$4 Million Pact Protects Farm, Forests In Taconic Mountains

The 800-acre conservation agreement will protect the High Valley Farm in Copake Falls that adjoins 18,000 acres of protected land in New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, Cuomo’s office said Monday.

According to the governor, the pact will preserve a crucial gap in the Taconic State Park and enlarge a major protected forest area in the Taconic Mountains along the New York and Massachusetts border.

The agreement, he said, will not only benefit those “who love the natural beauty of this region, but will help consumers of locally grown food and protect dozens of rare plant and animals species.

Cuomo also announced that the state will allocate $300 million for the State’s Environmental Protection Fund -- the highest amount ever for the fund and more than double the fund’s level when he first took office.

The High Valley Farm deal came after a years-long collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, the Columbia Land Conservancy, the state, and the farm’s owner, Edgar Masters, Cuomo said.

Under the agreement, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation acquired a “forever-wild” easement over 660 acres of forestland, and the Columbia Land Conservancy got an agricultural easement of 140 acres.

The $4 million deal cost the state $2.2 million – which it is taking from its Environmental Protection Fund. The Nature Conservancy contributed $1.8 million toward the purchase price.

The “private inholding,” lies between the Copake Falls and Rudd Pond sections of the 6,700-acre Taconic State Park, Cuomo’s office said.

The High Valley Farm complex borders New York’s Taconic State Park and Massachusetts’ Mount Washington State Forest and Bash Bish Falls State Park, connecting the parks and ensuring contiguous and undisturbed forestland.

The deal also ensures that a portion of the South Taconic Trail that crosses the property will remain available to the public, although the balance of the property itself remains in private ownership.

The High Valley Farm project also protects agricultural land leased to a local farmer who is a member of Hudson Valley Fresh, a dairy cooperative.

The forage grown at the farm is critical to the 400-head Holstein cattle herd located nearby in Copake, the governor’s office said.

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