- Westchester Land Trust

Westchester Land Trust Protects

David Rockefeller’s Hudson Pines Property

Plans to Honor Rockefeller Family at Annual Benefit on June 2nd

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Zoraida Lopez-Diago

914.234.6692 ext, 23

BEDFORD HILLS, NY— Westchester Land Trust (WLT) announced today the permanent protection of 60 acres of the Hudson Pines Estate, the Westchester County home of the late David and Peggy Rockefeller. This major milestone marks the eighth conservation easement on Rockefeller family lands that WLT has completed, thereby preserving a total of 180 acres of environmentally sensitive lands in Westchester County.

Located in both the Village of Sleepy Hollow and the Town of Mt. Pleasant, the property is an important component of an already notable conservation corridor including the 1,500 acre Rockefeller State Park Preserve. Its preservation will protect diverse woodlands, meadows and valuable wetlands, provide habitat to a great diversity of plant and animal species, buffer the nearby Pocantico River–an important tributary to the Hudson River, and preserve an iconic viewshed from Rockefeller State Park and surrounding lands. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust that permanently restricts the development of a property in order to protect the land’s important conservation values. The Hudson Pines property will remain in private hands, and not be open to the public.

David Rockefeller and the Rockefeller family’s legacy of conservation and philanthropy will be celebrated at the Land Trust’s 30^th Anniversary Annual Benefit on June 2nd; the event will take place at the private Rockefeller Family Playhouse in Pocantico Hills. The Rockefeller Family Playhouse is an elegant recreation center and gathering place used by the family for almost 100 years. Funds raised at the event will be used by WLT to permanently preserve open space throughout the county, including more than 1,000 acres of currently active projects.

“We would like to thank and recognize Houlihan Lawrence and EMM Wealth for their early sponsorship support of our Benefit. Kudos to Patti J. Howard and her dedicated Benefit Committee for volunteering their time to help plan a festive evening,” said Lori Ensinger, WLT President. “We have many exciting land protection projects on our horizon and have so much to celebrate!”

VIP tickets to this enchanting evening include special access to the Playhouse, an intimate tour with a Historic Hudson Valley docent, and a VIP reception before the main event begins.

For further information about the event, or to purchase tickets, please contact Michelle Pleim Development and Special Events Coordinator, at (914)234.6992 ext. 22, or michelle@westchesterlandtrust.org.

WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST IS YOUR LAND TRUST

Based in Bedford Hills, the Westchester Land Trust works with public and private partners to preserve land in perpetuity and to enhance the natural resources in Westchester and eastern Putnam counties—a densely populated region under persistent threat from the pressures of development. Through the use of conservation easements and outright acquisition, WLT’s efforts benefit the long-term health of these communities by safeguarding air quality, food supply and community character, as well as critical watershed areas. Since its founding in 1988, WLT has preserved almost 8,000 acres of open space including 745 acres of preserves owned by the organization which are free and open to the public year round.

For more information about WLT, please visit westchesterlandtrust.org and connect with us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WLandTrust), Instagram (@WestchesterLandTrust), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WLT_NY)

Westchester Land Trust Announces Yorktown Land Purchase

Plans to Expand Turkey Mountain Trail System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Zoraida Lopez-Diago

Zoraida@westchesterlandtrust.org

914.234.6692 ext, 23

Yorktown, NY – In a unique public-private partnership, Westchester Land Trust (WLT), Yorktown Land Trust (YLT) and the Town of Yorktown announced today that they have permanently protected a critical 24-acre landholding adjacent to Turkey Mountain Preserve — a region of statewide ecological significance – located on Saw Mill River Road, in Yorktown, New York.

Westchester Land Trust will own the land as a preserve open to the community and the Town of Yorktown will hold a conservation easement on the property, further ensuring that the land will always remain a nature preserve. The protection of this parcel will create a 550-acre contiguous corridor of permanently protected forest and wetland that also adjoins other protected lands owned and managed by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as a critical watershed area. The property lies within the Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Area, explicitly prioritized in the 2016 New York State Open Space Conservation Plan. For these reasons, Yorktown’s Advisory Committee on Open Space and the Yorktown Land Trust ranked this parcel their top preservation priority.

In addition to funding from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, Town of Yorktown, and private donors, WLT and YLT utilized internal funds earmarked for land acquisition. “We are grateful and honored to have collaborated with an impressive group of public and private conservation partners to permanently protect this land. Strong partnerships allow us to respond quickly when conservation opportunities arise,” said Lori J. Ensinger, WLT President.

The new preserve is wholly within the Croton Watershed, a public drinking water supply. Its 11-acre wetland area, along with the woodlands, naturally buffers public drinking water quality and quantity. It also provides healthy habitat to a great diversity of species. The perennial stream is inhabited by a variety of ray-finned fishes and is likely important spawning habitat for many fishes in the area. The woodlands and wetlands are important habitats for hundreds of species of invertebrates (insects, arachnids, worms, etc.), which are the foundation complex food webs that support larger organisms such as the birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Dozens of species of migrating birds – including warbler, cuckoo, vireo, sparrow, flycatcher, hummingbird, and hawk have been viewed on these acres and the adjacent Turkey Mountain Preserve and use the woodlands as a stopover site during their migration.

“Westchester Land Trust will manage our new preserve as an extension of the Turkey Mountain Preserve. We have plans to construct a new trail that links directly to the existing trail network at Turkey Mountain,” said Kara Whelan, WLT Vice President. “We need help from the community to build and fund the work. Anyone interested in this project can reach out to me directly to learn more and get involved.” Ms. Whelan can be contacted by email: Kara@westchesterlandtrust.org or phone: 914.234.6992 ext 12.

About Westchester Land Trust

Westchester Land Trust works with public and private partners to preserve land in perpetuity and to enhance the natural resources in Westchester and eastern Putnam counties—a densely populated region under persistent threat from the pressures of development. Founded in 1988, WLT has preserved 9,278 acres of open space. More than 1,148 acres of land are owned by the organization which are free and open to the public year-round. WLT was one of the first land trusts in the nation to receive accreditation through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.