Politics & Government

President of the Peconic Land Trust, John v.H. Halsey Honored by Peers

John v.H. Halsey, President of the Peconic Land Trust, was honored by his peers at the New York State Land Conservation Summit at the Thayer Hotel in West Point, NY, earlier this month. The gathering of over 250 land conservation professionals and volunteers was convened on April 10th & 11th to discuss the challenges facing land protection as well as innovative tools and techniques that land trusts across the state are using to conserve our woodlands, working farms, bays, meadows, wetlands, waterways and historic places.

At the conference, Halsey’s peers spoke of his accomplishments. In a speech, Seth McKee, Land Conservation Director of Scenic Hudson and the chair of the Land Trust Alliance NY Advisory Board, said, “He is an innovator who has pioneered everything from the purchase of development rights on farmland on the East End of Long Island to the use of transfer fees to support community preservation funding, and Peconic has been one of the anchor supporters behind the Land Trust’s Alliance’s one of a kind public policy programs here in New York state for many years.”

“I can tell you that John is a true leader, who leads by example in everything he does,” said Becky Thornton, the president of Dutchess Land Conservancy. “The Peconic Land Trust is an organization under John’s leadership that uses all the available tools and is an amazing model. If I want to know anything about how to do something, I call John – they’ve been there, done it, and give you the do’s and don’ts.”

The Peconic Land Trust was established in 1983 to conserve Long Island's working farms, natural lands, and heritage. Its main office is in Southampton, and it has “Stewardship Centers” in Cutchogue, Bridgehampton (Bridge Gardens), Southold (Agricultural Center at Charnews Farm and Shellfisher Preserve), and Amagansett (Quail Hill Farm).


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