A significant swath of Adirondack wilderness in Lake Luzerne on the southwest side of West Mountain will remain undeveloped after the Open Space Institute (OSI) bought 1,260 acres for $975,000 on Oct. 19.
OSI plans to develop existing trails before selling the land to the State Department of Environmental Conservation in 2023, creating a key wildlife corridor linking Moreau Lake State Park and Ralph Road State Forest.
“It is becoming rarer to find a property of this size that exemplifies the many of the benefits of protected land— supporting clean water, wildlife habitat, recreation, and the storage of carbon to help fight climate change — especially so close to the Northway,” Kim Elliman, president and CEO of OSI, told Glens Falls Living in an emailed response to our query.
OSI said it will pay property and school taxes on the land, something that pleases Lake Luzerne Town Supervisor Gene Merlino.
“They assured me they would pay taxes,” Mr. Merlino said Sunday.
OSI said 2019 property and school taxes on the land totaled just less than $21,000.
Over the last four decades, developers including West Mountain Ski Area founder Mike Brandt proposed building a huge development called Mont Luzerne on the property. Those plans never materialized, and Mr. Brandt told Glens Falls Living that his mortgage on the 1,260 acres now owned by OSI was purchased by a Texas investment group.
The land, in the Hudson River Watershed, abuts Call Street and Daniels Road in Lake Luzerne. Forty-two different tax map parcels make up the nearly two-square-mile parcel, which includes hardwood and softwood forests and numerous wetlands.
OSI says “in addition to the clean water and climate change benefits, conservation of the forested parcel will also support regional connectivity, wildlife habitat and recreation. Now protected from future development, the acquisition is a critical step toward establishing regional connectivity of forested lands.”
Mr. Brandt says “this is a beautiful way of preserving the land. There are some amazing wetlands made by beavers. Then there’s a storm, the beaver dam washes out, and it drys up. Then new growth emerges, and the beavers return from the Hudson River.
“A lot of local people use it for hunting and riding ATVs.”
OSI said motorized vehicles are no longer allowed on the land. It said fishing will be allowed with a valid NYS fishing license, and hunting may be allowed by permission. But, they said they have not yet decided whether to permit hunting.
Mr. Brandt said, “I’m proud we put all of that land together. And this is a very good use of that land.”
Mr. Merlino said, “Maybe this is a better use of the land” than the proposed Mont Luzerne development, which hoped to put up to 2,200 homes on 2,400 acres, which included the land now owned by OSI.
Real estate agent Sean Rogge of Howard Hanna said he represented both sides of the sale, which came together after three years of informal discussion and four months of formal negotiations.
We asked Mr. Brandt if he still owns any land in the West Mountain region.
“Nothing,” he said. “I own nothing. Well, I own a kayak and a bicycle.”
Mr. Brandt, now 86, lives in Menomomie, Wisconsin, where he grew up.
“I’ve had a very interesting life,” he said, including opening West Mountain and serving as Queensbury Town Supervisor from 1976 to 1979.
The Open Space Institute describes itself as “a team of project leaders, researchers, land stewards, attorneys, accountants and office managers, all dedicated and creative professionals united in improving people’s lives and the world we live in through smart land conservation.”
On its website, OSI says “we have saved 2,285,092 acres of land through direct acquisition, grants and loans.”
