NEVERSINK  — The Keriland (Blue Hill) property is seeing a promising future in preservation, according to Open Space Institute (OSI) Senior Project Manager Tom Gravel at the Neversink Town Board meeting.

The 3,100-acre property was recently purchased by the OSI who “couldn’t help but notice” a very large property which was located between the Neversink Watershed Lands to the south and Catskill Forest Preserve to the north that was not divided by a public road and was under a single ownership.

“We understood that the property would have several benefits if it were to be protected,” explained Gravel. “The Blue Hill Property represented one of the largest privately-owned properties remaining within the Catskill Park. One of the critical benefits of this property is that it helps to provide clean drinking water for local communities and for millions of people in the New York City Metropolitan Area.”

The OSI purchased the property with the intention that it will be added to the adjacent Willowemoc Wild Forest within the next few years which would represent the largest addition to the Catskill Forest Preserve in over 25 years.

Gravel noted that this adjacency permits a variety of public uses which could be a “good fit for the property.”

“Right now our stewardship department is conducting an inventory of the current conditions to better understand the landscape,” stated Gravel. 

OSI has identified points of interest as they look to the possibility of creating a trail plan. They are also looking at pre-existing logging roads and skid trails and whether some of them could be integrated into a trail system.

Their research had also turned up interesting rock formations, such as a structure resembling a cave.

There are also various springs on the property, including one just off of Willowemoc Road, which Gravel believes travelers have been using to fill up for fresh spring water.

“Our goal is to protect all these incredible features while offering access so that you can all eventually experience the property firsthand,” assured Gravel. “So I would just invite you to ... stay tuned.  If you have questions heres my contact information on the left [tgravel@osiny.org] and my colleague [Northern New York Stewardship Manager] Charlie Burgess [burgess@osiny.org].”

Town Supervisor Chris Mathews praised the presentation and expressed gratitude that Gravel and him “finally got to meet in person” and that they had talked a lot and he learned a lot.

Councilperson Jim Schmidt inquired the timeframe of when New York State could possibly take over. Gravel estimated two to three years.

He also notes that during that timeframe, they are keeping focus on potentially developing a trail plan and would invite the public on the property.

“We’ve only owned the property for a few months so we’re still trying to get our arms around management and how we might provide public access,” stated Gravel. “It’s kind of going to be a learning process for us. Eventually the property will be added to the Willowemoc Wild Forest.”

Councilperson Nicole Gorr asked about a place for updates which Gravel stated would be to contact Charlie or himself [which he admitted would be a “little bit of a pain.]”

Additionally, he noted the information would be up on their website [which is mostly about the purchase of the property.] Gorr admitted this was “fair enough.”