More than 14,600 acres of pristine Adirondack wilderness will be permanently protected under a new agreement between New York state and The Nature Conservancy, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.
The $9.3 million deal establishes two conservation easements, as well as a research consortium, in the heart of the Adirondacks. The easements will provide public access in the Raquette River corridor, and create a freshwater research preserve around Follensby Pond.
Plans for the easement on the western side of the Raquette River focus on creating new public recreation opportunities. The Follensby Pond easement will serve mainly scientific and cultural purposes with limited public access.
Both easements recently went under contract and are expected to close in early 2024, the governor’s office said. The Nature Conservancy will retain title to the land.
The Nature Conservancy paid $16 million for the entire parcel in 2008, which is located primarily in Harrietstown, with a portion in the town of Tupper Lake.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos called the agreement “a sound balance between conservation and recreation” that will protect critically important ecosystems that have remained untouched for nearly a century.
As part of the agreement, DEC will join a consortium of scientific institutions, including SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Cornell University, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others, to study the Follensby Pond watershed.
“Freshwater ecosystems are some of the most threatened on Earth,” said Bill Ulfelder, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in New York. “So what we continue to learn here could have global implications.”
Follensby Pond easement
The Follensby Pond easement encompasses 8,660 acres. The 102-ft deep lake at its center is one of only a handful of lakes in the lower 48 that supports rare, wild populations of cold-water fish species threatened by climate…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply