Land could be used for trails
23 acres given to Saratoga Preserving Land and Nature
GALWAY, N.Y. » Harold “Dusty” and Arlene Rhodes have donated 23 acres of forestland in Galway that will connect the Milton Preserve to the south and the recently acquired conservation lands on the Carpenter Farm to the north.
Together, these properties could provide a natural corridor for the proposed extension of the Long Path trail, eventually extending from New Jersey to the Adirondacks.
The property was donated to Saratoga PLAN (Preserving Land and Nature), which will steward these lands, with plans for creating public trails across all three adjoining properties.
The Rhodes, both retired school teachers, purchased the land and an abandoned farmhouse in 1976. For many years they invited members of the Schenectady Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club to meet on the property, where everyone could hike or ski the wooded trails.
Visitors explored forests that have replaced abandoned farmland, still delineated by many stone walls criss-crossing the property. Large hemlock trees are found in one area, and flocks of wild turkeys roam the forest. A combination of higher, rolling ground and lower wetlands, the terrain is quite varied.
Arlene Rhodes said she wants their donation of land to allow others to hike
and ski this property.
“It was our dream to share this land with others,” she said.
With approval from the town of Galway, the land was merged into PLAN’s adjacent property donated by Maryanna Milton. A grant from Saratoga County’s Land Preservation Fund covered transactional costs for title insurance, boundary survey, environmental site assessment, legal work, and project management. Saratoga PLAN still needs to raise $22,000 to ensure that it can provide proper stewardship for the property in perpetuity.