Columbia Land Conservancy

The Columbia Land Conservancy is an environmental nonprofit organization and land trust located in Columbia County, New York in the greater Hudson Valley. Its aim is to legally protect local open spaces for agricultural, recreational, and conservation purposes and to educate the public about land use.

Public Conservation Areas

The Columbia Land Conservancy has facilitated the protection of, and continues to maintain, a number of notable parks in Columbia County. These include: the Borden's Pond Conservation Area and Ooms Conservation Area in Chatham, Drowned Lands Swamp Conservation Area and Overmountain Conservation Area in Ancram, Greenport Conservation Area in Greenport, Hand Hollow Conservation Area in New Lebanon, Harris Conservation Area in Austerlitz, New York, High Falls Conservation Area in Philmont, Schor Conservation Area in Canaan, and Siegel-Kline Kill Conservation Area in Ghent. The parks are all open year-round and free of charge, and some allow regulated fishing and hunting.[1][2]

Farmland conservation
Protected land at Monkshood Nursery

The Columbia Land Conservancy offers protection for private farmland through land easements. Landowners who legally agree to meet a series of requirements for the environmentally sound use of their farmland can receive money from the organization to subsidize the loss in commercial value of their property. This can be especially appealing to small farmers and landowners who have held farmland for generations and do not want to see it commercialized. The Columbia Land Conservancy had protected 5,800 acres (23 km2) of working farmland as of 2012.[3]

The organization also founded a "Farmer Landowner Match Program" in 2008 for farmers to find conserved land to work.[4] In 2013, this program partnered with the Dutchess Land Conservancy of adjacent Dutchess County to offer more options over a larger area. Successful matches have included Ardith Mae Farmstead Goat Cheese and Monkshood Nursery of Stuyvesant,[5] Sparrowbush Farm of Hudson,[6] Chaseholm Farm Creamery of Pine Plains, and Great Song Farm of Red Hook.[7]

Funding

The Columbia Land Conservancy maintains Platinum Status on Guidestar.

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References
  1. "Outdoor Activities". Columbia County Tourism. Archived from the original on 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  2. "Public Conservation Areas". Columbia Land Conservancy.
  3. "About". Columbia Land Conservancy.
  4. "Farmer Landowner Match Program". Columbia Land Conservancy. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  5. Burges. "Groups Partner to Protect Columbia County Farmland". Scenic Hudson.
  6. Chameides, Michael (October 1, 2012). "New Farm, Old Farmland". Cornell Small Farms Program.
  7. "The Garden Show: Great Song Farm". WZKE. February 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
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