Spring 2026

In mid-February, a class of graduate students from my FIELD seminar in the MFA Writing Program at Columbia University ventured north up to Black Rock Forest. The course promotes the act of observation in the depiction of places, as foreground or background aspects of storytelling. It also encourages students to consider how conflict might be rooted in the material conditions of a landscape—not just in the social ones.

The students’ creative interests represented a range of approaches to creative work—fiction, poetry, and nonfiction writers were all represented—but all of them were developing the practice of learning how to translate the visible world into language. On the day of our visit, the sky was overcast and the snow was still knee-deep. We hiked up to the reservoir and back, at times struggling to stay upright on the trail, which had received another few inches of snow the day before our arrival. Because of this, we walked one-by-one in a long snaking line. We were all out there together but in some ways each on our own. When we returned to the classroom, students filled their notebooks with what they saw. They thought about the way that observation shapes perspective in a different way than memory does. We discussed the use of detailed descriptions in John McPhee’s book, The Pine Barrens, which documented a similar landscape, though in New Jersey.

To depict a place requires the writer to acknowledge and express their convictions about its fundamental traits. It is simple and essential work, but one that requires patience. It can be hard to slow down the mind. This requires practice. Instead of just “collecting” data about the physical world, I ask students to think about how the information that they take in might be translated into stories. Over the course of our visit, students observed birds, beaver bite marks on trees, vines entangled on trees, and the spectacle of thick ice over the lake. For some students, these observations led to a series of internal reflections. For others, the proximity to different kinds of life provoked an expanded context for their imagination. Amid winter’s austere landscape, the seeds of new stories were planted.

—Wendy S. Walters, PhD, Columbia University
March 30, 2026

Water has always been at the heart of Black Rock Forest, shaping its landscapes, sustaining its ecosystems, and serving the surrounding community.

This past year, Forest Historian John Brady has been researching the history of our water supply, tracing more than a century of stewardship, infrastructure, and partnership with the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. His forthcoming paper, to be published later this spring, will tell the story of how Black Rock Forest has helped safeguard clean drinking water for generations.

That history is also visible on the landscape. We recently completed renovations to the Peck’s Road Gatehouse, a small structure that helped control the release of clean mountain water to the Village from 1896 to 1940. An interpretive sign will be installed soon to help visitors better understand the role this building—and the Forest as a whole—has played in protecting the watershed. Look for the new sign this summer along Peck’s Road and join us on May 2 for a walk with John Brady focused on the history of the Forest’s water supply.

Collaboration and partnership remain central to the work of protecting the six reservoirs in Black Rock Forest that provide drinking water to Cornwall and the Town of Highlands. Most recently, Forest staff have worked with the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Water Department and regional stakeholders to develop a Drinking Water Source Protection Program plan, which is an important step toward strengthening and safeguarding the water supply for the future.  

Water is also at the core of our research and education programs. Our educators work with students to monitor stream health, from counting macroinvertebrates to testing pH, helping to build the next generation of environmental stewards. We are working to make more long-term data publicly available on our website, including records of precipitation, stream flow, and stream chemistry. Consortium researchers, like Katherine Montana whose work is featured in this newsletter, continue to strengthen our efforts to document and understand aquatic diversity.

Together, these efforts—past, present, and future—reflect Black Rock Forest’s enduring commitment to protect clean water for both the people and the ecosystems that depend on it.

One, dragonflies are flying around searching for mates. Two, I’m standing waist-deep in a pond with an aerial net in hand. And three, I have friendly colleagues surrounding me. That’s how I know it’s summer. Last June, I had the opportunity to study dragonflies at Black Rock Forest for my research on the evolution of dragonfly reproduction.

I am grateful that my summer calendar is filled with opportunities to catch dragonflies in beautiful landscapes like Black Rock Forest. For me, the magic of seeing dragonflies in nature is surpassed only by knowing that they are descendants of ancient flying insects that lived over 250 million years ago and thus, can reveal how insects have evolved over that long period of time. Specifically, I am interested in the sperm storage organs of female dragonflies because they contain the missing link in our understanding of how dragonflies reproduce. Females can mate with multiple males in one day, and their organs can accommodate long- and short-term storage of sperm.

By collecting dragonflies across the dozens of dragonfly species that I found at Black Rock Forest, I can compare how these lineages have evolved potentially different shapes of sperm storage organs. I am also developing genetic tools to discern how many males have mated with a single female and how many fathers ultimately sired the groups of eggs I collected.

Processes in reproduction are important to study as we come to terms with the growing climate and insect decline crises. Because dragonflies require clean freshwater habitats for laying their eggs and subsequent larval development, their presence – or absence – indicates aquatic ecosystem health. My work at Black Rock Forest has offered an opportunity to not only address a research gap in dragonflies’ reproductive biology but also to monitor their presence in critical freshwater habitats, especially those so close to urban centers like New York City. If we can understand how insects reproduce, we can focus on conserving the necessary conditions for successful reproduction and, ultimately, their survival.

—Katherine O. Montana, PhD Student
Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology,
American Museum of Natural History
Dept. of Biology, City University
of New York Graduate Center

Earth Day
Volunteers celebrated Earth Day at Black Rock Forest with an afternoon of hands-on activities, including removing invasive species and helping with restoration efforts with native tree
plantings. Register on our website for other volunteer events.
Volunteer at BRF and How to Submit Photos | Black Rock Forest

Black Rock Forest and the rest of New York experienced a cold, snowy winter this year. The lowest temperature recorded in the forest was −2.9°F (−19.4°C) on the morning of February 8, 2026, the deepest snowpack reached 21 in (53.3 cm), and we had 54 days of continuous snow cover from mid-January through early March.

Annual Benefit
Luncheon
JOIN US

May 13th at the Tavern on the Green for our annual benefit luncheon
featuring Dr. Dmitriy Aronov and honoring Ellen Futter.
Tickets are still available
Black Rock Forest |
2026 Benefit Luncheon

Welcome to the BRF team!
We welcome two new part-timers to the BRF team! Flannery James (photo right) will be assisting with the environmental education programming and Deb Phillips will be supporting the operations and advancement department.

Spring
Spring has arrived at Black Rock Forest and it’s a great time to get
back out in the woods. Check out our event calendar and join us for
hikes, lectures, birding, stories, and so much more.