The Town of Clifton Park has secured 32 acres of land for preservation, historical interpretation, and public use. The acquisition aligns with state-level preservation goals, but the deal means a lot more to one family.
Several dozen residents are gathered after a ribbon-cutting ceremony along Riverview Road – rolling green hills stretch back to a forest which sits between the road and the Mohawk River as well as the remains of Erie Canal Lock 19 that dates back to 1842.
Clifton Park officials are celebrating the acquisition of 32 acres they envision will be used for walking trails, cultural and historic interpretations, and even as a connector to the Vischer Ferry Nature & Historic Preserve.
David Miller is the Chair of the Clifton Park’s Open Space, Trails, and Riverfront Committee.
"We are so proud of this and the Wojtowicz family are such great stewards of this land. I call this their Wojtowicz way because they wanted this to be protected, and that should be the trail name as we go forward, they wanted this to be protected for future generations. We don't make land anymore, we need to set it aside where we have willing partners for future generations," said Miller.
The open fields have been continuously farmed since the 1670s and with this acquisition, Clifton Park has conserved nearly 2000 acres of land over the past 26 years.
On top of that, the preservation effort also supports New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s goal of protecting 30% of the state’s lands and waters by 2030.
For the Wojtowicz family, who have owned the land since the 1950s across four generations, this was always the goal.
“My father-in-law passed the land on to us and we felt to keep his memory alive we would work with the town and make the land available to them. We could have built houses and done all sorts of different things on a piece of property like this but I think this is where it should be,” said Wally Wojtowicz.
Wally Wojtowicz is present with his daughter and granddaughter who live right next to the field.
The family has allowed a nearby farmer to maintain and plant on the land for years. They’ve even had a local beekeeper set up hives in recent years.
For Jen Wojtowicz-Anderson, preserving the land for future public use just made sense.
“It’s been a really nice resource. Even before this we’ve had people ask to ride their horses here. People asked to hike here. We had a neighbor up the road who asked to do community archeology here so once Tommy would plow up the field her would go in and he would be looking for things like arrow heads and he found arrow heads and he was able to date them and they were very, very old. So, the human occupation of this land goes back way beyond anyone from Europe getting here,” said Wojtowicz-Anderson.
Her daughter, Jennie Adama Wojtowicz-Anderson, enjoys watching the numerous animals that call the plot home.
“I love the turkeys; they look so funny when they run. Their necks wobble back and forth like this. They’re always doing weird stuff, they’re just fun to watch,” said Jennie Adama Wojtowicz-Anderson.
Her mother says there’s no shortage of family lore connected to the land.
“My grandpa told me he used to see lights back there in the field at night. He lived in that house right there, that was his farm house, and he’d be up all night because he was a World War II veteran and he said ‘I would see lights out there, just lights, floating around,” said Wojtowicz-Anderson.
Jen Wojtowicz-Anderson says her family’s connection to the land and local wildlife run deep.
“After my brother – cardinals were his favorite, he loved the color red – and after he passed, we were seeing cardinals all over the place in our backyard. And then bluebirds were always my great-grandma’s bird. And the morning my husband and I got married, February 23rd, there was a huge flock of bluebirds in our backyard,” said Jen Wojtowicz-Anderson.
She shared another story of a gold finch her grandfather carved out of wood.
“I have it on a shelf in the house and one morning, my daughter, when she was much younger, she said ‘there’s a little bird sitting on the windowsill, it looks just like the one grandpa carved.’ So, we get signs from our family all the time and one thing I want to tell you is this place has a good feeling. It’s a good place with a good feeling and it makes your spirit feel very happy and glad,” said Jen Wojtowicz-Anderson.
The purchase was made with $115,000 in support from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s Environmental Protection Fund and $30,000 from the Saratoga County Farmland and Open Space Grant Program.
