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OPEN SPACE

A PUBLICATION OF THE OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE VOL. 2 Summer 2004

THE Shawangunks

LAND BARON CONSERVATIONISTS

OPEN SPACE NEWS

EASEMENTS IN THE CROSSHAIRS C ONTENTS 3 LETTER FROM THE EDITORS VIEWPOINT

4 ON THE : The 7 Sam's Point Groundbreaking A Scientist Speaks: John Thompson

9 Conservation Timeline Reintroducing Fire to the Gunks

10 MAIN STREET: Grand Resorts, Land Barons, and Conservation

11 Tri-State Greenway

11 CROSSROADS: Conservation Easements in the Crosshairs 12-13 Debating the Value of Conservation Easements

14 OPEN SPACE NEWS

15 RECOMMENDED READING

THE OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE (www.osiny.org) is a non-profit land conservation organization that protects significant recreational, environmental, agricultural and historic landscapes. Founded in 1963, OSI has protected more than 90,000 acres in State. Through its Northern Protection Fund, OSI has assisted in the protection of close to 900,000 acres in northern NY,Vermont,New Hampshire and Maine. OSI’s Conservation Loan Program has helped protect more than 10,000 acres in the nation’s most densely populated state.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES STAFF PUBLICATION STAFF John H.Adams, Chairman Christopher (Kim) J. Elliman Donald Cramer Tildy La Farge Tildy La Farge Edward A. (Ned) Ames Chief Executive Officer Comptroller Communications Director Managing Editor Susan Babcock Joseph J. Martens Paul Elconin Daniel G. Luciano Elizabeth Carey Peter A. Bienstock President Mid-Hudson Land Property Manager; Photo Editor Gilman S. Burke Robert K.Anderberg Steward Assistant Vice President; Samuel Huber T. Jefferson Cunningham III Vice President and Jeff France Assistant Counsel Senior Writer J. Matthew Davidson General Counsel Receptionist; Office Manager Paul McRae Gillian Weber Paul J. Elston Susan Barbarisi Jennifer Grossman Junior Accountant Web & Graphics Editor Samuel Huber Administrator; Vice President for Jodie Mitchell Robert K.Anderberg Felix Kaufman Citizen Action Coordinator Land Acquisition Program Associate Susan Barbarisi W. Barnabas McHenry Tally Blumberg Peter Howell Katie Stone Christopher (Kim) J. Elliman Valerie Anne Mars Development Director Vice President and Intern Peter Howell Caroline Niemczyk Elizabeth Carey Director of Gillian Weber Joseph J. Martens Katherine O. Roberts Program Associate Conservation Finance GIS Specialist Editors Hume R. Steyer Patricia F. Sullivan PUBLICATION DESIGN Janice Pfeiffer Design Sheryl Tishman COVER PHOTO: TRAPPS GATEWAY; AND (ABOVE) BONTICOU CRAG; BY HARDIE TRUESDALE. www.hardietruesdale.com [email protected]

OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE 1350 Broadway, Room 201 New York, NY 10018 Tel 212.629.3981 Fax 212.244.3441 Web www.osiny.org

This publication is printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.

2 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 OSI FROM THE EDITORS VIEWPOINT The Use of Conservation Easements TILDY LA FARGE TILDY in a Challenging Political Environment

