Zaneta and Zoe at Zena

Here at The Jiffy, we're in the throes of Breathless Leaf Peeping Season, and this is when I try to spend as much time in the woods as possible. I've been following a story about the Zena Highwoods in Ulster County, overlapping the towns of Woodstock, Saugerties and Ulster. In 2023, developers bought 624 acres here to build a private golf community with villas and a helipad. That was scrapped after public opposition, and its replacement plan is a 30-lot subdivision on about 106 acres on the Town of Ulster side. The only proposed access is Eastwoods Drive, a narrow gravel road in Woodstock that today serves five homes, and it runs through a critical environmental area full of vernal pools where Jefferson and marbled salamanders breed. Zoe Keller, a Woodstock resident and an illustrator whose detailed graphite and digital drawings of at-risk species have appeared everywhere from the New York Times to the National Museum of Wildlife Art, grew up next to these woods. Zaneta Sykes, a Filipinx sound artist and nature recordist, spent a year recording this forest on each solstice and equinox. In this episode, they walk with me through the Israel Wittman Sanctuary, a 123-acre preserve in the Zena Highwoods, to talk about their collaborative project: an album and book called "Invitations from the Land: the Zena Highwoods," released in partnership with the Woodstock Land Conservancy. UPDATE: Since producing this episode, a public hearing on Zena Development has been scheduled in the Town of Ulster, on Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. at the Town of Ulster Town Hall at 1 Town Hall Road in Lake Katrine, N.Y. Zoe says all are welcome and encouraged to attend and comment. To R.S.V.P. to their September 25 event, "Celebration of Zena: An Immersive Forest Experience," visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-zena-an-immersive-forest-experience-tickets-1992515084254 To learn more about Stop Zena Development, visit: https://www.stopzenadevelopment.org To follow Zoe Keller, visit: https://www.zoekeller.com To follow Zaneta Sykes, visit: https://www.soundartmagic.com The following stories from The Overlook were helpful in producing this episode: "Zena Homes Returns To Woodstock Planning Board As Opponents Pack Meeting" - https://theoverlooknews.com/zena-homes-returns-to-woodstock-planning-board-as-opponents-pack-meeting/ "Zena Homes Opponents Regroup As Project Advances In Ulster" - https://theoverlooknews.com/zena-homes-opponents-regroup-as-project-advances-in-ulster/ "Woodstock Officials Blast Ulster Over Zena Homes Development" - https://theoverlooknews.com/woodstock-officials-blast-ulster-over-zena-homes-development/