Nearly 100 acres of land protected in Putnam County

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The Westchester Land Trust (WLT) recently announced the purchase and permanent protection of 92 acres in the Town of Patterson, in Putnam County.

The land buffers the Great Swamp, the second largest freshwater wetland in New York State, and also the headwaters for New York City’s drinking water.

The corridor also contains habitat particularly suitable for national and statewide “Species of Conservation Concern including Indiana bat, Little brown bat, New England cottontail, American woodcock, and Cooper’s hawk.”

Acquiring the land, according the WLT, is “an important puzzle piece within a 4000-acre contiguous assemblage that includes lands preserved by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Putnam County, and the State of Connecticut.” The acquisition of the property also “augments a 273-acre conservation easement that WLT completed nearby at Cranberry Mountain in 2018.”

The land trust worked directly with the landowner to acquire the property at market value. The site will eventually be opened for public access with a trail system that links to the neighboring trails on state and county preserve lands.

For more information visit www.westchesterlandtrust.org.

“Westchester Land Trust is thrilled to play a critical role in the immediate protection of this important land in the Highlands region, and are gratified to be working closely with the State of New York to see that this land’s conservation values are preserved forever.”
— Lori Ensinger, President of Westchester Land Trust
 
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