Orange County Land Trust has set an ambitious goal to preserve as much land as it can within the county’s 35,000-acre Delaware River watershed over the next few years.
Most acres sit in the town of Deerpark, with small portions in nearby Mount Hope and Greenville.
“This 35,000-acre region is unequivocally Orange County’s last remaining wilderness,” Orange County Land Trust Executive Director Jim Delaune said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
The Delaware River flows through the region, along with several of its tributaries, including the Mongaup River, Shingle Kill, and the Neversink River.
“The river habitats, vast forests, and streams found here represent the largest, critical mass of unprotected land, as everything else is established parkland, fragmented, or built,” he said.
On Jan. 4, the nonprofit’s director of conservation, Kyle Sanduski, presented the new initiative at an Upper Delaware Council meeting, seeking to get the agency’s support in the massive undertaking.
So far, three organizations have pledged their support to the project: Friends of the Upper Delaware River, Delaware Highlands Conservancy, and Fly Fishers International Eastern Waters Council.
The initiative is built on the ongoing Port Jervis watershed preservation project led by Orange County Land Trust, Mr. Sanduski said during the presentation.
Currently, Orange County Land Trust is under contract to purchase nearly 1,000 acres of watershed land predominantly located in the Town of Deerpark, with a goal to transfer its ownership to the City of Port Jervis in exchange for conservation and public access easement.
The transfer will not only protect the drinking water sources for city residents but also allow for extensions of the existing watershed trails for public enjoyment, according to Mr. Sanduski.
Most watershed land purchasing money is supplied by the New York Department of Environment Conservation and Open State Institute with its Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund.
A remaining round of the above watershed protection fund will also be used toward the upcoming Delaware project and serve as a springboard for further funding, according to Mr. Sanduski.
The conservation easement will be a major tool by the agency to preserve the Delaware watershed, most of which remains in private hands, according to the presentation.
That method allows land to remain privately owned while being subject to certain development limitations.
Upper Delaware Council Executive Director Laurie Ramie told The Epoch Times that the agency board would discuss becoming a supporting organization at the Jan. 16 meeting.
