KNOX — One of the Knox Conservation Advisory Council’s earliest projects is nearing completion after more than a year of planning and labor. Council Chairman Eric Marczak called on volunteers to help get it over the finish line in a letter to The Enterprise editor this week. 

The project is a restoration of the boardwalk in the 76-acre wetland in town. It was built more than 20 years ago using funds from the Tennessee Pipeline, and has since fallen in disrepair, to the point of being unsafe. 

“That was our main concern, making it safe and accessible, because that’s a real gem up there,” Marczak told The Enterprise last week. 

When The Enterprise had last reported on the project, the council was still working out its plan, and was expecting to need permits for construction, with supervision from a number of different authorities . 

“Everybody seems to have a piece of it,” Marczak said. “The town owns it, EnCon [the New York State Department of Conservation] kind of watches over it, and …  if you want big changes, you have to get ahold of the Army Corps of Engineers.”

But because the project is just for repairs, the council didn’t need a permit, Marczak said. 

Nevertheless, the council had worked with a group called the Thursday Naturalists — dedicated nature enthusiasts — to produce a list of species in the wetlands that had been observed by the naturalists as they strolled through the wetlands. Although ultimately unnecessary as far as permitting goes, the list itself was “impressive” and “confirms the health of the community” through the biodiversity it suggests. 

A copy of the list reviewed by The Enterprise and posted with this story includes species sightings not just from the naturalists but from users of apps dedicated to tracking birds and other plant and animal species. More than 90 flowering plants, over 100 bird species, dozens of insects, and several land and water animals are listed. 

“I was really surprised at the variety,” Marczak said. “Just really, really neat.”

He said that, when work began on the project, the Thursday Naturalists were able to advise on when different species would be mating, so that the council could pull back or halt work for a period of time so as not to disturb them. 

At this point, Marczak said, “We’re still just doing finishing-up work on the boardwalk. We’ve got a seating arrangement that we’re building out on the main part, we put in cable [instead of the previous plastic two-by-fours], and actually made it more visible.”

He also said that the entrance is “repaired and stabilized,” and now the council is getting ready to build a bog bridge. 

“I’m arranging with [the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy], before any of the work on the bog bridge starts, to come up and see what we’ve done, how we’ve laid it out, and give it a pre-inspection,” Marczak said. 

The council is using rough-cut hemlock so it’s safer to walk on, and making it wider than most bog bridges so that it’s wheelchair accessible.

“We’re looking forward to getting some help with that,” he said. “So far there’s been maybe three or four people working on it.”

The group is using a $40,000 grant from the Albany County Soil and Water Conservation District. 

Most of the money — around $34,000 — is being used for erosion repairs on Street Road, where an erosion scar deposits stormwater sediment into the wetlands. Culverts and ditches, currently creating problems for the town highway department, will also be repaired, according to a copy of the grant application that was shared with The Enterprise. The erosion has toppled trees in the area, blocking the road.

The rest of the money is for the boardwalk project, which also includes a new roof for the kiosk there. 

To stay within the terms of the grant, advisory council member Amy Pokorny told The Enterprise, the work has to be done by Dec. 1, though she noted that the consequences of going past this deadline haven’t been made clear. Nevertheless, she said in an email, “We are hoping to have all the work done by then!”

When everything is completed, Marczak said he hopes that the area will become a bigger attraction than it already is.

“I constantly meet people out there taking photographs and everything,” he said. “We’re going to have a new visitor’s box on the kiosk and we’re going to be able to tally and get a sense of how many people visit the wetland and whatnot.”

And, Marczak added, there’s still more room for ideas to improve it and make it more meaningful to the community. 

“A good wetland like that is a rare feature,” he said.