Bedford Audubon Society

Yesterday's announcement from the Trump Organization announcing the abandonment of their luxury golf course plan and switching gears to a 17 lot, residential subdivision, was a step in the right direction from an environmental perspective. However, it is Bedford Audubon Society's view that this project is not out of the woods, yet.

Mr. Trump's plan to convert the 213 undeveloped acres of habitat around Byram Lake into 17 "super luxury" estates may be better than his previous golf course idea, but only the details of his plan will tell. In Bedford Audubon's Society's opinion, the towns of New Castle, North Castle, and Bedford and other concerned parties, should not simply feel relieved at escaping what everyone agreed was the worst possible scenario for the land and nearby water supply and rush to uncritically embrace a plan which may have deleterious effects which are simply unknown at this point.

Questions arise such as: How much of the 213 acres of undisturbed land will be cleared of vital wildlife habitat? How many structures, such as cottages, stables, kennels, cabanas, garages, sheds, etc., will be planned for each estate lot? How much of the land will be paved over with impermeable surfaces such as driveways, carports, tennis courts, pools, causing erosion and run-off into Mt. Kisco's main water supply? How many acres of well-manicured and highly maintained lawns may be created, causing fertilizer and pesticides to end up in Byram Lake? These are only some of the serious questions we simply do not have answers for at this time.

Mr. Trump's "Seven Springs" estate abuts the 200-acre Eugene and Agnes Meyer Preserve. We know that Westchester's biodiversity of wildlife thrives in large contiguous green corridors and declines in small, isolated and disjoined land lots and parcels. The amount of undeveloped public lands in Westchester is decreasing at an alarming speed under intense development pressure.

Given the relatively recent passage of open space bonds in New Castle, North Castle, and Bedford, and factoring in that the City of New York, Westchester County, and New York State are actively and aggressively working to protect open lands in the NYC watershed, there is strong potential for a inter-municipal open space purchase that would create a significant wildlife corridor encompassing nearly 500 acres for the benefit of people and wildlife of the region in perpetuity. Bedford Audubon Society calls upon all interested parties to work together for an open space purchase of the Seven Springs Estate.

Jackie Jones, President
Bedford Audubon Society