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From the March 2008 issue
State Purchases Most of Tahawus Tract from Open Space Institute
The following is an edited excerpt of an article written by Michael Virtanen of the Associated Press, which appeared on newsday.com on February 19, 2008.
New York State recently purchased most of the historic Tahawus wilderness tract in the central Adirondacks from the nonprofit Open Space Institute (OSI), a nonprofit land conservation organization, and added it to the Adirondack Forest Preserve. The Department of Environmental Conservation acquired 6,813 acres for $5.096 million. The land purchase through the state Environmental Protection Fund closed January 31.
The land is located in a historic and rugged area of the Adirondacks
After buying 10,000 acres in 2003-2004 from a mining company, the OSI opened the area to the public for hiking, canoeing, fishing and camping. Another 2,900 acres that the OSI sold separately is covered by a conservation easement that permits ongoing lumbering, and the state plans to acquire the easement later this year.
The Tahawus tract, about 90 miles northwest of Albany, was purchased for $8.5 million in 2003-2004. The rugged and mountainous property contains significant natural resources, including Mount Adams and Henderson Lake--the headwaters of the Hudson River. Originally the tract was part of a 105,000-acre holding that included most of Mount Marcy.
