LGLC Receives $25k Grant for Land & Water Protection in Putnam

Bolton Landing, NY – The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has been awarded $25,000 from the The Nature Conservancy in New York’s (TNC) 2021 Resilient and Connected Network Grant Program. The grant will be put towards the purchase and protection of 154 acres in Putnam that is part of the LGLC’s Sucker Brook Conservation Initiative.

The property lies within a specific region of northeast Lake George that is a major wildlife corridor. The protection of this property provides further assurance that this corridor will remain available for wildlife to travel between Vermont and the Adirondack Park. Its diverse landscape includes grasslands that offer bird habitat, and sphagnum bogs that offer unique habitat for wetland species and filter the water.

“Thank you to The Nature Conservancy,” said LGLC Executive Director Jamie Brown, “for partnering to protect this land. This grant makes a difference to the water quality of Lake George, helps to ensure habitat for the wildlife that live and travel through here, and protects the land and water of our watershed from the harmful effects of severe and changing weather.

“TNC’s resources and scientific expertise have helped to the Lake George Land Conservancy to identify and protect the most vulnerable and important land around the lake, making a cost-effect, lasting impact on this special place. The LGLC’s land protection work, along with the work accomplished by the other land trusts assisted by TNC, will continue to lead the way to permanently protect New York’s most important and beloved special places forever, including Lake George. We are definitely stronger together.”

Sucker Brook is one of Lake George’s top ten largest tributaries, so the land surrounding it plays an important role in the quality of the water entering the lake. The area’s wetlands and beaver ponds, with its surrounding forests, provide a naturally occurring filtration process that ensures water is clean before it reaches the lake. These protected lands also provide a haven for the unique and special natural communities and wildlife that call this area home.

The Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network Grant Program supports projects that increase the pace and scale of protecting resilient and connected lands identified by TNC’s new mapping tool that provides a scientific roadmap for conserving places where plants and animals can thrive in a changing climate. The program awarded 12 grants state-wide.

The protection of Sucker Brook and its large wetland complex is a key component to the LGLC’s Sucker Brook Conservation Initiative, which encompasses a total of 4,600 acres in the region, and includes the LGLC’s Last Great Shoreline and Gull Bay Preserves. For more information and to help complete the final stage of this Initiative’s fundraising campaign, go to lglc.org/land-conservation/current-projects.

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The Nature Conservancy Press Release, 2021 Resilient and Connected Network Grant Program: https://www.nature.org/en-us/newsroom/ny-resilient-connected-network-grant/