KEENE VALLEY — A 348-acre purchase by the Town of Newcomb has added property targeting economic development.

The transaction was announced Tuesday by the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, completing a deal in the works for about four years.

A 324-acre piece of that land adjoins the town's High Peaks Golf Course, suggesting potential expansion from a 9-hole to an 18-hole course.

Another 20-acre log-yard parcel, zoned industrial by the Adirondack Park Agency, is ripe for industrial development.

Town Supervisor George Canon said many options for economic growth are built into the acquisition.

"Now that the transactions with the Nature Conservancy are complete, we look forward to exploring those options. The log-yard parcel is probably the most important acquisition; it is an excellent site for a potential business," Canon said in a statement.

SET PRECEDENT

Newcomb paid a total $256,591 for the land.

Other sections include a 4-acre tract with a farmhouse in place. That piece is being considered as a potential site for a dormitory to be used by foreign students attending Newcomb Central School.

The transaction is part of the 161,000 acres the Nature Conservancy bought in 2007 from Finch, Pruyn & Co., a paper company, intending to convey a large portion to the state for addition to the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

Some 92,000 acres were sold in March 2009 to ATP, a Danish pension fund.

The Nature Conservancy then secured a conservation easement on 89,000 of the ATP acres in a $30 million deal with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Some 20,270 acres in the conserved area are in Newcomb.

But the plan to convey smaller, targeted parcels to Newcomb proper was worked out in advance of the Finch, Pruyn purchase, which set a conservation precedent for complex land use in buy-to-sell planning.

'RURAL QUALITY OF LIFE'

Michael Carr is executive director of the Nature Conservancy's Adirondack Chapter, based in Keene Valley.

"Working with Newcomb on these land sales and the larger conservation project demonstrates how community and conservation goals can go hand in hand," he said in a press release.

"We quickly learned how important new economic-development opportunities are to the town, as well as how much Newcomb residents value their rural quality of life and view the surrounding natural beauty as an asset."

The Newcomb tracts were negotiated along with plans to sell land to the towns of Long Lake and Indian Lake.

In an interview, Carr said the 46-acre sale on Tarbell Hill Road to Long Lake is also nearly complete.

"It's imminent — within a week we should have that done," he said Tuesday.

'REALLY ICONIC'

Nature Conservancy spokeswoman Connie Prickett said they also set aside another parcel in Indian Lake.

"We look forward to working on getting that parcel into the town's hands," she said.

"The focus was on getting a snowmobile connector trail connecting Indian Lake and Newcomb. That was completed last year and, from all reports, is driving some new business in Newcomb," Carr added.

Of the total 161,000-acre, $110 million Finch, Pruyn deal of 2007, the Nature Conservancy still holds about 65,000 acres.

"Those are the places that jump out as really iconic from a recreational perspective; they have the richest assemblage of plant and animal life," Carr said.

HUNTING CLUBS

The land remaining in Nature Conservancy holdings includes Hudson Gorge on the Hudson River, OK Slip Falls and the Boreas Ponds.

"We're working every day with DEC to move those along. I think it will be several years," Carr said of the long-term plan to sell the property for inclusion in the Forest Preserve.

The Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board has called for an economic-impact study on that sale, which some estimates suggest could top $40 million.

Also transitioned in the 2007 land-use sale were private leases to more than 135 Adirondack hunting clubs.

Finch, Pruyn land-management officials have maintained oversight with club owners and advised members in a letter last summer of changes coming.

Finch, Pruyn Forest Manager Leonard Cronin said in a general announcement to the clubs that lease agreements would not change this year.

"From Oct. 2011 through Sept. 2012, clubs that renew their leases will maintain exclusive rights for the entire year rather than transition to exclusive seasonal use (April 1 through June 30, and big-game rifle season) with shared public access the rest of the year as was originally anticipated," Cronin said in informational post online last summer.

"And then (they would) have the option to retain property lease with a limited camp envelope (and reduced price to reflect the loss of exclusivity) between Oct. 2012 and Sept. 2018," Cronin said.

In addition, the conservancy froze lease rates October 2011 for clubs that retained exclusive rights through September 2012.

Email Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com