The Lake George Land Conservancy’s newly acquired Pilot Knob Mountain – 517 acres of densely forested mountainside, a 2,159-foot summit and ridgeline and 1.6 miles of streams that feed the Lake’s Kattskill Bay – has been identified by The Nature Conservancy as one of a handful of places in the Appalachian inlands best situated to help nature thrive in the face of climate change.
Pilot Knob Mountain adjoins 21,000 acres of protected Forest Preserve lands and is not far from Vermont, making it a natural vector for the uninterrupted flow of wildlife across state and municipal boundaries, and from one protected habitat to another.
In August, The Nature Conservancy announced that it had made the LGLC a $50,000 Resilient and Connected Appalachian Grant, one of fourteen awarded in an 18-state region to create corridors for wildlife migration and climate resilience.
The grant helped fund Pilot Knob Mountain’s $3.8 million purchase price. Had the property not been protected, as many as sixty houses could legally have been built there, said Mike Horn, the LGLC’s executive director.
“These natural highways and neighborhoods are places where plant and animal species have the best chance to move away from growing climate threats and find new places to call home,” the Nature Conservancy stated.
Studies show that plants and animals are moving 11 miles north and 36 feet higher in elevation each decade in response to the changing climate.
According to The Nature Conservancy, its “resilient and connected network” now covers more than a third of the continental United States. Pilot
Knob Mountain falls within a so-called “priority linkage area” critical to connecting the core forests of New York to each other and to those beyond its borders.
“The permanent protection of Pilot Knob Mountain will contribute to an extensive network of conserved lands that sustain wildlife habitat and offer
numerous ecological, recreational and community benefits,” The Nature Conservancy stated.
“We’re proud to support the Lake George Land Conservancy in safeguarding this remarkable landscape — ensuring clean water and thriving wildlife while strengthening the region’s climate resilience by preserving forested lands that absorb carbon, buffer extreme weather and maintain healthy watershed systems,” said Matt Levy, Director of Land Protection for The Nature Conservancy in New York
The Lake George Land Conservancy’s Sucker Brook Preserve – which comprises 1,078 acres of connected wetlands, woods and mountains on Lake George’s east shore – has also been identified by The Nature Conservancy as an area critical to connectivity, an integral part of a wildlife corridor that extends from the Green Mountains through the Adirondack Park.
Read more about wildlife corridors (wildways) in New York State.
A version of this article first appeared on the Lake George Mirror, America’s oldest resort paper, covering Lake George and its surrounding environs. You can subscribe to the Mirror HERE.
Illustration: A historic Lake George postcard showing Fish Point, Basin Bay and Pilot Knob, looking east from just north of Diamond Point.
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