Today, we celebrate the permanent preservation of 128 acres of expansive forests and fertile fields in the Town of North East, made possible by the dedicated efforts of private landowners in collaboration with the DLC. This significant act of stewardship protects bountiful woodlands which rank highly for their ability to ensure a thriving habitat for wildlife and native species while contributing to the vital production of life-giving clean air. The conserved property adds to a critical mass of more than 3,800 acres of DLC-protected land within a three-mile radius of the property. The landowners’ commitment to land conservation powerfully exhibits a heartfelt understanding of the numerous ways in which conservation enhances our communities and provides for the future of sensitive ecosystems. By choosing to protect this land, they have amplified the beauty of our local landscape and taken a crucial step toward securing indispensable resources such as clean water and fresh air for future generations. The abiding effects of these landowners’ decision to protect their land through conservation are lasting and will profoundly improve the ecology of our region for wildlife and people forever.
The wide tracts of unbroken woods of this land are but part of a wider forest that stretches for hundreds of acres and abuts additional properties protected under DLC easements. White pines and eastern hemlocks tower above the forest floor, while eastern redcedars edge and dot grasslands. Among the deciduous trees are a wide assemblage of sugar maples, black birches, red oaks, black cherry, and American hophornbeam. These forested uplands provide important connectivity for the many animals that forage, breed, and reside there, including larger mammals such as black bears and bobcats, a wide variety of turtles, snakes, and toads, and numerous salamanders. Avian inhabitants include wood thrush, warblers, and a number of important raptor species. The meadows on the property include six acres of prime farmland soils and 47 acres of farmland soils of statewide importance. The property overlies a bedrock of Stockbridge marble formed some 450 million years ago during the uplift of the nearby Taconic Mountains.
Since 1985, the DLC has been honored to partner with hundreds of landowners to conserve more than 47,500 acres of our beloved countryside and crucial natural resources. The commitment of so many to preserving and stewarding the world around us is inspiring and further reason for all of us to celebrate the robust spirit of land conservation in Dutchess County and the Hudson Valley.
