PHILIPSTOWN In completing its final deal of 2004, the Hudson Highlands Land Trust has acquired land off South Mountain Pass so hikers of the Hudson Highlands State Park can trek straight from Cortlandt to Beacon.
The 18-acre parcel off Route 9D near the Westchester County border was donated by Bevis and Clara Longstreth. Once joined with the park, it would fill a gap in Putnam County within the state park, which has 45 miles of hiking trails and is more than 90 percent natural landscape.
The addition will be an asset, said Walt Daniels of Yorktown, an active member of the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference who often hikes through the Highlands.
"There are a large number of good views of the Hudson River from there and it is a place where a lot of interesting animals and plants make their home," he said yesterday.
The acquisition underscores the value of land donations and conservation easements to preserve open space from development, land trust Executive Director Andrew Chmar said.
The property, he explained, offers panoramic views of the Hudson Valley and would add a link to the 5,500 acre park along the Hudson Highlands, a range that stretches from Bear Mountain Bridge north to Newburgh.
It is part of the larger Highlands region that runs from eastern Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York to northwestern Connecticut, connecting the Berkshires and the Blue Ridge mountains.
The Longstreths had previously set aside the land through a conservation easement, which maintained ownership in their name, but prevented development by them or any subsequent owner. Then three days ago, the couple who have been weekend residents since 1965, signed the paperwork donating the land outright to the trust. Their total property had been 74 acres also including three nearby lots that they sold and one parcel containing their home.
"There are few places north of the city where you have mountain laurels in the snow," said Bevis Longstreth, a retired attorney. "At its highest point, there is a beautiful view of the Empire State Building."
He said his three children encouraged him to donate the property. "It benefits us, we live here," he said, "but use of the land is restricted to conservation, nature study and hiking."
The closing was Monday. The trust hopes to be able to transfer the property to the state park early next year.
Chmar said he anticipated the Longstreth's property would become part of the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which oversees state parkland. State officials yesterday could not confirm that the property was being discussed as an acquisition, but said they are looking for ways to enhance the Highlands park, which has retained its natural setting.
This is the second parcel to be owned, temporarily, by the land trust, said the director. The group has preserved 800 acres 100 this year through conservation easements in Philipstown.
It has been a busy month for the land trust.
Last week, the group closed on another 18-acre parcel on East Mountain Pass. Just east of the Longstreth property, it is owned by Nicholas and Hana Angell.
The Angells agreed to a conservation easement, which will ban development on their land and preserve an 18th-century farmhouse which has been in the family for a century, Chmar said.
Reach Barbara Livingston Nackman at bnackman@thejournalnews.com or 845-228-2272.