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YORKTOWN, N.Y.—Amelia Yellin-Jones and her husband Michael Jones walked the trails of the new quest on Hunterbrook Preserve created by their son, Blaze, Sunday.
The quest was somewhat of a treasure hunt, created to show and preserve nearly 45 acres of land acquired by the Westchester Land Trust. Yellin-Jones herself had been there the day of the installation and she and her husband were pleased to be out on the beautiful fall day to finally see the trail.
“It feels good to see something we worked on and now to see the finished product is great," Yellin-Jones said. "It all looks to nice.”
The Hunter Brook Preserve was donated to the Westchester Land Trust in 2000 and is protected by an easement granted to the Yorktown Land Trust to keep the property preserved in its natural state. The quest will be permanent on the preserve and is available to visit during daylight hours.
“We own it, but we’ve given the Town of Yorktown and the Yorktown Land Trust an easement so it’s protected forever. It will always be a preserve,” said Bobbe Stultz, who is the director of arts and events for the Westchester Land Trust. “We wanted to put a quest on the property, which is kind of like an educational treasure hunt. This one is based on the importance of this brook because it feeds into the reservoir that provides drinking water for New York City.”
Stultz explained that the quest is made up of 12 stations and takes around 45 minutes to complete.
Councilman Nick Bianco visited the trail Sunday and said it is an example of what the town can do to preserve Yorktown’s natural beauty and mitigate development. He explained that when the town acquires land it is done with a greater goal in mind, to create a much larger trail, or something to preserve and not overdevelop.
“At times we’ll ask the developer for mitigation in a development in their property. We ask them to give us some of it, this is all planned and done with purpose,” Bianco said. “You want to walk on a trail like this. It has trees and water and it’s just calming.”
Mohegan Lake resident Jane Daniels said it’s preservation, and trails like the Hunter Brook, that add value to the town.
“So many people don’t realize that when you preserve a piece of property and there’s some place to walk, it is a plus,” she said. “It increases the value of your home.”
“It does more than just that, it increases the value of your person,” Bianco added.
Comments (1)
Sounds wonderful, but where is the Hunterbrook Preserve?