Help protect Crumhorn Mountain!
The property offers a major opportunity for a collaborative effort to protect and conserve significant natural resources in perpetuity. The entire property has high conservation value that can help build climate resiliency in the region, strengthen the tourism economy, and improve the quality of life for residents and visitors.
About Crumhorn Mountain
Crumhorn Lake Property, Milford, NY
Currently owned by: LEATHERSTOCKING COUNCIL, BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
Urgency
The former scout camp is one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land remaining in Otsego County. The property is currently listed for sale and there are no constraints on how the property can be sold, subdivided, or used. This space is special to local residents, many of whom have generational memories of spending time at Crumhorn.
Major Attributes
668 acres of forests and wetlands
Direct frontage on Crumhorn Lake
10,000 square foot Dining Hall and other camp amenities
63 acres of Federal wetlands
More than 11,000 feet of frontage on NYSDEC-classified streams
Immediately adjacent to Susquehanna State Forest
We welcome your input
Please tell us what you think! We are open to public comments, suggestions, and ideas about protecting Crumhorn.
Opportunity
Imagine an outdoor education center with miles of forested trails, lakefront access for canoes and kayaks, and programs for families and children throughout the year. That’s the vision that Otsego Land Trust has for reuse of the former BSA Camp Henderson property on Crumhorn Mountain in Milford.
Otsego Land Trust has been the lead advocate for protecting the undeveloped property and promoting its conservation as a community resource. Last year,
a group of Crumhorn neighbors alerted Senator Peter Oberacker and Senator Peter Harckham that the camp was for sale. A postcard campaign launched by Otsego Land Trust called on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to utilize a portion of the state’s Environmental Bond Act to protect the property in perpetuity.
The Crumhorn property is one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in Otsego County, bordered by the Susquehanna State Forest on one side and Crumhorn Lake on the other. The two state agencies have expressed strong interest in acquiring the former camp as a state forest and a state park, if an agreement can be reached with the Leatherstocking Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Area residents have fond memories of summers spent at Camp Henderson when it was managed by the old Otschodela Council of the Boy Scouts of America. A general decline in camp enrollment has led the Boy Scouts to close and sell many of the former camps. Since the Leatherstocking Council of Boy Scouts of America (BSA) placed the 666-acre property up for sale with an asking price of $6.9 million, people throughout the Otsego region have been concerned about the property’s future.
“The Crumhorn property would be a superb outdoor education center,” according to Gregory Farmer, Executive Director at Otsego Land Trust. “It would create recreational opportunities in an underserved region and provide direct economic benefits.”
“Public interest is the key to conserving the site,” says Farmer. “The state will require a full title abstract, a detailed property survey, and an environmental assessment before they can move forward with acquisition. We are calling on local residents and former scouts to visit our website (www.otsegolandtrust.org) to voice their support and contribute to the project.”
Otsego Land Trust is a community-based nonprofit organization that works with landowners and partners to conserve farmland, forests, and wetlands in the Upper Susquehanna region. The Land Trust manages 300 acres of land for public access, including the Brookwood Point Conservation Area on Otsego Lake and Deowongo Island on Canadarago Lake. Otsego Land Trust protects more than 12,000 acres of private land through conservation easements in perpetuity.
Above text as featured in the Freeman’s Journal, Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Conservation is important. Governor Hochul’s commitment to conserve 30% of New York’s land and water by 2030 requires aggressive action.
Further Details
See an article published in local papers: Land Trust Leading Efforts To Preserve Crumhorn Property
Questions?
Contact Gregory Farmer [gfarmer@otsegolandtrust.org]