With a grant from Orange and Rockland Utilities and the efforts of many volunteers, the Orange County Land Trust is pleased to announce the completion of The Tadpole Trail, a new children’s nature trail at the Land Trust’s Hunter Farm Preserve in the Town of Wawayanda. A grand opening celebration will be held on Saturday, July 11 beginning at 10 a.m. with an inaugural tour of the trail, followed by refreshments.
The Tadpole Trail is a hands-on outdoor learning area featuring a 3/4 mile self guided trail with seven activity stations with information on the preserve’s natural habitat and seasonal indicators of wildlife. The 60-acre preserve has an abundance of wildlife, including two ponds that are home to beaver, blue and green herons, wood ducks, turtles, frogs and dragonflies and fields that are home to numerous species of birds and over 28 documented species of butterfly- one of the largest concentrations of butterfly in the eastern United States!
“We are so pleased to invite the public to come out and participate in the grand opening of The Tadpole Trail,” said Deanna Prisco, president of the Orange County Land Trust. “We hope that schools, youth groups and camps, as well as individual families will use The Tadpole Trail as an educational outdoor classroom, where kids can learn about the natural world right here in Orange County.”
Prior to visiting the preserve, an audio version of The Tadpole Trail can be downloaded onto an mp3 player by visiting the Orange County Land Trust website at www.oclt.org.
As with all nine nature preserves owned and managed by the Land Trust, Hunter Farm Preserve and The Tadpole Trail are open to the public every day, free of charge. For more information on the grand opening of The Tadpole Trail, or for volunteer opportunities and ways of giving, please call the Land Trust at (845) 343-0840, x12. Directions to the preserve can be found at www.oclt.org.
The Orange County Land Trust is the only county-wide land trust and to date has protected over 3,600 acres of land and working farms throughout the county. Working with landowners, the Land Trust preserves land through the placement and monitoring of conservation easements, by securing funding for the purchase of development rights (PDR’s), accepting donations of land, and by purchasing land for public access. The Land Trust works closely with Orange County Department of Planning, helping implement the county’s open space plan, and spearheaded the formation of the Orange County Open Space Alliance (OCOSA), an alliance of 20 area conservation organizations.
