The Columbia Land Conservancy is an environmental

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

located in Columbia County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in the greater

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

. Its mission is to conserve farmland, forests, wildlife habitat, and rural character of Columbia County, connecting people to the land.

Public Conservation Areas

The Columbia Land Conservancy has facilitated the protection of, and continues to maintain, a number of notable Public Conservation Areas in Columbia County. These include: the Borden's Pond Conservation Area and Ooms Conservation Area in

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, Drowned Lands Swamp Conservation Area and Overmountain Conservation Area in Ancram, Greenport Conservation Area in Greenport, Hand Hollow Conservation Area in New Lebanon, Harris Conservation Area in Austerlitz, New York, High Falls Conservation Area in Philmont, Schor Conservation Area in

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

, and Siegel-Kline Kill Conservation Area in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. The parks are all open year-round and free of charge, and some allow regulated fishing and hunting.

Education and Outreach

CLC works with schools to provide environmental education programs. They also offer free events open to the public.

Land Protection

CLC works with landowners to protect their land with conservation easements. To date, the organization has protected more than 30,000 acres of land. CLC coordinates the Berkshire-Taconic Regional Conservation Partnership, which protects land throughout the northeast.

Farmland conservation

The Columbia Land Conservancy offers protection for private farmland through

conservation easements In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gove ...

. Agricultural landowners may be able to access grant funds in exchange for their property's development rights through state programs. This can be especially appealing to small farmers and landowners who have held farmland for generations and do not want to see it commercialized. The Columbia Land Conservancy had protected of working farmland as of 2020. The organization also founded a "Farmer Landowner Match Program" in 2008 for farmers to find conserved land to work. In 2013, this program partnered with the Dutchess Land Conservancy of adjacent

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...

to offer more options over a larger area.

Funding

The Columbia Land Conservancy is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by donors. It maintains Platinum Status o
Guidestar

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.clctrust.org Land trusts in New York (state) Protected areas of Columbia County, New York Columbia County, New York