FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Janelle Castro
Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust
315.779.2239 | tughilloutreach@nnymail.com
PHILADELPHIA, NY -- “When it’s time for me to leave this earth, I know I will be leaving my land better than how I found it,” stated fifth generation dairy farmer, William (Bill) Gleisner, “I value the tranquility and peacefulness of the land – and I want to keep it that way.”
Bill Gleisner and his brother, Charles (Chuck), moved to the North Country in the late 1970s from Ohio looking for good farmland and somewhere they could call home. At the time, farmers in Ohio were being pushed out of their land due to development; Bill and Chuck knew they wanted to continue farming, or as Bill put it, “Once you get the manure under your fingernails, it is always there.”
Since then, Bill and Chuck have been farming together in the Town of Philadelphia, NY. But now, they have done something more – they have protected their land, ensuring it will remain available for agricultural purposes, and compatible uses, forever. Fort Drum, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and Ducks Unlimited partnered with the Gleisner brothers through the Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program.
The purpose of the ACUB program is to limit use or development of property near the Fort Drum installation to agricultural and forestry uses. This minimizes encroachment while protecting conservation values and open space. Encroachment is defined here as urban development surrounding military installations that negatively affect the ability of the military to train realistically.
"The North Country is a special place, and it is partnerships like these
that make Fort Drum so unique,” stated Michael H. McKinnon, Fort Drum Deputy Garrison Commander. “From the early days when the 10th Mountain Division was activated, the North Country community embraced the military as one of its own. Today, the ACUB program continues in that same tradition and is a great example of neighbors working together to protect family farms, while preserving Fort Drum's training capability well into the future."
The ACUB program benefits the Army, as well as the land trust and the landowner. The Army maintains or enhances training capabilities, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust protects open space, and the landowner is paid not to develop their land, and in this case, the landowners will continue to farm.
After thirty years of working the land together, the Gleisner brothers are still at it. “We work together; we bail hay together – we do everything together, and that’s something special that not many families have,” explains Bill.
With six children and three grandchildren he is hoping to keep the land in his family, “Hopefully one day my kids will take over the farm and keep it going, but even if they don’t I can rest in peace knowing that it will not be developed. Someone will be able to farm it, and that’s the most important thing to me.”
Totaling 274 acres, Bill and Chuck Gleisner’s farms are the fifth and sixth properties to be protected by Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust through the ACUB program. With the addition of these properties, over 1,300 acres have been conserved with agricultural agreements through the ACUB conservation partnership program.
“The ACUB program strengthens our local farming community by providing financial resources to these farm families,” explained Linda Garrett, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust Executive Director, “The Gleisner brothers are leaders in our community; they have a great connection to their land and share a passion for the long-term importance of farming. Through this program they will be able to either invest the funds they receive back into the farm or pass it on to the next generation – and most importantly the land will continue to be available for agriculture.”
When participating with the ACUB program, farm families work with Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and Ducks Unlimited to create a conservation plan for the property. The plan addresses immediate and long-term goals, while ensuring flexibility for future operations. Farm families are then paid through the ACUB program for the appraised value of their non-farm development rights, as determined by a state-qualified appraiser familiar with this type of conservation project. The properties remain in private ownership and stay on the tax rolls. The farmers are not told how to farm or manage their land in the agreement, as Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust believes farmers are important stewards of the land.
Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and the Army have worked in partnership with Ducks Unlimited as part of the ACUB program when a farm or property contains bird habitat that the farmer and Ducks Unlimited are interested in conserving. This beautiful and productive land and its associated wetlands will now be able to provide important wildlife habitat.
To learn more about the ACUB program please visit their website or contact Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust Executive Director, Linda Garrett at 315.779.8240, email thtomorr@northnet.org or visit www.tughilltomorrowlandtrust.org.
Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust is a nonprofit regional community-based organization that works with local landowners to protect and foster responsible stewardship practices of working forests and farms. The organization also hosts educational and recreational programs free to the community to help connect children and families to the land within the Tug Hill region.
