Round Lake Preserve ready for official opening

The Round Lake Preserve in Malta will open to the public on Saturday.

The 90-acre Round Lake Preserve on the wild east side of Round Lake will officially open Saturday after years of work by the town of Malta and a private land conservation organization toward making it a reality.

The new nature preserve has been developed over the past seven years in a partnership between the town and Saratoga PLAN, the land conservation organization that owns most of the land. The preserve is located off Route 67 just before the Stillwater town line, where Round Lake — the 321-acre body of water, not the village of the same name — gives way to marshlands and its outlet stream, the Anthony Kill, forms.

A boardwalk including interpretive signs will let people walk out across wetlands to the creek, where they can launch canoes or kayaks from a new launch. The creek in that area is surrounded by wide marshes and trees that include heron rookeries.

“It is a beautiful place where people can enter and quietly observe the simple lives of the birds, fish and wildlife around us,” said town Supervisor Paul J. Sausville.

A dedication ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, with officials from the town and PLAN expected to speak, as well as state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake.

PLAN officials said the site includes wetlands and woodlands. The town and PLAN acquired the land from the Sweeney family for $750,000 in 2008, using funds from the state Environmental Protection Fund.

The preserve also protects an upland area that is known to contain a significant number of Native American artifacts. Construction began last year under a $714,000 town contract.

State environmental funds, state recreation funds and the Saratoga County open space protection program all put money into the project, as did PLAN.

“For thousands of years, Native Americans spent summers camping, canoeing and fishing along the shores of Round Lake and the Anthony Kill,” said Maria Trabka, executive of Saratoga PLAN. “Future generations will now have the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful and special place.”

While the preserve will function as a single park, ownership of the land is split between the town, which owns 36 acres, and PLAN, which owns 56 acres.