Middletown, NY (OCLT): The Orange County Land Trust will receive three New York State Conservation Partnership Program grants totaling $37,000 it was announced in Albany recently by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the national Land Trust Alliance. A total of $1.4 million was awarded to 47 land trusts across the state, with the Orange County Land Trust to receive funding in all three categories this year for land preservation projects in five communities in the county.
The Conservation Partnership Program is a public-private initiative funded through New York State’s dedicated Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and is administered by the Land Trust Alliance in coordination with the NYSDEC. The annual grants help New York’s land trusts dramatically increase the pace, improve the quality and ensure the permanence of land conservation throughout the state.
With a Conservation Catalyst Grant of $19,500, the Orange County Land Trust will help establish community gardens in low to moderate income neighborhoods in the cities of Middletown and Port Jervis and make improvements to The People’s Garden in the City of Newburgh. This project will increase urban green space, increase community access to healthy, low cost and locally grown food, and will provide city residents with new opportunities to engage in community conservation and stewardship. Conservation Catalyst Grants provide critical funding for programs that connect people to nature and increase public involvement in community conservation. The Orange County Land Trust was highlighted at the announcement event for this innovative program, which Ethan Winter of the Land Trust Alliance said will provide a public health benefit and increase the quality of life for city residents in Orange County.
The Orange County Land Trust will also receive a $9,500 Conservation Transaction Grant to help the Land Trust facilitate the purchase of development rights (PDR) to a historic 166-acre family farm in the Town of Minisink, in partnership with the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and the County of Orange. Conservation Transaction grants from the NYS Conservation Partnership Program are awarded for the protection of high priority, environmentally significant areas, including those lands outlined in the NYS Open Space Plan.
In addition, the Orange County Land Trust will receive an $8,000 Capacity & Excellence Grant to complete a survey and update property records for the Land Trust’s 255-acre Fuller Mountain Preserve in the Town of Warwick, in accordance with Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices. This Capacity & Excellence grant will help the Orange County Land Trust implement best business practices, helping to prepare the organization for national accreditation by the Land Trust Alliance.
“We are delighted to be awarded all three NYS Conservation Partnership grants this year,” said Jim Delaune, executive director of the Orange County Land Trust. “Land conservation continues to be an important concern of the people of New York State and we look forward to the completion of these projects. We are especially excited about working to create green spaces in our urban areas, and are looking forward to engaging city residents in land conservation, in addition to those in our more suburban and rural communities,” he said.
The Orange County Land Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the natural areas, scenic ridgelines and working farmland in Orange County, working to ensure the county remains a region of varied and beautiful landscapes. To date, the Land Trust has helped protect nearly 4,000 acres of land through the placement of conservation easements, and the ownership and management of nine nature preserves that are open to the public free of charge for recreation and nature study. For more information, including volunteer opportunities and ways of giving, please call (845) 343-0840 or visit the website at www.oclt.org.
