July 29, 1999 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Several prominent land-protection agreements announced in recent months show the variety of ways
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Preserving Open Space for the Ages
Land Deals Show Promise, Pitfalls of Preservation
non-profit land trusts can now put together big deals. Among the most noteworthy:
* The Trust for Public Land and the New York Restoration Project agreed in May to pay $4.2-million to New York City for 115 community gardens — vacant city lots that nearby residents had converted into oases of greenery. The deal — which combined support from several New York foundations and individual donors — will protect the gardens from development in perpetuity. The charities hope to help set up local land trusts that eventually will take over responsibility for maintaining the properties.
* The New England Forest ry Foundation announced in March that it has optioned the purchase of a conservation easement that would permanently protect 754,673 acres of forest in northern Maine. The tract, owned by a Maine timber company, includes more than 85 lakes and ponds, with more than 2,000 miles of shoreline. The deal would prohibit all development that is not related to managing and harvesting the forest in a sustainable way. The organization is now trying to raise the $28-million needed to buy the easement.
* The Wildlands Conservancy announced in January that it had acquired an option to buy more than 400,000 acres around Joshua Tree National Monument and Mojave National Preserve in California. The Conservancy plans to transfer 742 square miles of desert between Needles and Barstow, Cal., to the federal government.
* The Conservation Fund and the Vermont Land Trust announced plans in December to buy 296,000 acres of privately owned forest in New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont for $76.2-million. About 70 per cent of the land will be protected by conservation easements and resold to private timber investors as working forest. The remaining land, more environmentally sensitive, is slated for eventual ownership by federal and state governments. Grants from the Freeman and Richard King Mellon Foundations and the Housing and Conservation Board provided much of the financing.
* The Nature Conservancy in December purchased 185,000 acres of forest land in northwestern Maine from the International Paper Company for some $35-million. The 286-square-mile tract of unbroken forest includes a 40-mile stretch of the upper St. John River. The charity’s Maine chapter plans to allow some timber sales on the land, as well as hunting, fishing, and other recreation.
