313 Acres of Warwick Land to Be Preserved by September

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y.—The town of Warwick and the Open Space Institute will be preserving 313 acres of woods, farmland, and trails around the Warwick Conference Center by the end of August, according to Warwick Supervisor Jesse Dwyer.

Dwyer announced at the April 9 Warwick Town Hall that 313 acres of the 456-acre hilltop property at the Warwick Conference Center will be preserved as it is, following the town’s decades-long goal of remaining rural.

Warwick will buy the land from the Open Space Institute for its appraised market value of about $4 million using both community preservation funds and public grants. The land will be added to the town’s park system.

The acquisition means the trails will be open to the public without the possibility of development.

Dwyer told The Epoch Times in an interview on April 17 that the property currently has publicly accessible trails and that they will continue to be open after the sale.

He highlighted that the property connects with New Jersey’s largest state park, Wawayanda State Park. The town would also be able to link the property to Mountain Lake Park and Cascade Lake Park via the Appalachian Trail, creating a multi-park walking system.

The $4 million used to buy the land from the institute would mostly come from $3.5 million that Warwick could receive from the New York State Open Space Conservation Grant Program, Dwyer said in a press release. The rest would come from the town’s preservation fund.

Dwyer told The Epoch Times that it is highly likely that Warwick will qualify for the highly competitive state grant. He said that the town is uniquely positioned to prove to the state that it could fulfill the complicated requirements and be a responsible steward of the land.

The Open Space Conservation Grant is a $25 million pool, and applicants can apply for up to $3.5 million from it to conserve land. The grant recipients are expected to be announced in the fall.

Dwyer said that Warwick’s Community Preservation Fund is proof of the town’s good stewardship, as it has used its resources to preserve more than 5,000 acres of open space. Taxes collected from house or land sales in the town contribute to the fund.

Dwyer said the Open Space Institute will purchase and preserve the 313 acres in August whether Warwick can pay or not. If Warwick does not receive the grant, there are several other options for funding, but the land will be preserved in any case.

Dwyer told The Epoch Times that the institute has been an incredible partner.

“We’re very grateful for the partnerships of other municipalities and other agencies, such as Open Space Institute and such as Orange County in the efforts that they’re all making to preserve Warwick and preserve Orange County,” he said.

Dwyer said that if the town doesn’t get the grant, the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act could be a potential source of money, as could Orange County’s Open Space Fund.

The Warwick Conference Center is a nonprofit conference facility established in 1959 by the Reformed Church of America. The center will still be operating after the land sale and will retain 143 acres.

The Open Space Institute was founded in 1974 and has helped protect more than 2.5 million acres across the Eastern United States. They help preserve land for clean drinking water, public recreation, healthy communities, and wildlife habitats. They also advocate public policy that promotes new and efficient land protection.

The Open Space Institute declined to comment on the preservation agreement.