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Adirondack Land Trust pilots discussion on making birdwatching universally accessible

Osprey carrying twigs for its nest
Pat Bradley
/
WAMC
Osprey carrying twigs for its nest

If you love chickadees, blue jays and the occasional yellow-bellied sapsucker but have a hard time getting around, there could be some good news in the wings: The Adirondack Land Trust hosted a virtual conversation Tuesday night on how those with disabilities can use birdwatching as a gateway to access nature.

The Adirondack Land Trust conserves lands within the Blue Line. Since 1984, it has protected more than 28-thousand acres. Stewardship Manager Derek Rogers has done initial outreach with land managers seeking outdoor recreation areas that could be included on a Birdability Map.

“It features places throughout the world now that provide quality, accessible outdoor recreation and birding opportunities. So I was super excited to see this map,” Rogers said. “But then I was a little bummed out because first, I noticed there was a huge void space on the Birdability map in the Adirondacks and second, because two of the preserves that we currently manage for public visitation, while they're just spectacular sites, don't quite meet the accessibility guidelines or criteria to be featured on the Birdability map. But we are encouraged that this will soon change.”

Rogers explained that a $3 million grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission will allow the Trust to create accessible wildland trail networks at the two preserves near Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.

“This is from a program that funds economic and community development projects in northern counties across four states in the Northeast. So it really speaks to the importance of our project in addressing the disparity of accessible trails compared to the hundreds, if not thousands, of non-accessible trails in the region,” explained Rogers.”And it just so turns out that these two properties, while spectacular in their entirety, happen to host excellent bird life in an accessible yet wild location. In addition to our efforts to create more equitable access to wild lands, we also launched our Birding for All program. And I really feel like birds are just the great connector to nature.”

Birdability founder Virginia Rose has been birdwatching from a wheelchair for 17 years. She says there are key things that must happen to successfully link those with mobility issues to nature and birding.

“It's important for us to introduce people with disabilities to birding. It's important for us to help make birding sites and natural places accessible. And of course, it's important to introduce people with access challenges to birding,” Rose said. “But if we only do one of these things, or two of these things, we haven't met our mission. It's one thing to make a birding site accessible, but it's quite another thing to introduce people with access challenges to birding. So, all three things have to happen concurrently.”

Rose said trails and recreational facilities can be made more accessible by removing barriers such as gates, railings that obstruct views, steps and curbs, mud, sand, ruts, rocks and gravel on trails, and other obstacles.

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