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Written By Megin Potter  |  Photos provided (unless Noted)

[From the 2025 Fall Magazine]

Our land is a tool that must be carefully preserved. To keep the region’s natural, cultural, and recreational systems in good working condition, Saratoga PLAN is strategic.

“There’s an urgency to protect the land, but there’s an art to the science,” said Saratoga PLAN’s new Associate Director, Sarah Walsh.

Before joining Saratoga PLAN this year, Sarah spent more than a decade advocating for wildlife and lands in the St. Lawrence, Mohawk, and Hudson River Valleys. Since 2003, Saratoga PLAN, a nonprofit land trust, has pinpointed the large tracts of continuous forests, wildlife corridors, farms, and waterways in and around Saratoga County that will help protect and preserve the rich historical, agricultural, and cultural legacy inextricably tied to it.  They have already protected 14,000 acres and opened 13 preserves with 30+ miles of trails, but now they are facing their biggest hurdle yet: unprecedented population growth.

Collaborative Conservation

Saratoga PLAN’s Sarah Walsh grew up in Northern New York’s farm country surrounded by lush grasslands and lots of animals, including draft horses, chickens, cows, and sheep. The rural reaches of Saratoga County are no different than where she was raised, she said. What is unique, however, is how we support our local farmers, the area’s many markets and stands, and how easy it is to access locally grown food here.

In the last decade, pressure from housing and solar energy development has resulted in New York State losing an average of 50 acres of farmland every day. This year, the 32nd Saratoga PLAN farm was protected through a conservation easement with Questroyal North Farms in the Town of Stillwater, ensuring 280 acres that have been used for agriculture since before the Revolutionary War will remain farmland forever. These lands, where a horse breeding and boarding farm now stands, were part of the Saratoga Patent and later became the property of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, widow of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington.

Feeding Our Future

To introduce even more people to our region’s rural character and the power of preservation, in June, Saratoga PLAN hosted its 2nd Annual Farm Showcase. The self-guided tour through Ballston Spa, Galway, and Charlton was kicked off on the grounds of Ballston Spa’s picturesque Wm. H. Buckley Farm, where historic barns, flocks of turkeys, and other farm animals delighted visitors as they shopped for pasture-raised meats and fresh produce.

“It’s a great place to see history, farm modernization, and to shop local,” said Sarah.

Attendees were given swag bags filled with farm goods and invited to enjoy wood-fired pizza made with Buckley Farm sausage from 9 Miles East and desserts from Sander’s Slushies and Snowcones before visiting other stops on the tour, which also included hands-on nature crafting at the Main St. Studios in Charlton.

When the Countryside is Calling

Exciting new opportunities to explore nature are opening this fall thanks to the work of Saratoga PLAN, its partners, and its cadre of volunteers.

Saratoga PLAN makes the ambitious projects they do look like a walk in the park, but behind the scenes, it takes years of hard work and dedication. This year, among their other projects, progress has been made on the Curtis Preserve’s 127 acres of forested land in the Town of Corinth. Developments to the Palmertown Range have also been underway in the northern portion of the 225-acre Graphite Range Community Forest in Wilton, giving visitors even more reasons to get out on the trails. The Graphite Range, which highlights historic mining sites, is designed to be a central hub for the 50-mile Sarah B. Foulke Friendship Trails network, a natural corridor that will connect the communities of Saratoga Springs, Moreau, Glens Falls, and Queensbury.

“Walking in nature is special. It’s something we all need and something we should fight to protect,” said Sarah.