“Keeping these lands safe from development is crucial to preserving
the rare natural beauty and ecology of the eastern Hudson Highlands,”
said Erik Kulleseid, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation. “I’m grateful to the Open Space Institute for
their work to protect this landscape.”
John Lafata, who had owned the property with his family for more than
25 years, said, “I am delighted to see this property permanently
protected and feel satisfied knowing that the land will never be
developed. For more than two decades the property held a very special
place in my heart, and now, the peacefulness I experienced there on the
land will be shared with others.”
According to Katrina Shindledecker, the Hudson Highlands Land Trust's
Deputy Executive Director, "We were happy to be able to help facilitate
conserving the property. It's a part of an ecologically sensitive and
highly scenic connectivity corridor that buffers the Appalachian Trail
and connects Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve to Fahnestock State
Park." Ms. Shindledecker further indicated that "The Open Space
Institute's acquisition of the property will prevent irrevocable damage
to the land’s pristine natural resources, safeguard water quality and a
wildlife corridor, all while protecting a nationally-renown
wilderness-quality recreational opportunity."
OSI’s acquisition shares an approximately 2,120 feet boundary with
the Appalachian Trail, which is owned and managed by the National Park
Service. A celebrated long-distance hiking trailway, the Appalachian
Trail runs just east of the Canopus Hollow property and connects the
8,000-acre Hudson Highlands State Park with Fahnestock State Park’s
14,000 acres.
The Canopus Hollow property was identified in New York State’s
Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy Plan and the Metropolitan
Conservation Alliance’s Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan as part of
a relatively undeveloped corridor, of forests, wetlands, and
grasslands, of regional importance. The corridor is one of the most
biodiverse areas within the entire four-town region of Cortlandt, New
Castle, Yorktown, and Putnam Valley.
The new protected property contains more than 740 feet of a perennial
streams and a five-acre wetland. Primarily consisting of Appalachian
oak-hickory, chestnut oak, and oak tulip forests, the area also supports
migratory birds, the Indiana bat and eastern small-footed bat, native
reptiles and amphibians, and rare plant communities.
OSI intends to transfer the property to New York State Parks as an addition to Fahnestock State park pending available funding.
About the Open Space Institute
The Open Space Institute protects scenic, natural and historic
landscapes to provide public enjoyment, conserve habitat and working
lands and sustain communities. Founded in 1974 to protect significant
landscapes in New York State, OSI has been a partner in the protection
of nearly 2.3 million acres in North America.
In and around the Hudson Highlands, OSI has protected more than
26,000 acres, adding land to Hudson Highlands State Park, Clarence
Fahnestock Memorial State Park, and Schunnemunk State Park. Most
recently, OSI has partnered with the Unites States Military Academy
cadets for four consecutive years to build new pedestrian trail bridges
at Fahnestock State Park, a partnership that provides cadet engineering
majors with real-world design and build experience while improving the
park for the public. In 2020, OSI launched an extensive plan to improve
recreational access at Fahnestock State Park and upgrade overall public
access; provide enhanced wayfinding signs for navigation; better
accommodate new and existing users to the park; and deepen visitor
engagement. In 2014, OSI secured the Hudson Highlands' largest-ever
conservation easement on Black Rock Forest, then donated the easement to
the State of New York, guaranteeing public access to nearly 60 miles of
hiking trails.
