The Preservation League of NYS & The Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy

I received two responses from my article in The Sunday Gazette on preserving the Mohawk Valley. The first response was a letter to The Gazette by the president of the Preservation League Of New York State. The primary focus of his letter was that tax credits will soon be available for individuals who are restoring old houses. Currently there are no grants, tax credits or any financial incentives available in New York State for individuals who are restoring old houses. There are grants available for non-profit groups who are restoring old houses.

This is good news for those of us who are thinking about or in the process of restoring old houses, although in my case it comes a little too late, since we are quite far along in restoring our house. Furthermore, in order to take advantage of many tax credits, you have to be in a certain tax bracket. People who are unable to itemize on their New York State tax form, may not be eligible for tax credits.

The second response to my article was a phone call from a member of the board The Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy (formerly the Albany County Land Conservancy). The purpose of the call was to make me aware of the work that the Conservancy is doing and, of course, to recruit me to help out.

Whether I join the Conservancy or not, I thought I would at least bring the work of the Conservancy to your attention. The Conservancy has just begun working in the Mohawk Valley as the following quotes from Vistas Newsletter Vol. 10. No.1. Spring 2005 and Viewpoints Vol. 2. No. 2 June 2005 show.

In the Mohawk Valley. The Conservancy already owns one preserve in Montgomery County, our Schoharie Creek Preserve, and we have been working on acquiring several easements in Wolf Hollow in Schenectady County. We have also been approached by a landowner in Amsterdam with the offer of a gift of land, and a landowner in Cranes Hollow has offered an easement. The Board decided to create a Mohawk ValleyCommittee to pursue these opportunities. The Committee has already formed a Neighbors Committee for the Schoharie Creek Preserve; it is working on the Wolf Hollow easements; and it is completing work on the proposed Amsterdam acquisition with the help of a group of interested neighbors. An important partner in the Mohawk Valley is the Environmental Clearinghouse of Schenectady (ECOS). ECOS is the organization that publishes Natural Areas of Albany County, which describes about 60 natural areas in the County. The Conservancy provided a no-interest loan of $5000.00 to support ECOS’s publication of a new edition of the book. The new edition has maps of most ACLC preserves, and includes a tear-out ACLC membership form.

Our New Name and Logo
Those who attended our recent annual meeting know that we are now the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy. This is more than a cosmetic change. Our name now reflects our growing efforts in the Mohawk Valley and our roots in the Capital District at the confluence of the rivers. As we reported in April, the Conservancy has been involved beyond the boundaries of Albany County for some time. The Schoharie Creek Preserve in Montgomery County was acquired in 1998. MHLC’s new Mohawk Valley Committee is working now with a number of landowners to protect other properties west of Albany County, including a preserve in Amsterdam and easements in Cranes Hollow and Wolf Hollow.

Looking west we saw scenic vistas, farmland, and wildlife habitat, a rich variety of land in the Mohawk watershed. While other land trusts operate in the Catskills and further west in the Mohawk Valley, important resources remained unprotected. The MHLC Board thought it wise to move quickly.

Learn more about the Schoharie Creek Preserve.