Conservation Updates

On June 23, Eben Fiske Ostby donated the Manor House and 141 acres of historic Sylvester Manor to the non-profit Sylvester Manor Educational Farm. The Peconic Land Trust is pleased to have been able to assist Mr. Ostby and the Farm in this successful transition.

The Trust has worked with Mr. Ostby and his nephew, Bennett Konesni, founder of the Farm on a conservation plan for the Manor since 2008. This latest gift to the Sylvester Manor Educational Farm includes 141 acres, ownership of the Manor house and grounds. This gift follows Mr. Ostby's 2012 donation of 83 acres of historic fields and pastures, which are preserved forever as farmland through the purchase of development rights by town, county and federal conservation programs, as well as Mr. Ostby's donation of a 22-acre conservation easement to the Peconic Land Trust in 2009.

In its announcement, the Sylvester Manor Educational Farm stated: "Many professional advisers helped the organization and family realize this gift. We are grateful to the Peconic Land Trust for their key role in past preservation efforts and recent role in shepherding the property transfer process."

Mr. Ostby said: "My thanks to the many people at the Sylvester Manor Educational Farm and the Peconic Land Trust and to the people of Shelter Island who have worked to carry Sylvester Manor into a new era. My family is proud to make the Manor a public resource with the founding of the Educational Farm and with this gift to the organization." To read more, click here.

 

 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Tours South Fork  

Farmland with Trust President John v.H. Halsey

 

To learn more about the issues impacting South Fork farmers, County Executive Steve Bellone visited with Trust President John v.H. Halsey as well as John L. Halsey and his daughters Jennifer and Amy of Whitecap Farm/The Milk Pail on Thursday, June 26th.  The tour included a look at the practices and technologies used by Whitecap Farm to protect both groundwater and Mecox Bay. The discussions also included the extraordinarily high values of South Fork farmland and the challenges of access and affordability that farmers face. While much of this farmland is protected from development, it is increasingly not available for farming. Potential solutions to this ongoing problem were discussed.
 
We appreciate the County Executive taking the time and thank him and our local County Legislators, Jay Schneiderman and Al Krupski, for their continued support of our local agricultural community and our efforts to assure that there are farms in the future. 

 

 

On June 6, the Peconic Land Trust finalized a conservation effort with the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County and the Westhampton Cemetery Association, which resulted in the conservation of 28 acres of natural lands by the Town and County, and the transfer of a 3-acre parcel to the cemetery association to meet future expansion needs.

The property is located along Seabreeze Avenue and Montauk Highway in Westhampton.