In 1994, the Tug Hill Sporting Association approached the NYS Tug Hill Commission and the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust about permanently protecting the natural resources of the East Branch of Fish Creek watershed. Sportsmen feared that if Lyons Falls Pulp and Paper sold its nearly 50,000-acres in the watershed, it would jeopardize hunting, fishing, trapping, timber production, and water quality. The East Branch of Fish Creek Working Group formed late in the summer of 1995 to involve a wide cross-section of groups and individuals who have an interest in protecting the East Branch of Fish Creek watershed. The Working Group has concluded that conservation easements, combined with limited fee purchase, provide the best option available for permanently protecting the land while providing for traditional uses like logging, hunting, and fishing. Conservation easements also seem the best alternative for providing additional seasonal access for recreational activities such as snowmobiling, and for protecting forest health and water quality.
Conservation easements can take many forms.
Generally, a conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a private land trust or government agency that permanently protects a piece of property from further development, and allows for a variety of appropriate uses. That is, the land would stay forest, little developed beyond logging roads and hunting camps. The Working Group also has discussed the possibility that conservation easements maintain leased hunting opportunities in some form, and provide for some public recreational activities such as today's winter use by snowmobiles. Some areas might be open to public hunting, fishing and trapping. Some designated recreational trails and uses might be added.