The Appalachian Mountain
Club joined Highlands Coalition partners on December 6th to
celebrate the recent conservation of a 261-acre property in the NY
Highlands. The acquisition was
made possible with $653,500 in federal Highlands Conservation Act funds,
provided through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Blumberg family generously donated
land value as a match for the public funds, working closely with the Trust for Public Land and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
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| NYDEC Commissioner Joe Martens |
The Highlands Conservation
Act is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and provides up to
$10 million a year for the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and
Connecticut to protect the highest valued land and water resources in the
Region. The Highlands Coalition is an alliance of over 180 conservation
organizations including the Appalachian Mountain Club, working to advance
conservation in the 3.5 million-acre Highlands region and to secure funding for
the Highlands Conservation Act.
The 261-acre Putnam County
property, known as North Hollow, is located within the Great Swamp watershed
and will expand the Cranberry Mountain Wildlife Management Area by more than a
third. More public lands and added connectivity for trails will only further
contribute to the area’s economy, where recreational activities such as hiking,
cross-country skiing, hunting, fishing and trapping are popular. North Hollow
features steep upland forests protecting nearby Haviland Hollow Brook, a pristine
trout stream. The brook watershed connects with the Great Swamp, Croton River,
and reservoirs in the New York Highlands that provide drinking water to New
York City.
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| Canoeing in the Great Swamp, NY |
Senators Schumer and
Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Nan Hayworth provided statements of support for
the North Hollow project, and have been strong supporters of the Highlands
Conservation Act in Congress. Read their statements in the press release. They are also champions of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, which uses revenues generated from offshore oil and gas
drilling leases, rather than taxpayer dollars, to acquire important lands for
the public. AMC has been actively working with legislators from the 4-State Highlands Region to secure funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the Highlands Conservation Act and other programs. The North Hollow closing represents a momentous achievement, as only 12 projects have been slated for funding funding since the programs' inception in 2004.
Learn more about
the event and the New York Highlands here:
Labels: Conservation Funding, Highlands Conservation Act, Land and Water Conservation Fund, landcons
