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Orange County Land Trust Launches Annual Year End Appeal for Donations Middletown, NY (OCLT) The Orange County Land Trust recently kicked off its 2008 Annual Year End Appeal with a mailing to its many supporters throughout Orange County and the Mid Hudson region to help the organization continue to protect critical open space and working farms. Each year at this time, the Land Trust seeks support from the community to help fulfill its mission of preserving the fields, forests, wetlands, ridgelines and river corridors, working with landowners who voluntarily choose to preserve their land. This year is an especially important one for the Land Trust as the protection of land remains a major concern for the region. As in past years, all money raised during this appeal goes directly toward land preservation. According to Executive Director Jim Delaune, the Orange County Land Trust preserved 445 acres of land in 2008, bringing the total to nearly 4,000 acres of preserved land since the Land Trust's inception in 1993. This includes working farmland, ecologically rich wetlands, old growth woodlands and scenic ridgelines. "We are delighted to report that in 2008, the Land Trust closed on its first conservation easement in Sullivan County, partnered with Orange County in the preservation of two more working farms, and after ten years in the making, closed on a conservation easement for Arrow Park- 80 acres that will become an international center for healing supported by ABC News and its parent company, The Walt Disney Company, with 259 acres slated to become part of Sterling Forest State Park", said Delaune. For 2009, a major initiative of the Land Trust will be working with Independent Living, Inc. to raise funds for the development of a universal access rail-trail for the handicapped at its 204 acre Hamptonburgh Preserve, as well as continuing to work with landowners, municipalities and the county on land preservation and open space planning initiatives. For more information, volunteer opportunities and ways of donating to the Orange County Land Trust, please call the office at (845) 343-0840 or visit the website at oclt.org. |
