Land Preservation 2008

Dickerson Pond, at Valeria, in Cortlandt.

Westchester Land Trust protected 510 acres in 2008, through conservation easements, donations, and partnerships with government agencies and other land preservation organizations. The 510 acres means that we have worked to protect a total of 6,147 acres.

Here are the highlights:

A 52-acre conservation easement on Baxter Road, in North Salem, donated by Matthew Edmunds/ Baxter Road LLC. We drafted the easement and provided the conservation analysis; the North Salem Open Land Foundation is the primary easement holder, and we will be a backup holder.

A 17-acre conservation easement on Hook Road, in Bedford, donated by Catherine Crier. This is her third easement; in all, she's protected 30 acres.

An 11-acre easement, in the Town of Mamaroneck. The easement protects part of Mamaroneck's flood-prone watershed.

A 4-acre conservation easement on Fancher Road, in Pound Ridge, donated by Elyse and Josh Arnow. This is their second land protection project. Elyse is president of the Pound Ridge Land Conservancy, our local preservation partner.

Turkey vultures soaring above Westchester Wilderness Walk.

A 30-acre donation by Paul Zofnass, a member of Westchester Land Trust's Board of Directors who, with his family, created Westchester Wilderness Walk. The entrance to the Wilderness Walk, on Upper Shad Road, is on this parcel. Paul and his family have owned it for some years, and protected 27 acres of it in 2001 and 2002 with conservation easements. In 2008, they donated it to us, increasing the size of the Wilderness Walk by three acres.

A 5.5-acre donation by Warwick Lane Realty. This new preserve is near Chappaqua, in a part of Mount Pleasant we had not worked in before. We haven't given it a name yet, but are open to suggestions.

An 8-acre easement on Old Cross River Road, Bedford, donated by the Bedford Waterfront LLC Group/Mitchell Marks. It helps protect the Cross River Reservoir.

A 204-acre easement and a 26-acre easement on Bedford Audubon's Franklin-Fels (Titicus Road, North Salem) and Palmer-Lewis (Route 121 Bedford) sanctuaries. We also donated conservation easements on two of our preserves (Frederick P. Rose and Pine Croft Meadow) to Bedford Audubon. These cross easements guarantee that if anything happens to Westchester Land Trust or Bedford Audubon, the land will stay protected. We also hold easements on Pound Ridge Land Conservancy and North Salem Open Land Foundation preserves, and are working on more.

An 11-acre easement donated by Bob and Beth Mancini, on Guard Hill Road in Bedford. Last year the Mancinis donated a 47-acre conservation easement, also on Guard Hill Road.

A 120-acre conservation easement at the Valeria community, in Cortlandt. This was the final piece of the 690-acre Valeria easement announced in May of 2008.

We also helped negotiate the acquisition of 80 acres in Cortlandt and Phillipstown by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The land was owned by Nicholas and Hanay Angell, who had donated a 40-acre conservation easement to us several years ago. The state bought the 40 acres plus an additional 40 acres and added it to the Hudson Highlands State Park.

And we helped negotiate a purchase by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection of the former Armonk Bowl property. The 7-acre property is very close to the DEP's Kensico Reservoir, and the DEP hopes to undertake a wetland restoration project on it.