BY EDWARD A. (NED) AMES

Kim Elliman and Joe Martens. n the spring of 2003, the during almost thirty years of work in Washington Post ran a series of the field, conservation easements are The singular geography and topogra- articles criticizing The Nature used overwhelmingly for legitimate phy of the Shawangunk Ridge is the IConservancy for broad conflicts of conservation purposes, and, in the case subject of this issue of Open Space. interest, focusing in particular on the of donated easements, in compliance The “Gunks,” as they are affectionately use of conservation easements and with the intent of the tax code. The known, are part of a 245 mile long alleging that they were used to benefit key to ensuring public benefit is the ridge that runs from New York to insiders, including trustees. In light preparation of sound documentation, Pennsylvania, forming a spectacular of the abuses alleged in the Post series including a conservative appraisal of and rare landscape. OSI has done and a subsequent formal inquiry value and a clear delineation of the extensive preservation in the Northern launched by the Senate Finance conservation purpose being served. section of the Gunks, located about Committee, it is only prudent to Linking individual conservation ninety miles north of in review the case for conservation easements to broader, regional plans or Ulster County, New York. Our future easements and the standards by overlays can provide a useful context goal is to protect the rocky spine of the which they should be judged. for determining public purpose. ridge as it wends its way toward New The use of conservation ease- The more difficult challenge is to Jersey. (See “Open Space News,” page 14, ments has burgeoned in recent years monitor easements and enforce their for recent successes in New Jersey.) as the impact of sprawl has become provisions. Here, practice varies In this issue, we are also devoting pervasive. Easements have been seen widely, even among the larger, more a significant amount of space to con- as a way of protecting traditional established conservation organizations. servation easements, a widely used and conserving natural The effective use of easements as a conservation technique that has come resources at a lower cost than through conservation tool requires working under increasing scrutiny by the media outright acquisition. While the reg- with landowners on an ongoing basis, and Congress. See the adjacent ulation of land use is a contentious rejecting proffered easements that “Viewpoint” penned by longtime OSI issue, the use of easements has been don’t meet high standards, and trustee, Edward A. (Ned) Ames, and broadly accepted as a private sector, enforcing restrictions in an even- a point-counterpoint discussion by two voluntary response to destructive, handed and comprehensive way. conservation experts on pages 12-13. rapid changes in the landscape. On a national level, the Land As always, we welcome your Conservation easements have Trust Alliance has taken a lead in the thoughts and correspondence. become an essential tool of both the defense of easements and in promul- land trust movement and the conser- gating high standards and practices for Sincerely, vation community more broadly. As the field. But it is essential that organ- Kim Elliman, their use has spread, opposition to izations like the Open Space Institute, CEO easements from people against land and other conservation groups with use control in any form has grown. At experienced staff and expert boards, Joe Martens, the same time, legitimate questions set the record that will help rebuild President have been raised about both the qual- the public trust in this valuable tool. ity of the easements themselves, and Drop Us a Line the standards and practices of the con- Edward A. (Ned) Ames Write to: servation programs that employ them. MARCH 1, 2004 Editor/OPEN SPACE It is entirely possible to evaluate Open Space Institute, Inc. conservation easements by the degree Edward A. (Ned) Ames is a trustee of the Mary 1350 Broadway, Suite 201 to which they serve a public purpose. Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. A long time New York, NY 10018 Abuses such as self-dealing, overstate- advocate of open space protection, Ned has chaired ment of value and lack of conservation The Wilderness Society, Foundation, or email us at: benefit can be identified and should and The Preservation League of New York, among [email protected] be eliminated. But in my experience other financial and charitable organizations.

OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 3 THE SHAWANGUNK RIDGE:

espite four hundred years of European colonization, the Shawangunk Ridge remains as resilient as its gleaming white rock formations. Running 245 Dmiles in length, the glistening white band of Shawangunk rock (known as the Kittatinnies in New Jersey, and the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania) runs nearly straight as an arrow from Rosendale, New York, to just north of Swatara State Park in central Pennsylvania. By all accounts, the northernmost 20 miles of this ridge is the most spectacular. Drawing over 500,000 visitors a year, the Northern Shawangunks of Ulster County, New York, are an ecological and recreational mecca. The conglomerate cliffs overlooking the Hudson River Valley sport the best rock climbing A long view of the routes on the East Coast. Sam’s Point Trapps and the contains a vast dwarf pitch pine Clove. barrens growing on bare bedrock, unlike any other in the world. Protected by conservation efforts dating back to the 1860’s, the secluded

glens, ravines, crevices, streams and HARDIE TRUESDALE windy summits of the Shawangunks remain unspoiled to this day. For modern visitors, miles of The conservation of the Thomas Nozkowski, an artist Victorian-era carriageways and Shawangunks found early champions and long-time resident of High Falls, backwoods allow nearly limitless in Albert K. and Alfred H. Smiley, has hiked the backwoods and secluded exploration of places of extraordinary Quaker twins who first visited in 1869. hollows of the Northern Shawangunks scenic beauty. Ancient faulting creates Their business and philanthropic for over 40 years. “This is a subtle massive ice caves filled with snow and activities – Albert opened the famous landscape, but one full of intrigue ice throughout much of the summer, in 1869, and stark beauty. Every day I am out where unusually cold climates are and Alfred opened the first of two in the Shawangunks I see them in a home to boreal plants otherwise mountain houses at Lake Minnewaska new light,” says Nozkowski. found as far north as Nova Scotia. in 1879 – led to the preservation of

4 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 OSI ON THE TRAIL

Preservation in a Time of Challenge

BY SAM HUBER

Mountain House for conservation and develop the remaining privately held public access. The Mohonk Trust – lands at Lake Minnewaska with a renamed the in 1978 resort complex consisting of a 400- – was the first land trust established room hotel, 300 condominiums and to protect the Shawangunks and is related amenities, all surrounded by now the largest member and visitor- protected state parkland. supported nature preserve in New The conservation community, York State. Hosting over 150,000 including Friends of the Shawangunks visitors annually, the Preserve has and other advocacy organizations, active programs in land protection, opposed this development and urged stewardship, environmental education, that Lake Minnewaska and its sur- and ecosystem research. (See related rounding 1,200 acres be incorporated article on page 7.) into Minnewaska State Park. After “Albert K. and Alfred H. Smiley years of controversy and numerous were early conservation visionaries,” lawsuits challenging the adequacy of the says Glenn Hoagland, water supply Executive Director of and the efficacy the Mohonk Preserve. of amending a “They painstakingly conservation acquired over 400 easement protect- separate tracts of land ing the lake, the and assembled a vast remaining 1,200 and beautiful estate acres of Lake surrounding Lake Minnewaska Mohonk and Lake (including the Minnewaska. The 33-acre lake Mohonk Preserve is itself ) were proud to continue the incorporated into

