|
Stewards preserve chunk of the Gunks
SHAWANGUNKS: Land stewards sealed the deal to preserve 90 scenic acres near Minnewaska.
By Alan Snel
The Times Herald-Record
asnel@th-record.com
Another picturesque piece of the Shawangunk Mountains was saved yesterday when the Open Space Institute closed on a deal to buy 90 acres just west of Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County.
Minnewaska, the ridge's biggest landowner with 12,000 acres, will manage the parcel, said Bob Anderberg, general counsel of OSI, which has protected 16,000 acres of the environmentally sensitive Shawangunk ridge through land buys.
The Open Space group bought the land from Stephen Oleksiw for $220,000, Anderberg said. The Shawangunks run 30 miles southwest from Rosendale in Ulster County to the New York-New Jersey border. The Minnewaska area, known for its rare vegetation and wildlife, is one of the highlights of the "Gunks."
The 90-acre parcel will allow hikers access to the 87-foot-tall Stony Kill Falls, one of the four scenic waterfalls of the Shawangunks. The land will also buffer nearly 3,000 feet of the Stony Kill as it approaches the falls.
OSI will work with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and Minnewaska preserve employees to design, blaze and maintain a trail to the falls and create a small parking area. The trail conference also provided financial help to buy the land.
"It would have been a regrettable loss if the Stony Kill property was not protected for public use," said Joe Martens, OSI president.
OSI is also negotiating to acquire the 3,000-acre Witch's Hole land just west of the Minnewaska preserve. The group bought 4,900-acre Sam's Point, world famous for its rare dwarf pines in the mountain outside Ellenville, for $5 million in 1997.
|
|
|
