Historical outlook takes the stage in Hyde Park

By safeguardingÂ the view across the Hudson River from the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park, the group Scenic Hudson says they are not merely preserving the past, but ensuring a better future for the Hudson Valley economically as well as environmentally.

Scenic Hudson announced March 3 it had bought 160 acres of forested property on the west side of the Hudson River in the town of Lloyd,Â on property that in the past had been proposed for residential development. There is an agreement in principle to buy an additional 30 acres from the same owners, leaving seven acres of land along state Route 9W that cannot be seen from across the river for possible future development.

Future generations will enjoy the same view across the river President Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw from his estate at Hyde Park, on the eastern shore in Dutchess County.

“This is an extraordinary step that Scenic Hudson has taken. It will help ensure that visitors to the Roosevelt home will always be able to experience the beautiful Hudson River landscape that is so important to the siting of the home,” said Sarah Olson, superintendent of the FDR Home and Presidential Library Site that is administered by the U.S. National Park Service.

“This ranks as one of the most critical acquisitions in Scenic Hudson”™s history, preserving a landscape of international importance,” Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan said. “The breathtaking vista FDR admired from Springwood provided a source of strength for the president, helping him cope with the unimaginable stresses in the Oval Office as he guided the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.”

Located within the Esopus-Lloyd Scenic Area of Statewide Significance, designated by New York state for its outstanding scenic and historic value, the forested property also features a variety of wetlands, including numerous vernal pools that help sustain the region”™s biological diversity. The land is also prominently visible from the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site located near the FDR site.

“It”™s hard to imagine the devastating impact if this property had been developed as originally proposed,” said Steve Rosenberg, senior vice president of Scenic Hudson and executive director of The Scenic Hudson Land Trust Inc.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed at the requests of the sellers, said Jay Burgess, director of communications for Scenic Hudson. “We rely on willing sellers and so if one requests privacy on a sale we honor that request,” said Burgess.

The deal adds to Scenic Hudson”™s legacy of land protection around the FDR National Historic Site. In 2004, the group bought 336 acres in Hyde Park directly across Route 9 from Springwood, safeguarding from potential commercial development the location of FDR’s tree plantation. In 2007, the Park Service restored a historic farm lane that provides a direct link between Springwood and Eleanor Roosevelt”™s Val-Kill. Scenic Hudson continues to work with the Park Service, the town of Hyde Park and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area on plans to create a regional visitor center on a portion of the property.

The Roosevelt Farm Lane is part of the 14-mile-long Hyde Park Trail connecting historic sites and parks throughout the town. Scenic Hudson has preserved several landscapes surrounding the trail and now is collaborating with the Winnakee Land Trust on a two-mile extension to Norrie State Park in Staatsburg. A portion of the new trail will pass through the former Dominican Camp property, which Scenic Hudson bought in 2007.

These acquisitions are part of their campaign to Preserve the Land that Matters Most, aÂ multiyear, collaborative effort with fellow land trusts, governments, individuals and businesses to protect 65,000 acres of the greatest scenic, ecological and agricultural significance throughout the Hudson Valley. To date, Scenic Hudson has conserved 2,952 acres and their land trust partners an additional 1,152 acres.

Preserving land provides the cornerstone of a sustainable regional economy according to Scenic Hudson; calling open space and parksÂ linchpins of the region”™s $4.7 billion tourism economy that employs 80,000 people.

In Dutchess County alone, the tourism industry is responsible for $491 million in spending each year, generating $31 million annually in local taxes and employing nearly 9,300 people.

But economics alone cannot capture the value of preserving some parcels.

“By safeguarding such a prime view, we”™ve ensured that visitors from around the world will forever experience an integral part of FDR”™s life,” Sullivan said. “They will understand what compelled him to say, ”˜All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River.”™”