Mohonk Preserve Director of Research Emeritus Paul Huth is the recipient of the Preserve’s Long View Conservation Award at the organization’s 25th Anniversary Benefit Auction on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.
In addition to the Long View Conservation Award, President and CEO Kevin Case announced the establishment of the Paul Huth Endowment Fund to recognize his contributions to environmental research and education and support the Preserve’s conservation programs and Daniel Smiley Research Center. “We’re very excited to be able to honor Paul in this way and thanks to many generous supporters, build a stronger financial foundation for our conservation science efforts for generations to come,” Kevin noted.
Photo: Mohonk Preserve Director of Research Emeritus Paul Huth Accepting the Long View Conservation Award during the 25th Annual Benefit Auction by Andrea MacScott
Kate O’Connor joins the Conservation Programs team as our Applied Forest Ecologist – a new position focused on developing and implementing climate-adaptive forest management plans. Working together with Conservation Programs staff, the goal of this position is to create a plan to help declining hemlock stands transition to a healthy and biodiverse future forest that preserves, to the extent possible, the ecosystem services formerly provided by hemlock.
Photo: Community Science Coordinator Penny Adler-Colvin (L) and Applied Forest Ecologist Kate O’Connor (R) setting up a Lindgren funnel traps to catch the Southern pine beetle by Julie Gundersen
The Visitor Experience team is committed to maintaining the critical balance between recreation and conservation, while promoting low-impact, Leave No Trace principles for all visitors.
Photo: Patrol Ranger Alan Kline greeting visitors at a trailhead booth by Andrew Bajardi
Over 400 riders participated in the first Shawangunk Grit, a 50.4 mile or 23.3 mile gravel ride on the Shawangunk Ridge to benefit Mohonk Preserve. The course begins at the Ulster County Fairgrounds and continues through the Testimonial Gateway Trailhead on Preserve and Mohonk Mountain House carriage roads and the River-to-Ridge Trail. The race takes its name from Shawangunk Conglomerate, also known as Shawangunk Grit, which is sedimentary conglomerate and sandstone, with a small amount of shale.
In 2020, the Preserve’s Conservation Science and Land Protection programs joined to become the Conservation Programs department, under the leadership of Director of Conservation Programs Julia Solomon. This integration enhances both our climate and natural history research, including community science programs, and our land protection and management work, including ongoing work with landowners to protect high priority properties. Working together, the conservation professionals in these programs take a comprehensive approach to deepening our connections and commitments to nature and our communities.
Photo: Conservation Programs staff on the trail by Leo Vatkin
Longtime Preserver members James Silbert and Elizabeth Horton made the decision to leave a conservation legacy by donating approximately 24 acres of property near Millbrook Ridge. Working together with committed conservationists like Liz and Jim, the Preserve is able to continue to protect fragile habitats and scenic viewsheds to leave a conservation legacy that will last for generations, fulfilling our promise of saving the land for life.
Photo: Shawangunk Ridge by Michael Neil O’Donnell
Rayna Berge is hired as the Preserve’s first-ever Land & Climate Intern. This internship is supported by a grant from the Land Trust Alliance Land and Climate Program, with the goal of embedding climate considerations into our land protection and land management work, as well as our communications.
Photo: Rayna Berger between two old-growth tulip poplars by Steve Rasovsky
Bradley Snyder was hired as assistant administrator for The Mohonk Trust in 1973 and served as co-administration with Dan Smiley for many years. In 1981 when The Mohonk Trust was reorganized as Mohonk Preserve, Inc., Brad became executive director, serving until 1985.
Photo: Cover of The Shawangunk Mountains: A History of Nature and Man by Bradley Snyder and Karl Beard. Published by Mohonk Preserve in 1981.
Rev. Winslow Shaw was a signatory to The Mohonk Trust agreement in 1963 and served as Chairman of the Board from 1970-1974. He retired from the board of Mohonk Preserve in 1984.
Photo: Rev. Winslow Shaw from the Mohonk Preserve Daniel Smiley Research Center archives
Photo: Dan Smiley and A. Keith Smiley from the Mohonk Preserve archives
