Summer 2026

It isn’t every day that Black Rock Forest hosts a BioBlitz. The last official one on record took place in 2021 as a comparative study with Central Park. This year, the city came to us, continuing a proud tradition of bridging the gap between urban youth and world-class scientific minds from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).

The program’s co-leaders—Bervin Harris and Frank Burbrink—were originally brought together by pure happenstance one day in Westchester. From that chance meeting, a transformative partnership was born.

Bervin Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of the Renaissance Youth Center (RYC), brings over 30 years of social development experience in youth services and community empowerment. He has designed and managed dozens of programs for RYC and the broader Bronx community, including this immersive wilderness partnership. Dr. Frank Burbrink is the Curator-in-Charge of the Department of Herpetology at AMNH. A global expert in snake evolution and genomics, Dr. Burbrink investigates how reptiles and amphibians evolve and adapt across changing global landscapes.

A group of eager students aged 9 to 11 arrived at Black Rock Forest on a Friday in early June, proving their resilience by diving straight into the environment despite an active heat advisory. For many of these young explorers, pitching their tents meant experiencing camping for the very first time in their lives.

With field notebooks open and backpacks strapped on, the students hit the trails alongside experts from five distinct AMNH departments: Herpetology, Ichthyology, Mammalogy, Entomology, and Ornithology.

Armed with curiosity and the iNaturalist app, the students and scientists successfully documented the forest’s rich biodiversity in real time. This included 211 observations of 141 species! It was a remarkable weekend of discovery, giving these students a chance to see more wildlife up close than ever before while contributing real, actionable data to the scientific community.

— Jessica Schnell, PhD

Forest-clad precipitous hills characterized Black Rock Forest during the American Revolution.  The canopy was varied, and even absent due to bedrock outcrops, poor thin soils, and natural fire damage.  Colonists and Continentals left their mark, too. 

One rugged trail over these hills existed before the war broke out.  Parts of its route may have followed an established Lenape trail.  Although now called the Old West Point Road, that could not have been its original name, for West Point did not exist during the colonial era.  Cartographers Erskine & Dewitt in 1779 noted the location of its southern end.  Although unnamed on their map, the route northward over the hills toward Cornwall and New Windsor was identified by the phrase “To Murderers Creek”.

A second road built about 1782 by Continental soldiers roughly paralleled its colonial era predecessor.  This new “Continental Road” presumably decreased the time required to move troops and supplies from the Cornwall area to upper Washington Valley at the back of West Point. 

Traces of the original road corridors remain – in some places understood to follow a modern road alignment while in other locations evident as an elongate weathered trace largely obscured by trees and understory. 

Thus far we have no confirmed Revolutionary War sites in Black Rock Forest.  Most archeological sites from that era in the Forest will be found along the transportation corridors provided by the two roads noted above.  Our best contender for such a find is represented by two ceramic sherds and three fragments of a Hessian soldier’s hat plate – unfortunately from a site otherwise solely dating to between about 1790 to 1830.  Similarly, a single bayonet found at a different location may simply be a soldier’s lost piece of weaponry rather than indicating a military position or encampment. Among the many types of Revolutionary War era sites that may be discovered are soldiers’ tent and hut encampments

and picket posts, temporary staging areas advantageously used by travelers along the roads, work sites and temporary encampments occupied by miners, foresters, and road builders and even homesites left by those who preferred a more isolated lifestyle.

We have a lot of footwork ahead of us. 

— Dana Linck, Great Chain Archaeological Consultant

Three years ago, Black Rock Forest endured significant damage and erosion from an extreme rain event.  This summer marks the culmination of years of planning, hard work, and collaboration with FEMA to rebuild a more resilient Forest. One of the most visible examples is the recent replacement of two trail bridges: Ben’s Bridge on the Reservoir Trail and the Stillman Trail Bridge at the end of the Reservoir Trail. Both bridges are now higher above the creek and span nearly twice the width of the waterway, allowing potential floodwaters to pass more safely beneath them.

These steel and wood bridges weigh several tons each and required the teamwork of staff and volunteers to use a series of ropes, pulleys and the trees to install them over the streambed. These new ADA-accessible stream crossings will help protect our trails from future extreme weather while maintaining safe and reliable access for hikers, students, researchers, and educators for years to come. They were already put to the test, when in early July we received over 6 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. We look forward to the installation of the remaining three bridges on Sibyl’s Path. 

Special Kudos to NY/NJ Trail Conference Volunteer Bob McCormick for his help!

— Matt Brady

How healthy is Black Rock Forest? Answering that question takes more than a walk in the woods—it takes careful, long-term monitoring.

For nearly 100 years, researchers have tracked changes in the Forest using four permanent study sites established in 1931. Last summer, we expanded that work by adding 25 new monitoring sites across the Forest. Carefully selected using a statistical sampling design, these sites provide a more complete picture of forest health. We plan to visit a rotation of 10 sites each year, measuring tree growth and health, understory plant diversity, deer browsing, canopy cover, downed woody debris, shrub cover, and seedlings. We are using the same monitoring methods employed across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic which will allow us

to compare Black Rock Forest with other forests in the region and better understand how our forest is responding to changing conditions.

Summer research interns Hazel Calway and Avery Upeslacis have been instrumental in launching this effort. Together, they have measured hundreds of trees and seedlings and documented 59 understory plant species, providing the baseline data that will help us track changes in the forest for years to come. The first results tell an encouraging story. After spongy moth defoliation and a dry summer in 2025, tree growth was noticeably reduced, and pockets of oak mortality are visible throughout the Hudson Highlands. While Black Rock Forest lost a few trees, the sites we have surveyed so far appear to be recovering well and show low to no mortality—a promising sign of Black Rock Forest’s

resilience and an important reminder of why long-term monitoring matters.

— Isabel Aston, PhD

Commencement Address

Executive Director Dr. Isabel Ashton joined Storm King School Head of School, Lisa Shambaugh, at the school’s 158th Commencement, where she delivered the keynote address to the graduating class of 2026.

Legends & Lore of the Hudson Highlands

Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk captivated visitors at Black Rock Forest with a morning of Hudson Highlands legends and Revolutionary War tales. Stories of Patriots, Loyalists, and the region’s rich history offered a fitting way to celebrate and commemorate America’s 250 anniversary.

Protect Black Rock Forest for Future Generations

Planned-giving reflects your commitment to protect Black Rock Forest into the future. By including the Forest in your will or estate plans, you can help ensure this special place continues to inspire scientific research, education, and conservation for generations to come. If you are interested in learning more about joining the Black Rock Mountain Society, we’d be happy to talk with you.  

CHECK OUT OUR FY2025 ANNUAL REPORT

SAVE THE DATE

Join us for our third Into the Woods: Dinner Under the Stars at Black Rock Forest on September 19th—an evening of nature, music, and celebration at the Stone House.
Tickets will be available soon!