Smiley family legacy HOUSE OF MOHONK MOUNTAIN COURTESY PHOTO Minnewaska of land conservation Albert K. Smiley in the gardens at Mohonk State Park in the over 17,000 acres of ridge top land in and management,” Mountain House, in the heart of the summer of 1986. the Northern Shawangunks. continues Hoagland. Shawangunks. Mohonk and For 135 years, the Victorian The lands acquired by Alfred K. Minnewaska were just the start of a resort built on Lake Mohonk catered Smiley at Lake Minnewaska have also much larger conservation effort. to weary New Yorkers seeking solace been protected, although by a far more The Shawangunk Mountains cover in nature. In 1963, Albert Smiley’s arduous route. In the 1970’s, much of over 85,000 acres of land stretching heirs, hotel guests and other concerned the Minnewaska lands were acquired by over 48 miles in length, much of it conservationists created The Mohonk the State of New York as Minnewaska still pristine and undeveloped. In the Trust, permanently dedicating nearly State Park. However, in 1979 the early 1980’s, the Open Space Institute 5,000 acres of land surrounding the Marriott Corporation proposed to started a ridge-length protection

OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 5 effort that has to date protected more the ridge from Rosendale to the New than 18,000 acres of land. Jersey border, and connecting with the In some 35 transactions costing enormous tracts of protected lands in excess of $16 million, OSI has leading down the Kittatinny and Blue protected the 4,700-acre Ellenville Mountains. Ultimately, one may be watershed tract (now known as the able to walk from the Delaware Sam’s Point Preserve); large tracts of Water Gap along the length of the land in the Witch’s Hole and Mine Kittatinny/Shawangunks Ridge to Hole Hollow; lands at Stony Kill the , largely on Falls; the northern summits of Dickie protected lands. Barre and Ronde Barre; lands near This future vision is by no the High Falls Ice Caves; thousands means certain. The flanks of the of acres in the southern Shawangunks; ridge show signs of the steady and lands in the so-called “Trapps advance of residential development. Gateway,” the entrance to the ridge Once sleepy towns such as Gardiner for thousands of visitors and the are now suburban outposts of New location of the Mohonk Preserve’s York and New Jersey. And a 2,600- new Visitor’s Center. acre tract west of Lake Awosting is OSI and its conservation partners the site of a proposed 350-home continue to protect this remarkable residential community that would One of many landscape. OSI envisions a swath of technical climbing reach into the most remote glens of preserved lands — perhaps as much routes in the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. as 65,000 acres — stretching approx- Gunks. But OSI remains firmly com-

imately 50 miles along the spine of ANNIE O’NEILL mitted to its core conservation plan:

ULSTER Shawangunk COUNTY Ridge Greenway Lundy Estate (Vernooy State Forest) Mohonk New Paltz OSI Protected Preserve State Protected Minnewaska State Ellenville Park Preserve Mohonk Preserve and surrounding protected areas Sam’s Point Preserve 44/55

17

I"87

SULLIVAN COUNTY Wurtsboro

9W

Long Path

Shawangunk Delaware Ridge Trail

Ulster Dutchess Sullivan I"84

Putnam ORANGE Location of Orange Shawangunk COUNTY Ridge Westchester Rockland 209

05102.5 Miles

6 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 A SCIENTIST SPEAKS C ONNECTIVITY ON purchasing lands from willing sellers, THE LANDSCAPE and conserving these lands for future generations. A successful partnership with the State of New York has been John Thompson is the critical. Working with the state, OSI Natural Resources Specialist plans in 2004 to add up to 6,000 with the Mohonk Preserve’s acres to the Minnewaska State Park MELISSA THOMPSON Daniel Smiley Research Preserve, including much of its Sam’s Center (www.mohonkpreserve.org). John Point and Witch’s Hole holdings, can be reached at: jthompson@mohonk- making it one of the largest state preserve.org. parks in New York. “The Minnewaska State Park he key to landscape level conser- Preserve is thought by many to be the vation is connectivity. Animals, to jewel of the State park system,” said Tvarying degrees, require unfractured (continued on page 8) habitats. When ecosystems get sliced and diced, the animal populations we all admire and love to watch are going to suffer. The cause of a fractured ecosystem NEW CONSERVATION CENTER AT can be a new housing development, industrial activity, a strip mall or a new SAM’S POINT road. Even the most inconspicuous PRESERVE dirt road can create a line that animals

