Greene Land Trust awarded $54K to support Potic Creek Preserve
Published on:
October 13, 2026
The Potic Creek Preserve acquisition in Athens "is the first of its kind purchase for Greene Land Trust," said Bob Knighton, president of the Greene Land Trust. Photo contributed.
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ATHENS―Greene Land Trust has received $54,000 as part of the Land Trust Alliance Conservation Partnership Grants Program to develop trails at the newly acquired Potic Creek Preserve.
The grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is one of 45 provided to Land Trusts across the state.
In 2025, Greene Land Trust was awarded a $1 million grant by the Peter & Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation which enabled the purchase. Funds from this new grant will cover costs to make the five miles of trails ready for public use as well as legal and other expenses associated with this purchase.
The Potic Creek Preserve acquisition in Athens "is the first of its kind purchase for Greene Land Trust," said Bob Knighton, president of the Greene Land Trust.
“We are grateful to the PCLB Foundation, Scenic Hudson, and neighboring landowners for financial support,” Knighton said.
Potic Creek Preserve has miles of trails that are open year-round for hiking, snowshoeing and enjoying the beautiful natural landscape.
The 221-acre Potic Creek Preserve includes the lower reaches of Potic Creek, one of the most significant tributary streams of the Catskill Creek watershed, that in turn flows into the Hudson River. Nearly all of the land contains such diverse habitats as a mature floodplain forest, a mature oak-hickory forest, and a hemlock forest full of healthy trees. Trails along the creek lead up a hill to the summit, looking out to the northern Catskill Mountain Escarpment. Justin Wexler, GLT Steward, added, “The Potic Creek Preserve is an important ecological habitat, and these DEC funds will enable GLT to complete necessary work associated with this important new acquisition.”
The Greene Land Trust is a volunteer-led organization dedicated to helping protect the many places that make Greene County a special place: scenic vistas that inspired the Hudson River school of painters, agricultural lands that are an important part of our heritage, mountains and valleys that have attracted visitors for generations, habitat for an abundance of wild things, and open spaces that offer recreation opportunities for us and future generations. For more information visit greenelandtrust.org.
