Co-sponsored with Glens Falls-Saratoga Chapter of ADK.

NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS Parks) opened Big Bend Preserve on July 11^th 2024. Purchased several years earlier as an addition to Moreau Lake State Park, the 860-acre Preserve has a long history of human influence, serving as a family farm in the late 1800’s and later subject to several decades of white pine harvests.

The NYS Parks acquisition was intended to offer public recreation opportunities and to restore habitat for native plant and animal species, including the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly. But historical impacts can be long-lasting, and in this case, left the Preserve heavily dominated by invasive plant species. Native species were present but difficult to find and often struggling to compete with aggressive non-native species including Japanese barberry, shrub honeysuckle and Asiatic bittersweet.

When restoration began in 2024, it brought with it additional disturbance to the Preserve, this time in the form of heavy machinery and prescribed fire, in order to achieve an “ecological reset.” But how do these management strategies impact native plant species as compared to non-native species? What kind of impact will restoration have on wildlife? How long will management last, and at what scale? Please join us for a town hall style presentation and Q&A, where we will answer these questions and provide a closer look into the impacts of our restoration efforts at the Preserve.

Bring your questions, concerns and ideas for discussion on September 16^th at 7PM at the Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. We look forward to seeing you!

Speaker Bio: Jen Selfridge serves as the Restoration Ecologist for NYS Parks in the Saratoga-Capital Region, and as such, oversees habitat management at Big Bend Preserve. Prior to her work with NYS Parks, she served as a senior biologist and entomologist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, for almost two decades, focusing on research and habitat restoration for rare, threatened and endangered species. She is a Southern Adirondack Audubon Society board member, and a Conservation Committee Member for the Lepidopterists’ Society.

Additional NYS Parks staff will also be participating in the restoration discussion.