Funds help preserve Watergrass Sanctuary
The Hudson Highlands Land Trust has been awarded two state grants to help conserve 50 acres in Putnam County. The grants support the protection of the O’Connell Boulder Preserve located within the watershed of the Peekskill Hollow Brook (part of the Peekskill and Cortlandt drinking water system), and the expansion of the Putnam Highlands Audubon Society’s Watergrass Sanctuary.
Both projects, completed in 2015, provide public access.
HHLT is one of 55 nonprofit land trusts throughout the state to receive New York State Conservation Partnership Program grants, which totaled $1.8 million. Funded through the state Environmental Protection Fund, the awards support an additional $2.25 million in private and local funding. Conservation groups in the Mid-Hudson region were awarded 21 grants totaling $480,550.