L HERB CHONG won’t cross. For example, a smaller Battlement Terrace at the The Nature Conservancy has animal that is used to the leaf cover in Minnewaska State Park Preserve. broken ground on a new educa- the forest won’t move into the road tional center in Cragsmoor, N.Y., because the absence of leaf cover signals an entirely new habitat — at the 5,373-acre Sam's Point one that may not support the animal and could potentially expose it Preserve, created by OSI in 1997 to predators. and managed by The Nature In general, larger mammals like black bear, and , Conservancy. Designed to com- all found in the Gunks, tend to be most vulnerable when landscapes plement the dramatic cliffscapes are broken up. That’s because their populations are smaller to begin of the Preserve, the center will with and they have low reproductive rates. feature environmentally sustain- Without an expanse of land to move around in, these animals able building practices. “The run the risk of being separated. And separation makes the species Conservation Center will provide vulnerable and less apt to recover from a severe event, such as an an informative welcome for vis- outbreak of disease, a storm, or a forest fire. itors as well as serving as a much The presence of these species with large home ranges indicates needed base for stewardship a healthy ecosystem. By protecting these “umbrella” species, we hope and research,” says Cara Lee, to ensure that the ecological processes and habitats of many other Director of TNC’s Shawangunk species are protected. Ridge Program. Some of the gravest concerns in the conservation community are — how will global warming impact animal populations? Will popu- lations be pushed north in search of shelter and food? What will happen when entire communities of animals are moving and there is no place to go? These are all good questions and we hope that the information we’re collecting in the Gunks — daily weather monitoring and recording animal and plant life — will help shed light on the answers to those questions. COURTESY OF MATTHEW BIALECKI ASSOCIATES BIALECKI OF MATTHEW COURTESY

OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 7 “The Minnewaska State Park Preserve is thought by many to be the jewel of the State park system.” P --BOB ANDERBERG Robert Anderberg, OSI’s General Witch’s Hole. This is a magnificent has identified the most sensitive Counsel who also oversees the orga- legacy for future generations, and we areas where rare and unusual plants nization’s Shawangunk Ridge Land are lucky that officials at the Palisades and animals live, and has developed a Protection Program. “The lands Interstate Park Commission and the Master Plan that carefully balances being added by OSI to the Park NYS Office of Parks share in our resource protection and public use. contain some of the most enduring vision,” said Anderberg. “In preserving the Shawangunks landmarks in the Shawangunks — OSI has also forged partnerships we owe much to previous generations,” the major ice caves, Shingle Gully, with the Mohonk Preserve and The adds Anderberg. “The original vision Indian Rock, , the Mine Nature Conservancy, both of which of Albert and Alfred Smiley protected Hole Hollow, Napanoch Point, and are members of the Shawangunk over 17,000 acres of unique and wild other wild places.” Ridge Partnership, a Shawangunk landscape. Our goal is “Indeed, the thrust of these group of ten partners that is gleaning to complete this vision, and protect additions to Minnewaska is to create field research and scientific analysis to the remaining hills, crags and summits a vast roadless area lying between Lake ensure the long-term protection of the of the remarkable little mountain Awosting, , and the slopes of the ridge. The Partnership range for all time.”

OSI’s 5,373-acre Sam’s Point Preserve has a variety of trails for . Sam’s Point and High Point, also protected by OSI, are the two highest summits in the Shawangunks, offering spectacular views. PHOTOS: HERB CHONG (TOP); (LEFT) HARDIE TRUESDALE

8 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 FIRE ON THE RIDGE CONSERVATION TIMELINE Smiley family permanently protects first acre 1966 of land in Shawangunks. Conveys to Mohonk BY STEPHANIE GIFFORD Trust a total of 487 acres, including the Trapps rock climbing cliffs, the most popular climbing venue on the East Coast.

