Coming Home

Buying a Property with a Conservation Easement

Frank Novak closed on the Whelan property in February 2015. That didn’t stop him from trudging through a blanket of snow with a portable heater up to a cabin on the property. He memorialized his purchase with mountain views, considering all the possibilities this land held for the future. 

The property was originally donated two years prior by Mary Anne Whelan to Otsego Land Trust, with the intention that OLT would retain ownership temporarily until selling it with a conservation easement. 

While she originally purchased the land to build on it, over the years her appreciation of the natural landscape broadened and she felt that the best thing she could do with the property would be to give it to OLT “rather than dotting it with one more house taking up one more piece of somebody’s else world.” 

In a stroke of fate, Frank was looking for acreage, a place for quiet reflection. 

Private Lands. Working Lands. Protected Forever Lands.

Located in the Town of Otsego, the 72-acre property mainly consists of northern hardwood forests, old fields and shrublands, and wetlands. There is a small stream that runs through the southeastern corner of the property that carves out a steep ravine as it flows south. The property is close to seven other parcels that are protected with conservation easements, creating a cluster of natural resource protection in a strategic area. 

Frank admitted to feeling nervous about the phrase “conservation easement” at first, thinking that people would be allowed on the land and he wouldn’t have any flexibility. He was happy to learn that this was not the case. OLT walked Frank through the entire easement, showing him what it means to be a part of the land trust community. 

Working with OLT helped him understand the process, that yes, there are certain things that can’t be done to protect the health of the land, but sustainable logging and agriculture are permitted, and often, encouraged in specific areas. 

The restrictions and procedures in place make sense for the property, which would be owned by Frank and not OLT. 

Another influence behind purchasing the Whelan property is Frank’s heritage. He is the fourth generation to live in the region, and his family originally settled in Pierstown after coming across the ocean from Ireland. Even after his grandparents moved into the village proper, and Frank grew up in Cooperstown, Pierstown held a special place in his family’s legacy.

To be able to return to the area was a special reunion for his family. He had returned home, in a way, to a land that brings him peace.