Sisters Of Hope Preserve 34 Riverfront Acres In Ossining

OSSINING, NY — Dominican Sisters of Hope and the Westchester Land Trust have legalized a conservation easement that prohibits further development and protects significant ecological resources, including the Hudson River. They've protected 34 acres of the 61-acre property known as Mariandale in Ossining.

As 145 Catholic Dominican Sisters, the Dominican Sisters of Hope said they are committed to protecting and preserving Earth, from changing local legislation to allow for beekeeping in 2014 to removing invasive species to building homes for blue birds to committing to a corporate stance to reverse climate change.

“This land has been an oasis in the midst of development in Westchester County,” says Dominican Sister of Hope Prioress Lorelle Elcock, O.P. “We have a responsibility to be in right relationship with Earth, not over it or owning it, but caring for it. We are protecting this land so that it will be a source of healing and refuge for both humans and wildlife.”

The conservation easement was donated by the Sisters, who received no financial benefit. The conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust that permanently restricts the development of a property in order to protect the land’s important conservation values.

The conserved land consists of a variety of habitat types, including woodlands, meadow, wetlands, and a steep ravine through which a stream flows to the Hudson River under the Metro-North track.

The property will continue to be owned and managed by the sisters as a retreat and conference center.

Preservation of land along the Hudson is a stated priority of the 2016 New York State Open Space Conservation Plan.

The easement also coincides with the Season of Creation, an annual celebration inclusive of Christians of all traditions. Participants commit to prayer and action to protect creation from September 1st to October 4th (the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology).

The property is adjacent to the Village of Ossining’s 30-acre Crawbuckie Nature Preserve, so that together, nearly 1 mile of uninterrupted Hudson River shoreline now is protected in perpetuity.

ABOUT THE DOMINICAN SISTERS OF HOPE
The Dominican Sisters of Hope are 140+ Catholic Dominican sisters who are committed to living and preaching the gospel message of hope. Hailing from Newburgh, NY, Fall River, MA, and Ossining, NY, we now live in seventeen states and Puerto Rico where we serve largely in justice, social, healthcare, and education ministries. Always dynamic, we are everything from Executive Directors of homeless shelters to gym teachers to published authors. We’re excited to share with you the ways we bring hope to it all.

PHOTO: Lorelle Elcock, OP (left), Prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Hope, signs the land conservation easement while Lori Ensinger, President of Westchester Land Trust, looks on./ Dominican Sisters of Hope

Image via Google maps