Westchester Land Trust Acquires Mamaroneck’s Otter Creek
The Westchester Land Trust , based in Bedford Hills, has acquired the 35-acre Otter Creek Preserve in the Village of Mamaroneck along Taylor’s Lane, off Boston Post Road. WLT acquired the Preserve as part of a transfer from The Nature Conservancy (The Conservancy) completed this month. Otter Creek represents WLT’s largest preserve in Southern Westchester, and the most ecologically diverse of its 29 land-holdings.
The Otter Creek Preserve is the largest privately-owned tidal wetland designated and protected as a nature sanctuary in Westchester County. It was also designated a Geologic Area of Particular Concern by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1978, and shortly thereafter, the Village of Mamaroneck declared it a Critical Environmental Area.
The Preserve is located along a three-mile stretch of coastline on the Long Island Sound within which is found 90 percent of the remaining productive salt marshes in Westchester County. The vibrant mix of coastal waters, marsh, wooded wetlands and uplands, vernal pool, and edge habitats, makes the Preserve an important site for migratory birds, marine life, insects, reptiles and amphibians, fish, and mammals.
The Preserve also offers significant passive recreation opportunities as it has a forested upland trail approximately ¾ of a mile in length adjacent to the wetland. There is also a seasonally active Osprey nesting platform, first erected in 1994 by The Conservancy and members of the local community. And, the viewshed afforded from being nestled along the Mamaroneck coastline attracts birdwatchers, wildlife lovers, photographers, botanists and others.
The Conservancy’s original acquisition of Otter Creek began as and has remained a true community project. “Early on, its neighbors recognized the ecological importance of this saltwater tidal marsh and freshwater tributary on the Long Island Sound, and it was their foresight and investment in their community’s natural resources that catalyzed the creation of the Otter Creek Preserve in 1973,” said Matt Levy, Conservation Lands Manager, The Nature Conservancy in Eastern New York. Although the vast majority of Long Island Sound’s natural shoreline that historically characterized this portion of lower Westchester has vanished, the Otter Creek Preserve remains, giving visitors a sense of the area’s natural heritage and preserving vital wildlife habitat, ecosystem functions and flood control in a densely populated region. “It is with great confidence and pride that we pass on this legacy of people and nature to its new stewards at the Westchester Land Trust,” said Levy.
WLT received grants recently from The Conservancy, the Westchester Community Foundation and the Land Trust Alliance in support of its acquisition of the Preserve, as well as a number of projects to enhance its natural habitat. In the coming months, WLT’s staff will update the signage at the preserve, clear the entrances and trail, and remove invasive plant species. It will also outreach to the local community to identify what types of educational programming and scientific studies they would like to see on the Preserve. To learn more, visit westchesterlandtrust.org.
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