Orange County Land Trust and its municipal and nonprofit partners announced on Dec. 18 the preservation of 565 acres of undeveloped land surrounding Boehmler Pond in Deerpark.
The land is part of an expansive watershed that provides drinking water for thousands of residents in Port Jervis. In addition to the tributaries that flow through the area and feed the city’s main reservoirs, Boehmler Pond serves as the city’s backup water source.
It is the first project in a multi-year campaign by the land trust to preserve crucial pieces of pristine land within the Delaware River watershed in Western Orange County.
“What this is about is that this is a water source for the city of Port Jervis,“ Orange County Land Trust Executive Director Jim Delaune said at a press conference in front of Boehmler Pond. ”In undertaking this transaction, we protect this water source while creating recreational opportunities.”
The pending land transaction, which includes several small and large parcels currently owned by the town of Deerpark, is expected to be completed early next year.
Port Jervis will be the new owner of the 565 acres of land, and Orange County Land Trust will place a conservation easement on them that permanently restricts certain developments.
“The town has done a great job of preserving this land over the years,“ Deerpark Supervisor Gary Spears said. ”When the opportunity arose to see it go further, the town board jumped on it.
“It is going to be a benefit to the residents of Deerpark, Port Jervis, and the rest of the county.”
Port Jervis community development director Valerie Maginsky said the soon-to-be-purchased land will be added to the city’s growing watershed recreational park for public enjoyment.
Volunteers from the Outdoor Club of Port Jervis, which manages the park for the city, will establish trails throughout the land for hiking and biking.
Visitors can also go boating, canoeing, and kayaking on Boehmler Pond, but gasoline-powered motors are not allowed, according to Kyle Sanduski, director of conservation at Orange County Land Trust.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus speaks in front of Boehmler Pond, along with (L to R) Orange County Legislator Tom Faggione, Port Jervis Outdoor Club President Mike Ward, Orange County Land Trust Executive Director Jim Delaune, Deerpark Supervisor Gary Spears, Open Space Institute representative Matt Decker, and Port Jervis community development director Valerie Maginsky in the town of Deerpark, N.Y., on Dec. 18, 2024. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)
“My partners in Orange County government, Travis Ewald, who runs our parks, as well as Paul Wiley, our director of real property ... we are 100 percent focused on preserving open space,” Neuhaus continued.
“We are not going to stop here, and we are going to continue to work hard to preserve these types of properties around the county.”
In July, Orange County reactivated a dormant open space fund with an initial $1 million seed money that provides grants of up to 50 percent of purchase costs for land preservation.
The soon-to-be-purchased Deerpark land costs $910,000, with three-quarters of the funding from the Water Quality Improvement Project program by the state Department of Conservation and the rest from the Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund by the Open Space Institute.
According to Matt Decker, land project manager of the Northeast region at the Open Space Institute, the above-mentioned fund has preserved 34,000 acres within the watershed so far.
Decker, who used to work at the land trust, was credited by many stakeholders for his years of dedication to the Deerpark project.
“It is not me; it is not any one of us; it is all of the partners that are here today,” Decker said at the press conference.
“And it takes a strong local land trust that is in touch with the community and knows what properties are important to protect in those communities to put the pieces together—that is what Orange County Land Trust has been able to do.”
