paths.

You may have also run into Charlotte Hood out on the trail. BNRC’s new Volunteer and Outreach Assistant, this NYC native always found herself drawn to the natural world, whether it be the pigeon outside the window or the classroom bunny.

She quickly found herself at home amongst the trees while attending Skidmore College in upstate New York. With a degree in Environmental Studies and a background in environmental education, Charlotte loves sharing her love for nature with you.

I’m also really excited to welcome Deanna Smith, High Road Manager. Deanna owned her own trail-planning and building company, constructing trails across the country and the Berkshires. She is committed to sustainable and equitable access to nature. Deanna is hard at work fleshing out the plan for the next High Road legs throughout the county. I know she is really looking forward to sharing them with you.

And a few key people behind the scenes, too: Ashley Winseck joins us as the Special Assistant to the President. That lofty-sounding title doesn’t come close to describing the wizardry she is bringing to every aspect of the organization. She does everything from figuring out the best project management software to keeping track of all the board committees, all the while keeping me and BNRC’s meetings organized.

And Kathleen Mosher is BNRC’s new Assistant Director of Development. You will be hearing a lot from her—she’s organizing all kinds of get-togethers to help you stay in the know and connected to the work going on to care for and protect your Berkshires.

One final summertime thought:

Everything we do depends on dozens, if not hundreds of friends.

That’s one reason we are determined to pursue ideas and initiatives that benefit the whole community… to foster a belief that land can be shared, with plants and animals as well as with each other.

Your friendship and financial support is indispensable to successful projects like these… it’s essential to building a stronger community.

Thank you for caring for this land we all share.

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Yours truly,

Jenny Hansell
President

July 2022 

By Charlotte Hood, Volunteer and Outreach Assistant 

Watching eggs hatch and baby birds grow for science? Yup! This is BNRC’s first season participating in Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology NestWatch program, and what fun it has been!  

NestWatch is a nationwide program designed to track the status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds, including the timing of nesting, number of eggs laid, how many eggs hatch, and how many hatchlings survive. The data participants help collect is used to study the condition of bird populations and how they may be changing over time due to environmental stressors such as climate change and habitat loss. Given that there has been a nearly 30% reduction in the North American bird population since 1970, research like this has never been so important (Rosenberg et al, 2019).  

Among the volunteer participants was a family of homeschoolers who were quite literally doing this for science (class!). They braved the chilly spring and muddy trail, and it paid off, opening their box one day to find these beautiful eastern bluebird eggs and then a few days later, naked nestlings!

        

Another participant battled a pesky and persistent field mouse who kept returning to the nest box to make its home. Perhaps it confused itself for a bird? Thankfully, this dedicated volunteer was just as persistent and found a different nest box with a tree swallow nest. Tree swallow nests are easily distinguished from eastern bluebird nests by the feathers that characterize their nesting material. Additionally, tree swallow eggs are pinkish white, quite different from the eastern bluebird’s turquoise (see photos). 

 As we near the end of July, adult tree swallows and their fledglings are gearing up for their southern migration to overwintering sites in Florida and Central America, an early trip for songbirds. Meanwhile, eastern bluebirds are attempting a second and sometimes even a third brood, not migrating south until later in the season.  

If you don’t have the time to participate in NestWatch you can make a difference by building your own nest box. Tree swallows and eastern bluebirds use the same nest box, so you can attract both species to your property and support their reproduction. See All About Birdhouses for more details and a free, downloadable construction plan.  

By participating in NestWatch, BNRC was able to offer the public a new way of interacting with the natural world – an intimate window into the life of birds, and the chance to make a difference. For kids and adults alike, NestWatch offers a beginner-friendly introduction to the biology of birds and data collection and allows land trusts like BNRC to broaden our sphere of influence.  

Are you interested in participating or learning more? Send an email to Charlotte at chood@bnrc.org or visit NestWatch online.

 Reference 

Rosenberg KV, Dokter AM, Blancher PJ, Sauer JR, Smith AC, Smith PA, Stanton JC, Panjabi A, Helft L, Parr M, Marra PP. Decline of the North American avifauna. Science. 2019 Oct 4;366(6461):120-124. doi: 10.1126/science.aaw1313. Epub 2019 Sep 19. PMID: 31604313. 

