June 23: Highway Clean-up
Long time BkC volunteer, Anita Witten, gets ready to fill a bag at a previous roadside cleanup.
Summer Roadside Litter Clean-up
Mark your calendars for the June 23 Summer Clean Up! We will be conducting the clean-up along the Battenkill beginning at the State Line Route 313 Rest Area. Meet at the rest area at 9am for coffee and donuts, then share an hour of your time to collect debris along the highway and side roads. Bring your fly rod and cast a few lines in celebration of the summer solstice! 2018 Community Citizen Award, Bliss McIntosh
Bliss MacIntosh with Assembly Member, Carrie Woerner & BkC Executive Director, Lorraine Merghart Ballard at the Battenkill Runs Through It Festival.
Looking for a copy of our Untold Stories of the Battenkill book? We have them! Receive a free copy with a membership gift of $100 or more. Already a member but don't yet have a copy? Simply interested in ordering a book? Email us and we tell you where to find them or send you one directly!
|
Spots Still Available for Outdoor Adventure Trip! Middle schoolers enjoying the view from the top of Folded Rock.
Is Your Middle School Student Ready for our Overnight & Outdoor Adventure Trip??
Outdoor Adventure Trip (OAT) for Youth returns to offer another great outdoor educational experience for youth aged 11 through 14. Dates for the program are Monday, August 6 to Thursday, August 9, 2018. Randy Jennings, BSA Crew 17 Advisor and NOLS trained, returns to lead a small group of middle school students in a series of water focused, outdoor activities within the Battenkill watershed. Battenkill Valley Outdoors Log House, in Cambridge, NY serves as home base for tent camping. Guest instructors in canoeing & water safety, fly fishing and outdoor photography will be brought in to share their expertise and expand the existing program of river ecology, outdoor cooking skills and orienteering/night sky identification. Last year participants ranged from 11–14 years of age and came from local area towns and the greater Capital region. Partial need-based scholarships are available. We are especially looking for more girls to join the program! Email bkc@battenkillconservancy.org for registration forms and more details. 
We love Crandall Library's Folk Life Center's series of 'Battenkill Inspired Videos - check them out here
|
Time to Test Your Stream!
 Skidmore Intern, Carolyn K explains the program to Volunteers
Adopt a Stream Program Begins! Our Adopt a Stream program began in mid May with Skidmore Intern, Carolyn Koestner instructing our first group of volunteers. To date seven different streams in the area will be tested over the summer season to track basic water quality and stream health. Additional trainings are taking place in June. If you have a stream and are interested in adopting it, please contact us and we will share our Earth Echo Water Monitoring Kit with you. Get involved and help us promote clean water and open space. 
Jim Kunstler's Ruins of the Plough Factory, Rexleigh, NY
Support our Work: Own this beautiful, original oil on canvas painting of the Rexleigh Marble Mill in Salem, NY by well known author, painter & blogger, James Howard Knustler. Email us to learn how.
Our work is supported in part by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's Conservation Partnership Program administered by The Land Trust Alliance.
|
Rexleigh Marble Mill Property Work In Process
Rexleigh Marble Mill photographed by John Oakley
In 2017, we received a Transaction Grant through the NYS Conservation Partnership Program and administered by the Land Trust Alliance in Saratoga Springs for the permanent conservation of the 3 acre Rexleigh Marble Mill property in Salem, NY. The parcel was donated by the Oakley family in late 2016 and is now permanently preserved for future use by the public. The initial work will begin to be implemented in 2018 with property clean ups, better access to the river and developing a vision for the future of the buildings.