2,800 acres permanently protected through easement
Paul Smiths, NY – The Adirondack Land Trust and Paul Smith’s College have finalized a conservation easement protecting 2,800 acres surrounding the college’s Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) in Franklin County, ensuring that this iconic Adirondack landscape remains protected forever. The Adirondack Land Trust purchased the conservation easement from the College for $4.1 million. The transaction closed in December 2025.
The conservation easement limits development and other land uses to protect forests, waters, and natural areas. The two organizations worked together to design the easement to accommodate and balance the land’s variety of ecological, educational, recreational, and sustainable forestry values.
From the 2,488-foot summit of Jenkins Mountain to the lowland boreal habitat of Heron Marsh and undeveloped shoreline on Osgood Pond, the property features a range of habitat types and topographies. Its 25-mile trail system offers outstanding public outdoor recreation opportunities that foster community health and contribute to the college’s regional economic impact of $56 million annually.
“Every year, tens of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts of differing abilities are inspired by their experiences in nature during visits to this treasured Adirondack property in all seasons. We are honored to work with the College to ensure that the VIC Forestlands will always remain as wild and beautiful as they are today,” said Adirondack Land Trust Executive Director Mike Carr.
“Protecting these 2,800 acres of forest and wetlands is an investment in our shared future — for our students, our community, and the Adirondack region. The Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center is both an extraordinary outdoor classroom and a living laboratory that will continue to inspire learning, recreation, and stewardship for generations to come,” said Paul Smith’s College President Dan Kelting.
Paul Smith’s College continues to own the land and can continue to practice active forest management. The land trust now has a perpetual legal responsibility to ensure that the ecological objectives of the conservation easement are being met. For instance, special no-harvest areas around wetlands, ponds, streams, and other sensitive environmental features must be followed as part of a required forest management plan.
The VIC Forestlands adjoin nearly 100,000 acres of state Forest Preserve and other conservation easement–protected private lands. Together, these landscapes maintain large, unfragmented forest systems that sustain ecological processes, increase climate resilience, and support the regional economy.
About Paul Smith’s College
At Paul Smith’s College, it’s about the experience. As the only four-year college located in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York, Paul Smith’s provides real-world, hands-on learning in fields such as business and hospitality, culinary management, forestry, environmental sciences and natural resources. We are able to draw on industries and resources available in our own backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. Our community of resourceful, enterprising, supportive and adventurous individuals collectively provide experiential education, student support in the classroom and beyond and meaningful opportunities for our alumni. We pride ourselves on research and advocacy on issues that improve our planet and the lives of the people who inhabit it. Learn more at paulsmiths.edu.
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Sara Delacruz
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