MAMAKATING, NY — A 138-acre Skye property within the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area will be permanently protected, the Open Space Institute announced on Nov. 13.

The institute says the newly conserved property, located in the town of Mamakating, is part of its effort to increase access to nature, protect water quality in the Bashakill, and protect at-risk wildlife habitat. It bought the parcel for $305,000 from conservation-minded landowners Jeanne and Stephen Skye. 

The Skye property is adjacent to a parcel the institute acquired in 2018. Together, the two properties close a 225-acre gap in the corridor of protected land along the Shawangunk Ridge.

The Skye property includes portions of the Delaware River and Hudson River watersheds, including the Basher Kill. Protecting the property supports efforts to protect watersheds that provide clean drinking water for Philadelphia, Trenton, and other downstream municipalities.

Protecting rare species

The institute says it uses climate-resilience science to identify landscapes that will support habitat in a changing climate. The Skye property has above-average climate resilience and landscape diversity, meaning it has the potential to support a range of plants and animals as the climate changes. In addition, the New York Natural Heritage Program has identified several rare, threatened, or endangered animal species living within close proximity to the Skye property, including the bald eagle and least bittern, one of the smallest members of the heron family.

Several trails currently wind through the property. The institute says this newly protected land provides an opportunity for additional recreational access to forested land atop the Shawangunk Ridge.

The institute intends to transfer the properties to the New York State Department of Conservation as an addition to the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area.

Jeanne Skye, former owner of the property said, “We’re happy to accomplish our long-term goal of preserving this special piece of property.”

Town of Mamakating Supervisor Michael Robbins said, “The town board and I enjoyed working with Open Space Institute and are very happy with the agreement we came to. We look forward to continuing to work with OSI in the future.”

Part of a long-term effort

In the 1970s, the Open Space Institute conserved the initial 3,107 acres of the Bashakill, eventually increasing to the size of protected lands to more than 4,100 acres.

The Skye property is adjacent to more than 50,000 acres of protected land extending the 50-mile length of the Shawangunk Ridge Greenway through Ulster, Sullivan, and Orange counties, 36,000 acres of which has been protected by the institute since the 1970s. The Skye property safeguards the north-to-south connectivity of the Shawangunk Ridge landscape, the institute says.

The acquisition advances a larger regional effort, led by the institute and other conservation organizations, to protect a continuous band of protected land from Rosendale, NY, south to the New Jersey border. Both the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, including the Long Path, and the O&W Rail Trail, including the D&H Canal, run through the Bashakill.