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]]>Contact: Caroline Hamling
845-343-0840 | caroline@oclt.org
MIDDLETOWN, NY-- The Orange County Land Trust was awarded a $7,000 New York State Conservation Partnership Program grant to work with Orange County Planning Department, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County and the Glynwood Center on a study to strengthen the business of farming in Orange County with a focus on farmland protection and the supply of locally produced foods to nearby urban and suburban markets.
At a press event held in Albany Monday, the national Land Trust Alliance and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), announced the awarding of 75 Conservation Partnership Program grants to 57 land trusts across New York State, totaling over $1.4 million.
The grants, funded through New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and administered by the Land Trust Alliance in coordination with the NYS DEC, will be matched by more than $1.82 million in private and local funding. The program, initiated in 2002, has helped local groups permanently conserve about 15,000 acres of farmland, wildlife habitat, recreation areas, and urban open space across New York State.
More than 150 land trust and environmental advocates attended this event, later meeting with their local legislators to lobby for support of the EPF in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed 2011-12 budget which he maintains at $134 million, the same as last year.
"The EPF and the Conservation Partnership Program are cost-effective investments that pay dividends for public health and New York's economy," said Rand Wentworth, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Land Trust Alliance. The nonprofit group represents 1,700 land trusts nationwide, including 90 in New York State. The groups have protected 40 million acres over the last 20 years, Wentworth said.
"These grant dollars leverage investment that brings real results — clean water, places for kids to play, wildlife habitat, urban parks," Wentworth said. "Things that transform communities at a fraction of the price of large governmental programs."
Working with the Glynwood Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities save farming in the Northeast, Orange County Department of Planning and Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Orange County Land Trust will undertake four strategic and sequential organizational sessions during the first half of 2011, facilitated by professionals in the field of urban/suburban agriculture, to address agriculture development and land protection, as well as new funding strategies for farmland protection.
This study will also help build upon and help implement the Agriculture Economic Development Strategy, prepared by County planning staff and now approved by the Orange County Legislature.
“We need to further protect against the loss of farmland in Orange County and to investigate the potential of protecting farmland by strengthening the business of farming in our communities”, said Jim Delaune, Executive Director of the Orange County Land Trust.
“We are truly a “breadbasket” region for millions of people,” he added. “The basis for this cooperative study is how do the urban areas help us save Orange County’s open spaces and working farmlands?”
The New York City Council recently released a publication titled Foodworks: A Vision to Improve New York City’s Food System which referred to the Hudson Valley as NYC’s “foodshed” and recommended that farmland within this foodshed be protected to ensure a greater supply of fresh and healthy locally produced foods for NYC and the New York metropolitan area.
“We are delighted to be able to work with the Glynwood Center, the county and Cornell on this very important project which will explore the connections between our local farmers, land preservation and nearby urban and suburban food markets,” said Delaune. “This is a great partnership that will benefit our local farmers and our local economy,” he added.
The Glynwood Center, based in Cold Spring, NY, supports the needs of the farming community, working within the community to present opportunities available to farmers in order to save farming as a viable business in the Hudson Valley. The nonprofit has an on site working farm to demonstrate the economic viability of environmentally sustainable agriculture.
The Orange County Land Trust is the only county-wide land trust and to date has helped protect nearly 4,000 acres of land and working farms. Working with landowners, the Land Trust’s area of expertise is preserving land through the placement of conservation easements, working with individual property owners and municipalities to secure funding for the purchase of development rights (PDR’s), accepting donations of land, and purchasing land for public access. The Land Trust owns and manages ten nature preserves in Orange County, seven which are open to the public, free of charge, for hiking birding and other forms of passive recreation. The Land Trust also works closely with Orange County Planning Department to plan and implement open space initiatives, and spearheaded the formation of the Orange County Open Space Alliance (OCOSA), an alliance of 20 area conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the county’s rural and agricultural heritage.
The goal of the joint New York State Conservation Partnership Program is to enable local nonprofit land trusts to increase the pace, improve the quality and ensure the permanence of voluntary conservation of private lands, resulting in significant environmental and economic benefits for communities across the state.
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For more information, and for volunteer opportunities and membership benefits, contact the OCLT at (845) 343-0840 or online at www.oclt.org. Become a fan of the Land Trust on Facebook for conservation news and information.
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