mokey the Bear, the Forest Service’s Ellenville Ice Caves designated “National Natural 1967 highly successful promoter of fire prevention, has Landmark” by U.S. Secretary of the Interior. had his way in the Shawangunks. But, as in many S The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) 1971 forested regions where fire suppression has been acquires 7,000 acres from the Phillips family, encouraged, the result has not been altogether the first step in the creation of Minnewaska positive for the ecosystem. State Park. Effective fire suppression tactics have all but New York’s Department of Environmental 1972 eliminated fire from the unique, fire dependent RON GILL Conservation (DEC) establishes Basherkill ecosystem of the Shawangunks, which has not Prescribed burn (above), Wildlife Management Area, protecting one of experienced a sizable wildfire in 50 years. The and Stephanie Gifford, a New York State’s largest fresh water wetlands. accumulation of half a century’s worth of fuels former “burn boss” (below), poses a life threatening situation, not only to in the . Marriott Corporation proposes resort and 1979 . condominium complex. Plan is ultimately those that live and work in the area, but to the thwarted by coalition of conservation groups, natural resources that so many individuals and led by Friends of the Shawangunks and others. organizations have worked hard to protect. Scientists estimate that natural fires historically New York State acquires 1,200 acres, including 1986 swept through the Shawangunks every five to Lake Minnewaska, and adds it to Minnewaska State Park Preserve, which in 1986 totals over twenty-five years. Fires burned off accumulated 11,600 acres. dead wood and living brush, enriching the soil with nutrient-rich ash and invigorating fire-tolerant Through 11 separate transactions, OSI protects 1987 2,300 acres in Southern Shawangunks. plants which grow there. Huckleberry growers, CONSERVANCY OF THE NATURE COURTESY who relied on the abundance of their crops, Assemblage is later transferred to the DEC and administered as the Wurtsboro Ridge encouraged fire because it eliminated other competing plants and created State Forest. a better growing environment in which the huckleberry could thrive. Sam’s Point Preserve, acquired by OSI in 1997 and managed by The OSI acquires 4,623-acre Ellenville Watershed 1997 Nature Conservancy, is one of the most fire-prone areas in the lands, renamed Sam’s Point Preserve, managed for OSI by The Nature Conservancy. Shawangunks, and is home to the extensive, but globally rare, dwarf pitch pine barrens. This natural community, like other pitch pine stands at The now 2,500-acre Shawangunk Ridge State 2000 lower elevations, is highly adapted to fire, and indeed depends on fire to Forest is created through partnership between maintain its unique make-up. New York State, OSI, Trust for Public Land The Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership, led by The Nature (TPL) and others. Conservancy, is developing plans to reintroduce fire to the Shawangunk OSI acquires the 1,900-acre Witch’s Hole 2001 landscape, but in a controlled fashion. The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Area, to be added to the National Park Service have been using prescribed fires to reduce hazardous Minnewaska State Park Preserve. fuel loads in conservation areas across the country since the 1960’s and, with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, in OSI and TPL convey 5,400-acre Lundy Estate 2002 to State of New York, creating a “conservation the Albany Pine Bush since 1991. corridor” between the Gunks and the Catskill TNC is preparing a Shawangunk Ridge fire management plan, which Forest Preserve. will be available for public consideration in late 2004. Plans for individual burns will also be prepared in 2004, in preparation for demonstration burns Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership 2003 in 2005. When the burns do start, they will be applied with great care by issues scientists’ report on the potential envi- ronmental impacts of proposed Awosting experienced staff according to the plan and when the weather is right. Reserve development. Done correctly, the forest will be healthier and the threat of catastrophic fire will diminish. Smokey the Bear might just approve. Three peregrine falcon chicks fledge, a first in 2004 over 50 years, according to Mohonk Stephanie Gifford is Director of Ecological Management at The Nature Conservancy’s Eastern Preserve’s Daniel Smiley Research Center. New York Chapter. A former “burn boss” in the Albany Pine Bush, Gifford initiated TNC’s fire management program there in the 1990’s. Mohonk Preserve, Minnewaska State Park Preserve, Sam’s Point Preserve, the State Forest Preserve, and other conservation holdings now total over 41,000 acres.

OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 9 OSI MAIN STREET NEW WORLD CASTLES BY CHRISTOPHER SPATZ

hen Americans With western first awakened landscapes beckoning, to the notion of the fortunes of the Wheading to the wilder- old Catskill resorts ness for inspiration and declined swiftly during respite, they came to the 20th century. In the mountains of the June of 1930, more — to than 14,000 acres the Catskills and the around the Catskill Shawangunks. HOUSE OF MOHONK MOUNTAIN COURTESY PHOTOS and Kaaterskill hotels Captivated by the radi- Mohonk Mountain House were incorporated ant tales of Washington into the 300,000 Irving and James Fennimore Cooper, and smitten with the acres of the expanded Preserve. In the 50’s, gilded landscapes of the Hudson Valley School, this land of the Newgolds followed suit at Overlook. yawning waterfalls, hemlock vales, sky lakes and gaping The Smileys ran into similar difficulties, but only partly. overlooks drew the privileged of New York to grand hotels Operations at Minnewaska were sold to the resort’s general offering a patina of city life cast high amid the wilds of manager Kenneth Phillips in 1955. Starting in 1967, the story and paintings. Smileys split their remaining property at Lake Mohonk. The Romantic spirit that inspired these resorts parallels The family retained 2,200 acres around the last of the great the move to preserve wild places. In 1885, the wilderness Victorian hotels at the Mohonk Mountain House, while cast its spell on New York legislators, who created the establishing the state’s largest publicly supported nature 34,000-acre Catskill Park Preserve (and the much larger preserve with the 5,300-acre Mohonk Trust now expanded Preserve) around the resorts, providing to 6,600 acres and renamed the Mohonk Preserve — public access to the mountains for those who could not engendering a stewardship legacy that initiated conservation afford the hotels. efforts in the Northern Shawangunks. Struggling to keep The Catskill, Kaaterskill, and Minnewaska solvent, Phillips sold his 10,500 acres to Houses thrived during the 19th century, and proprietors New York State between 1971 and 1986, creating the like Charles Beach of the and 12,000-acre Minnewaska State Park that abuts the the Newgold family at Overlook Mohonk Preserve. acquired large tracts of land adja- Today, walking along the stony traces and carriage cent to their hotels, across much roads of these New World castles — into the mountains of the front range of the Catskills. that first enchanted a nation — feels like tracking the In the Shawangunks, a pair of nativity of fairy tale. Quaker twins named Albert and Alfred Smiley purchased the Stokes Christopher Spatz writes about the Catskills and Tavern along the edge of Lake Shawangunks for Blue Stone Press in High Falls, NY. Mohonk in 1869, where they began He is a member of the Gunks Climbers’ Coalition work on their Mohonk Mountain House. (www.gunksclimbers.org),a climbers’ advocacy group Seven years later, they began raising the committed to preserving climbing access in the Gunks Cliffhouse and Windmere hotels farther south through stewardship efforts with OSI, the Mohonk down the ridge at Lake Minnewaska. Preserve, and Minnewaska State Park.

