Taghkanic Community Forest

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The Community Forest is home to several species of birds, both those that live there year-round, and those that pass through on their way to another climate. Rare birds identified at the property by scientists from the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program include the Louisiana Waterthrush, Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, and the Blue-Winged Warbler.

In addition to the birds, the property is home to small mammals like beavers and squirrels, as well as larger ones like coyotes, deer, and bear. For the Mohicans and other Lenape, the deer and the bear are considered to be the greatest of all animals, in close kinship with humans, and worthy of great respect. Along with deer, bears are believed to be the optimum choice as offerings in thanksgiving rituals for higher spiritual beings.

The Community Forest is part of the Taconic Foothills, an area that features rolling hills, steep-sided slopes, and narrow valleys. Much of the Forest is located on land that was previously farmed.

The property is a mix a forest types – some areas are dominated by Oaks and Maples, while others are primarily Pine. White Pines in particular tend to suggest that land was recently disturbed – possibly through agriculture or beavers building ponds.

There is a generic Mohican word for pine, koowaaw, but there was also likely once a specific word for the white pine, such as the Munsee word wchupkwahkw, ‘clustered needles tree.’ Like most Mohican plant vocabulary, the name for White Pine seems lost with time. Decayed wood of White Pines was once ground into a fine, dark red powder that was used for babies because of its healing properties. The sap was and is also used for treating infections and making glue, and the trunks were another source of logs for dugout canoes. The tree’s height (the tallest of any native Northeastern tree species) gives the white pine prominence in the mythos of Northeastern native peoples, and just like bald eagles today, Thunder Beings seem to show a preference for nesting in these majestic conifers.

From 2020 – 2022, suppported with funding from the Hudson River Estuary Program, the Columbia Land Conservancy collaborated with a team of volunteers from Claverack, Copake, Hillsdale, Taghkanic, and the City of Hudson to create The Taghkanic Creek Headwaters Plan, which “envisions a future where the watershed is cared for by local communities and landowners to protect clean water and the ability of fish and wildlife to move across the landscape.”

Ater the plan was completed, CLC received funds from DEC’s Water Quality Improvement Program to support conserving land in the Taghkanic Creek Headwaters. CLC initiated conversations with landowner John Markus in 2023 about protecting the property from development through the creation of a community forest, and purchased the property in summer 2025.

Volunteers immediately began to restore the property, planting 1,500 trees and shrubs to create Tim’s Woods, a habitat restoration project spearheaded by Tim Kennelty.

The property officially opened to the public in June 2026, and continues to be cared for by the community.