In a major milestone for regional open space protection, municipal and non-profit partners have finalized a permanent conservation easement over key acreage at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm on Shelter Island. Financed through Suffolk County’s dedicated Quarter-Percent Drinking Water Protection Program, the agreement ensures that the historic estate’s delicate groundwater recharge areas, coastal habitats, and agricultural lands remain protected from future development.

The 236-acre property, which remained in the hands of the Sylvester family for 11 generations before transitioning to a public non-profit foundation, represents one of the most intact cultural landscapes on the East End. Through ongoing collaboration between Suffolk County, the Town of Shelter Island, and the Peconic Land Trust, roughly 130 acres of the site are now held under legal open-space protections. This latest easement milestone reinforces the county’s broader land management strategy, which continues to prioritize environmental stewardship, aquifer protection, and agricultural preservation across Long Island.

Beyond protecting natural resources, the agreement safeguards a living historical asset open to the public. Today, Sylvester Manor operates a 60-acre sustainable farm, maintains more than four miles of walking trails, and provides a wide range of educational, cultural, and historic interpretation programs detailing the complex history of the Indigenous Manhansett people, enslaved individuals, and European settlers who shaped the island’s past.

Sylvester Manor:
https://www.sylvestermanor.org/historic-preservation/

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