10 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 This OSI CROSSROADS Remarkable Little Conservation Easements Mountain Range In the Crosshairs BY ROBERT K. ANDERBERG BY KIM ELLIMAN

The Shawangunk Ridge begins ollowing the Often, but not much as it ends: with a whimper. investigations always, the donor Starting in a church parking lot in Fof corporate and takes a deduction Rosendale, New York, it wends its way financial excesses against income through three states and twenty-two of the past few or estate taxes counties until it abruptly terminates years, Congress, when making under an interstate highway outside the IRS, states such a gift. If

of Swatara, Pennsylvania. attorneys general, JOE MARTENS the value of the Between these two diminutive and the media Farmland in Saratoga County protected by gift is overstated, points lies a narrow ribbon of remark- have mounted a a conservation easement. so is the tax able wilderness. The preservation of broad investigation into the practices of benefit, and if so, there is potential this resource spans a century of time the non-profit/philanthropic sector. taxpayer fraud. and the collective efforts of numerous The investigation is wide-ranging Conservation easements can be private, state and federal entities. A but it has focused in particular on donated or purchased. Most of the de facto tri-state greenway, the Ridge the use and abuse of conservation large easements on forestland in the encompasses more than 170,000 acres easements, and sparked calls for East have been purchased at fair of preserved land in the Shawangunk, reform and regulation. market value and therefore have not Kittatinny and Blue Mountains. The Land Trust Alliance (LTA), included any tax benefits. Even Much of the ridge can be readily representing more than 1,300 land donated easements, if the donor does hiked: starting at the Mohonk trusts nationwide, has revised its not claim a deduction (as many do not Preserve’s Spring Farm, one can walk standards and practices to consider- —see the “Viewpoint” by Edward A. trails through New York and New ably raise the bar on land ethics and (Ned) Ames on page 3), do not pose Jersey to central Pennsylvania. The prevent abuse and conflicts of interest. concerns. It is only those easements ridge hosts numerous state , In the search for a balance between where the donor claims more value— parks, preserves, and game lands; two such self-enforcement and government and so, a greater tax deduction—than national natural landmarks, including regulation of NGO’s, the Senate warranted, that arguably should be the Ellenville Ice Caves (now owned Finance Committee in particular is the focus of inquiry and reform. by the Open Space Institute) and considering legislation to mandate The investigation of easements has Sunfish Pond Natural Area; national clearer guidelines and more trans- prompted a growing debate within the historic landmarks; and federal trail parent reporting. conservation movement about the use, lands. Some of the notable nature This inquiry has focused on how abuse, and efficacy of conservation preserves include the conservation easements are treated by easements to achieve conservation goals Sanctuary, Mohonk Preserve, Sam’s donors, conservation groups, and other and to warrant public trust and subsidy. Point Preserve, and Preserve. buyers (sometimes called conservation We present on the following pages the The names of the endless crags, buyers). The Finance Committee views of two noted national experts. summits, and knobs of this ridge give and the IRS probes are looking into John D. Echeverria, one of the nation’s one a feeling for its varied history and questions of how to value a donated experts on law and land use, argues that the impact of its mysterious beauty: gift, whether it be an antique or an the benefits of easements may not High Point, Sam’s Point, Lookout interest in real estate. How can the justify their cost to taxpayers. Dana Rock, Wolff Rocks, Pulpit Rock, Dan’s IRS be assured that the donations are Beach, a leader within the smart growth Pulpit, Devil’s Pulpit, Jacobs Ladder, accurately valued? movement, reflects on his experience Weathering Knob, Bake Oven Knob, Typically, the conservation working in the Low Country of South Round Head, Blue Rocks, Auburn movement has protected considerable Carolina and suggests that despite Lookout, and Dutch Shoe Rock, to quantities of land through landowner some abuses, easements are an essential name a few. donations of conservation easements. tool in the conservation toolbox.

OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 11 C ONSERVATION EASEMENTS Revive the Legacy of Land Use Controls

BY JOHN D. ECHEVERRIA

Over 30 years ago, the U.S. Council on Environmental Here’s why: Quality, under the leadership of Republican Russell Train, High Cost: There simply are not enough public and published two important reports: The Takings Issue and private dollars to pay owners what they are likely to The Quiet Revolution in Land Use Controls. The first made demand to refrain from degrading our environment and the point that the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution, our communities, especially in this era of painful budget properly interpreted in light of legal precedent and consti- limits and sharp competition for charitable dollars. tutional history, should not bar strong land use restrictions Limited Effectiveness: Under a voluntary approach, to protect the environment. The second documented the individual landowners can simply opt out of land conser- then burgeoning efforts at the state and local levels to enact vation programs and thereby frustrate the achievement of

POINT The pendulum has swung too far and we are due for a correction. Land acquisition has a role to play, but it cannot do it all, or even most of what is needed.

regulatory programs to protect open space, ecologically public goals. Conservationists properly mock “voluntary” sensitive areas, and individual communities. efforts to control global warming. Why should voluntary Around the time of the publication of these visionary action be any more effective in preserving the communities reports, some of the nation’s most significant land use laws and landscapes we cherish? were adopted, including the federal Coastal Zone Myth of Permanence: Finally, the chief purported virtue Management Act, the Act, and of acquisition, that it achieves permanent preservation, is Oregon’s path-breaking, statewide land conservation almost certainly a chimera. Easements, in particular, are legislation. All of these laws remain on the books today. already under challenge in many places, and the social and Yet what a difference a few decades can make! Today, legal pressure to remove or modify easement restrictions the vision of land conservation policy outlined by Train and will only increase as decades and centuries pass. his energetic young staff (in particular William Reilly and Aldo Leopold, after years of studying this problem, Boyd Gibbons) is largely in tatters. In the face of a strident came to the conclusion that the only long-term solution to “property rights” backlash, some conservationists have largely America’s land conservation challenge lay in the development abandoned the regulatory option, preferring instead to rely of what he called a “land ethic.” In particular, he argued on the voluntary acquisition of fee interests in property and, that it was the landowner’s responsibility to manage his more recently, easements, paid for with a combination of land well, and that government subsidy of conservation private donations, public grants, and tax benefits. would “ultimately bankrupt either the treasury or the land To my mind, the pendulum has swung too far and we or both.” are due for a correction. Land acquisition has a role to Russell Train and his young advisors took this advice play, but it cannot do it all, or even most of what is needed. to heart and so should we today.

John D. Echeverria is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute (www.gelpi.org).

12 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 IN THE CROSSHAIRS Create More Incentives for Easements

BY DANA BEACH

Despite the revelations in the Washington Post and restrictive in South Carolina limits subdivision to 25 elsewhere of serious abuses of the tax advantages easements acre lots or larger. Notably, this zoning is under constant offer, conservation easements are among the most important political assault by extreme property rights advocates. tools available to protect the nation’s environment and Forty-four of South Carolina’s 46 counties have “rural” natural landscapes. Instead of curtailing their use, states zoning codes with minimum lot sizes of one acre, or they and localities should enact more incentives to accelerate the have no zoning at all. Unfortunately, South Carolina is no purchase and donation of easements. exception. Throughout the Southeast, where biodiversity is Some critics have denounced easements on the grounds among the highest in the nation, rural zoning is a prescription that the parcels protected have been selected by land trusts for sprawl. Leaving rural land protection in the hands of “with no public input” and that easements compromise counties and states would consign most of the wildlife regulatory efforts. They prefer restrictive zoning enacted habitat in the nation to oblivion. with extensive public debate. Practically, however, very Critics contend that easements often deliver large tax few local governments, especially in high-biodiversity benefits to individual donors with questionable public benefits Southeastern states, understand or embrace the need for in return. The Cheeha-Combahee easement was valued at land conservation. Zoning is often designed to facilitate approximately $2.8 million. It provided an income tax development rather than conservation. benefit to the owners, and a cost to the taxpayer, of less

COUNTERPOINT Leaving rural land protection in the hands of counties and states would consign most of the wildlife habitat in the nation to oblivion.

Even the most restrictive zoning in the country cannot than $1 million, or approximately $80.00 per acre. In its approach the level of protection afforded by conservation protected state, the property provides enormous value for easements. Consider the case of the South Carolina Low- wildlife, water quality, and other ecological services. It has country, where landowners have joined with state and federal also facilitated a growing eco-tourism industry of kayakers agencies to protect more than 160,000 acres of land since and canoeists, along with traditional hunters and anglers 1987 in the Ashepoo/Combahee/Edisto (ACE) basin initia- who enjoy the benefits of a protected watershed and riparian tive, almost half through donated conservation easements. vistas. Most importantly, Cheeha-Combahee lies between One protected property in the ACE is the 12,325-acre state and federal wildlife preserves. Cheeha-Combahee Plantation. With 21 miles of magnificent Far from compromising conservation efforts, easements river/marsh frontage, dramatic topography and no local land in the ACE basin have become a rallying cry for conservation use regulations, Cheeha-Combahee was a perfect candidate in the public and private sectors throughout the state. They for a high-end golf course or equestrian development in offer the hope that pristine ecosystems can be protected in the style of Hilton Head, just 30 miles to the south. perpetuity. In response to the success of the ACE, local, In 1993, eight families purchased Cheeha-Combahee state, and federal policy-making now leans heavily toward and donated a perpetual conservation easement to Ducks conservation. Instead of compromising regulatory efforts, Unlimited. The easement allows only 10 subdivisions with private conservation action in the Lowcountry no parcel smaller than 600 acres. In contrast, the most has improved public decision-making.

