Champion

Paper

Conservation

Agreement

    On December 9th, 1998 Governor Pataki and representatives of  The Conservation Fund came together to make a historic announcement. New York has joined in partnership with Vermont, New Hampshire and the Conservation Fund in an innovative agreement that will protect 300,000 acres in the northern forest lands, including 144,300 acres in the northern Adirondacks. This is the largest conservation agreement in New York's history, and it establishes a new model for combining environmental protection with sustained economic growth.

    As a result of the agreement the State will acquire 29,000 acres of  land surrounding the famous northern river corridors. A private timber investment group, The Forestland Group, will purchase the remaining 114,000 acres of Adirondack lands, and the State will acquire a conservation easement on that land that will provide public recreational access and protect the land from development, ensuring that it remains perpetually available for sustainable forestry.

    This agreement will provide public access to the Deer, Grass, St. Regis and Oswetgatchie rivers for the first time in a century. These rivers provide some of the best canoeing waters in the country, and the State's acquisition of these rivers will make this area a recreational center that will draw canoeists and kayakers from across the country.