The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and JT Granshue LLC today announced the completion of a modification to the Long Pond conservation easement, which is located in the towns of Colton and Clare, St. Lawrence County. The modification allows for 15 hunting, fishing, and recreation camps originally slated for removal to remain on the property in perpetuity. A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal agreement that protects the natural resources of a parcel of land by permanently restricting future land use and/or development on the property. 

In 1999, DEC purchased the conservation easement on 18,950 acres west of State Route 56. Under the 1999 Long Pond conservation easement, 37 of the 43 hunting, fishing, and recreation camps present at that time were to be removed on or before Feb. 16, 2015. Prior to the deadline to remove the camps, Danzer Forestland Inc., the successor landowner to Long Pond LLC and New River-Franklin, LTD, requested a modification of the conservation easement to allow a number camps beyond the six noted at the time to remain on the property in perpetuity. 

DEC and the current owner JT Granshue LLC recently approved a modification to the conservation easement to allow for 15 camps to remain on the property in perpetuity. The other camps have been removed by the landowner.

Modifications to a conservation easement are required to result in a net conservation benefit to the people of the State of New York. To satisfy this requirement, an appraisal determined the full market value of the camps and corresponding one-acre camp envelopes to be $183,000.  JT Granshue L.L.C. transferred these funds to the State, and DEC then used these funds toward the purchase of 947 acres nearby to add to the Forest Preserve as the net conservation benefit. 

The new 947-acre Adirondack Forest Preserve parcel protects more than six miles of the scenic South Branch of the Grass River. The parcel provides public recreation opportunities and consolidates portions of the Grass River Wild Forest near the hamlet of Cranberry Lake. The parcel also has a direct connection to the Long Pond conservation easement tract via other protected conservation easement and Forest Preserve lands.