A view of the conserved forest
GREENWOOD LAKE – Orange County Land Trust has conserved 57½ acres of buffer lands adjacent to the Doris Duke Wildlife Sanctuary area of Sterling Forest State Park in Greenwood Lake.
Landowners Adam and Tinie Filipowski of Greenwood Lake first contacted the Land Trust about the land conservation.
The property is in the Greenwood Lake watershed and contains habitats identified by the state Department of Environmental Conservation as significant, including a Hemlock-Northern Hardwood Forest in the lower elevations, and Chestnut-Oak Forest in the higher elevations.
The water quality of a stream that runs through the property is also protected in the acquisition.
“Large tracts of forest that are not fragmented by major highways or developments are increasingly rare in the Hudson Valley,” said Land Trust Executive Director James Delaune. “Protecting what we have left is important for the survival of forest interior bird species and other forest-swelling wildlife such as fishers and black bears.”
“The preservation of this land will help support wildlife habitat and clean water even as Orange County continues to grow,” said Kim Elliman, president of the Open Space Institute, which contributed $50,000 through their Small Grants Program.
