Spruce Peak In The Taconic Mountains
Brook running through the forest at Spruce Peak. Photo by Nancy Bell/The Conservation Fund
In 2011, we helped protect a 775-acre property in the Taconic Mountain range known as Spruce Peak. Located near the northern end of the Taconic range—a Native American name meaning “in the trees”—the property and the adjacent public lands rest within an expansive forested area of roughly 16,000 acres on the New York border.
A popular destination for hunting, hiking, fishing, wildlife viewing and winter sports over the last two centuries, the Spruce Peak tract features ideal wooded habitat for an array of wildlife. The tract also contains some of the highest quality northern hardwood forests in Vermont along a series of ridges ranging in elevation from 1,300 feet to the 3,033-foot Spruce Peak. Two important headwater tributaries of the Batten Kill watershed, an internationally famous river for its trout fishery, can also be found on the property.
We acquired the property from Meadowsend Timberlands LTD, a New Hampshire-based, family-owned forestry business that manages the health, sustainability and long term productivity of their forestlands. The acquisition will further the National Forest Service’s effort to protect existing national forest system lands from invasive species while increasing public access to recreational opportunities.
