TOWN OF RUSSELL, New York (WWNY) – Forever wild. That’s the motto of the Northeast Wilderness Trust. The group just bought 1,400 acres on the edge of the Adirondack Park in the town of Russell it wants to preserve what’s there as well as let people enjoy nature.
Sophie Ehrhardt and Hannah Epstein set up signs Thursday for what is the new Grasse River Wilderness Preserve.
The preserve itself was established earlier this year when the Northeast Wilderness Trust bought more than 1,400 acres of woods in an effort to preserve the nature and wildlife of the area.
Epstein says it was a great opportunity to buy the land next to the Adirondack park.
“When land becomes available and this forest became for sale, and it’s somewhat uncommon to find big tracts of forest that we have the opportunity to conserve and being right next to the Adirondack Park, it was a really exciting project for us,” said Epstein, stewardship manager, Northeast Wilderness Trust.
The property itself was once owned by the Boyd Pond Lumber Company. Now the property has been transformed into a protected wildlife corridor.
Ehrhardt is a wild carbon specialist for the Wilderness Trust and says that the new preserve alone will be beneficial for cleaning the air.
“One of the goals for preserving this property is as we let these trees grow old and for this to become an old forest. It’s going to increase the storage and sequestration of carbon of the forest,” she said.
The trust is encouraging people to hike the property and enjoy the woods and ponds on the property.
Both Epstein and Erhardt say they would like for local universities to send research teams to the site to conduct research for ecological purposes.
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