BETHLEHEM — Sixty-four acres of forestland has been donated to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy by WestRock, the second largest American packaging company, based in Georgia.

The forest is located just west of the Hudson River and described by the conservancy as “a rarity among the development that has rapidly claimed the river valley’s natural spaces.”

Located on Corning Hill, the WestRock property was once part of the 700-acre estate of Albany County’s longest-serving mayor, Erastus Corning, and several generations of the Corning family. The Corning estate spanned from Glenmont to the Normans Kill, about a half-mile west of the Hudson River.

The property being donated by WestRock is just southwest of the confluence of the Normans Kill and the Hudson River, an important trade route for Native Americans and early Dutch settlers. The area remains an economic center for the region as a newly announced wind turbine plant is located a half-mile from the property adjacent to the Port of Albany.

WestRock acquired the property in 1958, and the land has remained largely undisturbed. The company partners with the American Forest Foundation to manage forests for biodiversity, clean water, and wildlife habitat, according to a release from the conservancy.

The New York Natural Heritage Program designates this area as a Hudson Valley core forest, a large block of intact forest. Core forest is vital for sensitive wildlife, including many forest songbirds, which avoid nesting in areas with human disturbance.

An advocate for the protection of the WestRock property is the Bioreserve, a not-for-profit organization in Glenmont, which operates a private conservation program on the adjacent 66-acre property. Used for education and research, the Bioreserve property features a small lab and a network of trails. The organization hosts field trips, workshops and classes for area students and educators on the property.

Approximately 60 acres of the Bioreserve parcel is enrolled in the Town of Bethlehem’s Open Space Program, ensuring the land’s protection with a conservation easement. Together, the WestRock and Bioreserve properties form an important block of more than 120 acres of relatively undeveloped land overlooking the Hudson River. 

The Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy plans to enroll the WestRock property in the Town of Bethlehem’s Open Space Program, where a conservation easement will protect the land permanently, allowing the Bioreserve access to the land enabling it to extend its educational resources and trail systems.

Both properties are accessible to the public only by appointment and prior approval from the Bioreserve.