From the Staten Island Advance. Good news for campers, staff and alumni of Camp Pouch.
$6 million deal will help save most of Staten Island’s Pouch Camp
Officials on Thursday announced the approval of a conservation easement that will preserve an additional 51 acres of Pouch Camp, the beloved Boy Scouts of America grounds in the heart of the Greenbelt.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the state will pay $6 million through its Environmental Protection Fund to the Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America, the property owner, to keep that land free from development.
This latest agreement means that 95 acres all told, or about 83 percent of Pouch Camp will be protected, said GNYC in a statement.
Last year, 44 acres were preserved through a $5 million conservation easement brokered by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.
“Staten Island’s Pouch Camp has given generations of Boy Scouts access to the great outdoors, and we must do everything we can to keep this iconic camp going,” said Cuomo in a statement. “This week’s vote was another key step in that direction, allowing us to conserve the camp as open space, ensuring that Boy Scouts and the public will be able to use it for years to come.”
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