Dana Beach is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (www.scccl.org).

OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 13 OSI OPEN SPACE NEWS

AMC Great Faux Lawns Deal Will Hudson in Suburbia Protect River q Heart of LA FARGE TILDY Paddle The Metropolitan Water

Maine’s SARAH JANE SHANGRAW The fourth annual Great District of Southern California Hundred Moosehead Lake, Maine. Hudson River Paddle from is testing synthetic lawns, a Mile The Appalachian Mountain Albany to New York has been new concept in lawn beautifi- Wilderness Club (www.outdoors.org) scheduled for July 6-July 15. cation to see if they help save recently announced that it had Log on to www.hrwa.org water. According to one proud acquired 37,000 acres in for details. owner of a faux lawn, “It is an Maine’s fabled Hundred Mile eye catcher.” Wilderness. The Open Space Institute’s Conservation Loan Program helped fund the $14.2 million transaction, which was - New Website for facilitated by the Trust for Bird Lovers Public Land (www.tpl.org).

The AMC deal protects one y If you’re interested in making e s r of the most scenic sections of e your backyard more bird the . J friendly, log on to ’s w N e new interactive website. “Audubon at Home” also stresses ways to mitigate the New Jersey Deal perils birds face as they navi- is One for the New Jersey Highlands gate natural areas bisected by Record Books Bill: Update roads and property lines. Log on to www.audubon.org/bird/ With its acquisition of the On June 7th, as Open Space was at_home/. 9,400-acre DeMarco cranberry going to press, there was good JODIE MITCHELL farm in New Jersey’s news for proposed legislation Heart of the Putnam Pines. Pinelands, the New Jersey that would protect the heart of Conservation Fund (NJCF) New Jersey’s Highlands and the Gets completed the largest private water it supplies to millions of “Preserve conservation deal in State people. Two key committees at America” history. With its rare cedar the state legislature passed the swamps, upland forests, crystal bill, bringing it one step closer Honor RANDORF GARY clear streams and , to a full vote. Cold Spring. the property is an exceptional Eight communities in the U.S., ecological resource. OSI’s In November, the Open Space including Putnam County, New Jersey Conservation Institute will recognize Samuel New York, were recently Loan Fund helped fund the W. Lambert III, past chairman honored with a “Preserve $12 million purchase. The of the New Jersey Conservation America” designation for their NJCF is still seeking financial Foundation, for his outstanding efforts to protect the historic support and donations. For contribution to conservation in heritage of their hometowns. more information, log on to the state and his organization’s Log on to www.Preserve www.njconservation.org. advocacy for the landmark bill America.Gov for links to these now before the legislature. historic places.

14 OPEN SPACE VOL. 2 SUMMER 2004 RECOMMENDED p READING

THE LAND WE SHARE (Island Press) of animal life long after an animal has come By Eric T. Freyfogle and gone and left its distinctive mark.

In a wide-ranging examination that is both timely and provocative, Freyfogle offers a TIME & TIDE (Crown Journeys) spirited intellectual defense of the notion of By Frank Conroy property as an organic, dynamic institution. Society has an obligation to protect the land, Looking across the Atlantic, Herman says Freyfogle, and government programs Melville described it as “an elbow of sand; that pay, as opposed to require, landowners all beach, without a background.” The place to do so may have the cart before the horse. — Nantucket. In the latest installment of Crown Journeys, which enlists noted authors to write about landscapes they love, LAND CONSERVATION FINANCING Frank Conroy takes readers on a walking (Island Press) journey across the Moorish landscape of By Mike McQueen and Ed McMahon Nantucket. Conroy’s intimate portrayal of the island and its evolution from the whaling For professionals working in land conser- days to present times is inspiring, dream- vation, this is an invaluable resource that filled, and haunting. lays out the various funding mechanisms available. Land Conservation Financing,by Mike McQueen and Ed McMahon, both POLITICS, POLLUTION AND PANDAS of The Conservation Fund, also takes us (Island Press) into the future with an explanation of green By Russell E.Train infrastructure and how it will figure into land conservation. Regardless of which side of the political aisle you inhabit, Russell Train’s environmental memoir provides a fascinating glimpse of MAMMAL TRACKS and SIGN of the two republican administrations and some of NORTHEAST (New Press) the most important environmental policies By Diane K. Gibbons that became law under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. A lifelong republican, Train’s Diane Gibbons, an accomplished naturalist, party loyalty doesn’t stop him from sharing explains the subtle clues animals leave, his dismay with the Bush administration’s enabling readers to get an up-close glimpse environmental record.

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Ice storm aftermath in the Shawangunks. Photo by Annie O’Neill