MOUNTAINVILLE – The Rockland County-based West Branch Conservation Association, an all-volunteer conservation organization based in Rockland County, has dissolved and transferred a portion of responsibilities and commitments to the Orange County Land Trust. Included in the transaction are two conserved properties in New City in the Town of Clarkstown.
The properties, known as the South Mountain and Crum Creek Preserves, comprise 16 acres of woodlands and streams in northern Rockland County, including the West Branch of the Hackensack River. OCLT will continue to manage and steward the properties in perpetuity.
The West Branch group was founded in 1941 and was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1971, to safeguard the western watershed of the Hackensack River in Rockland County. Since then, it expanded its work to protect land and historic places throughout Rockland County.
Orange Land Trust Executive Director Jim Delaune said, “We look forward to honoring West Branch Conservation Association’s legacy through the continued protection and stewardship of South Mountain and Crum Creek Preserves.”
This past fall, OCLT participated in a Hudson Estuary Trees for Tribs planting at South Mountain Preserve, resulting in the planting of 110 native trees and shrubs along a tributary of the Hackensack River to help restore the stream buffer and protect water quality.
OCLT is also in the process of creating an affiliate land trust, Hudson Delaware Land Conservancy, to advance land protection outside of Orange County, including Rockland County.
Comments