Timberland company buys land in Adirondack Park
December 16, 2014
Press Republican
ELIZABETHTOWN — Molpus Woodlands has purchased 112,238-acre holdings in the Adirondack Park from the Forestland Group.
The land included in the sale is located in Franklin, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.
Molpus Woodlands, a timberland investment and management company located in Mississippi, is now the Adirondack Park’s second-largest private landowner at more than 273,000 acres, according to the Adirondack Council, which applauded the sale in a news release Tuesday.
Molpus had owned 30,000 acres, located near Saranac Lake, until this past January, when the company purchased almost 131,000 acres in Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence and Lewis counties from Rayonier.
“We are pleased to see that Molpus is making a long-term investment in the Adirondack Park’s economy and will be helping to stabilize woodlands employment by keeping these lands in production," Adirondack Council Executive Director William C. Janeway said in a statement.
“We urge the company to continue to manage these lands under a third-party certified sustainable management plan, such as the Forest Stewardship Council or Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
"We also call on state officials to assist the company in achieving this. New York taxpayers own a conservation easement on all of these lands and have stake in keeping them healthy.
"Well-managed commercial timberlands are an important part of the Adirondack Park’s economy and its ecology,” Janeway said.
“Forests that are managed for timber provide plant and wildlife habitat that may not be as common on the forever wild lands of the Forest Preserve and vice versa.
"Public lands and waters bring millions of visitors to the Park each year. Both public and private lands contribute to the park’s wild beauty and its biological diversity.”
Before the Forestland Group bought the property, which includes land on the St. Regis River, it was owned by Champion International.
The Adirondack Park’s largest private landowner is timberland investment/management organization Lyme Timber, which owns 278,000 acres