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DECLINE-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019.pdf 

June 3, 2022

For those of you not signed up to receive BNRC’s “Newsyletters,” or for those wondering what a newsyletter is, these regular updates are one excellent way to keep up-to-date on BNRC’s recent accomplishments and upcoming plans – all sent right to your inbox! We hope that you’ll enjoy reading our spring feature below, and, if you like what you see, you can sign up to receive them by clicking here.

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• Over at Basin Pond in Lee, I’m thrilled that BNRC’s land stewardship team is currently in the permitting phase of improving the stream crossings along the trail that lead to the pond—a place that is perfect for picnicking, birding, and writing. Getting into those improvements this year will make it easier for more of us to use the trails (the stream crossings have been a bit precarious the last few years). It will be good for the streams too, keeping the edges of those beds in shape.

• There’s also going to be improved access at the Olivia’s Overlook reserve on Yokun Ridge South—it’s seen a sharp rise in use since the start of 2020 and is also part of the newly opened High Road segment of trails to towns, thanks to the 600+ households that donated to the project several years ago.

• Access is about more than trails too! Folks have written to the BNRC office and shared on social media that the Spanish language trail maps for BNRC reserves that you made possible are a huge hit!

• You’ve also helped BNRC acquire outdoor equipment like snowshoes and gear packs, to share with local outing groups such as Berkshire Family Hikes and Latinas413.

• In 2022, there will be new trail at Thomas & Palmer in Great Barrington, designs for parking access at the forthcoming Tom Ball reserve, and lots of other work on dams, bridges, culverts… which you might not notice but you would if they didn’t get done!

• More conservation is in the works too. All in all, there are at least ten pending conservation projects, in various stages, amounting to over 2,000 acres of Berkshire forests, fields, vistas, farms, and waters—places that will remain unspoiled… where you can notice what hasn’t happened.

May 19, 2022

Dear Reader,

The view from Yokun Seat along Yokun Ridge.

If you’ve been keeping up with BNRC, you are likely aware of the many exciting changes afoot. In addition to new staff, new conservation projects, and even a new office, you may have heard about the new Yokun Ridge trail that opened last summer.

The significance of this trail is not due solely to its natural beauty, unique ecology, and scenic vistas (although I assure you, those exist in abundance). It is also the first completed leg of The High Road, BNRC’s vision to create a more walkable, interconnected Berkshire County.

Which leads me to my originally intended purpose of addressing you, the reader: To introduce myself as BNRC’s new High Road Manager.

My first exposure to this project was back in 2017. My neighbor, who knew I had a deep interest in both land conservation and trail development, excitedly brought me a copy of a BNRC newsletter with the inaugural showcase of The High Road on its front cover. I remember eagerly opening to the booklet’s colorful centerfold and becoming enchanted by the vivid and imaginative description of a sinewy network of woodland trails, which would someday connect the many towns dotting the Berkshire’s hilly landscape.

Back then, I had no clue that my neighbor’s introduction to The High Road would culminate with me taking a managing role on the project five years later. Nor did I know that in the intervening time, I would have the good fortune to be involved in many trail initiatives, both nationwide and here in the Berkshire region. And that in those years, I would develop a deep, crystalized belief in the importance of sustainable and equitable access to nature.

And so, when presented with the opportunity to join BNRC as its High Road Manager early in 2022, I jumped at the chance.

In the initial days, weeks, and months in this role, I look forward to speaking with and getting to know many of you. Learning the significance of this momentous project and how it fits into BNRC’s mission is paramount.

As they say, Rome was not built in a day, (nor were all roads purportedly leading to it), so I suspect that this “road” won’t be, either. And that, in my opinion, is a good thing. It is my hope to honor the original spirit with which The High Road was founded, while keeping an open mind to the inevitable twists and turns any project of this magnitude is certain to take.

I’ll leave you with a favorite quote of mine from the novelist, Louis L’Amour, one that I will carry with me as I begin my work on The High Road.

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for.”

-Deanna Oliveri, High Road Manager