Two Land Trusts Honored for Conserving the Great Swamp

Two local land trusts devoted to conservation work in the Great Swamp are receiving a national award.

It is one of three awards given each year among the more than 1,600 land trusts across the country by the Land Trust Alliance — and it is the first time this award will recognize volunteer trusts in New York State.

This award is presented in honor of collaborative conservation work in The Great Swamp watershed, one of the three largest wetlands in New York State, by the Putnam County Land Trust and the Oblong Land Conservancy. The wetlands cover some 6,700 acres and the uplands surrounding the swamp provide a watershed of approximately 62,500 upland acres.

“For the Putnam County Land Trust to receive national recognition alongside the Oblong Land Conservancy is most gratifying," PCLT President Judy Terlizzi said in announcing the news. "The continuing work and support of our trustees, volunteers, members and friends is what makes our work possible, and I want to thank all of them for what they do. PCLT will continue to work with other conservation organizations including Friends of the Great Swamp in protecting this critical resource.”

Conservation of the Great Swamp is vital for a number of reasons:

• It provides the sole recharge facility for the aquifer that serves more than 40,000 people in the Watershed,

• It forms the headwaters of the Croton Reservoir System that provides New York City with some of its drinking water, and

• It provides critical habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna, some of which are endangered.

This collaboration is an important initiative since it recognizes that conservation goes beyond the efforts of a single land trust. It is one of 13 inter-state and inter-town partnerships happening in New York and Connecticut. These land trusts recognize that more can be achieved together than as individual organizations, officials said.

"Oblong Land Conservancy and Putnam County Land Trust epitomize all we recognize in Excellence Award recipients," said Land Trust Alliance President Andrew Bowman. "Through the highest caliber work, Oblong Land Conservancy and Putnam County Land Trust has broadened support forland conservation, built understanding and grown the conservation community."

The two local land trusts will be receiving the award at the Alliance's Rally 2016: The National Land Conservation Conference taking place Oct. 28-30 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.

For more information visit www.pclt.net or www.oblongland.org.

PHOTO: The Great Swamp/ NYDEC