We, as Americans, have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to conserve a 90-plus-acre parcel of land in New York’s historic Hudson Valley that borders the home of one of our most visionary leaders: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd President.
Known as “the Morgan Property,” it was deeded by the estate of FDR’s late neighbor to Scenic Hudson Land Trust in 2014. Now, Scenic Hudson and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Hyde Park Foundation are collaborating to ensure the National Park Service can take ownership of the property and manage it in perpetuity as part of the Roosevelt National Historic Site.
While seed money has already been pledged, it will take a greater effort to achieve this goal for the public’s use and benefit.
The Morgan Property runs along the northern edge of the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park, New York, from Route 9 on the east to the edge of the Hudson River on the west, with physical access to it via a bridge across the railroad right of way.
This spectacular parcel of land is in the direct sight line of every visitor to the FDR home – embracing not only extensive woodlands…. ponds, and brooks but also the field just to the right of the main drive heading into the park.
Parallel to the Foundation’s fundraising effort is the legislative work that the region’s Congressional representatives have successfully undertaken to authorize the Park Service to acquire the Morgan Property.
The FDR Historic Preservation Act was signed into law as a provision of the Natural Resources Management Act on March 12, 2019.
Anyone familiar with FDR’s love of the land and the history of this beautiful area, land which he knew intimately as he walked and rode between his home at Springwood and the Hudson River and his friends’ estates, knows how much he would champion the acquisition of these 90 acres to add them to the public domain, for hiking, ecological education, and the recreation that quiet enjoyment of ancient woods can impart to the harried lives of men and women of our own time – and for all time.
Please join the Franklin D. Roosevelt Hyde Park Foundation and Scenic Hudson in safeguarding this precious land. By joining this effort, you will help to advance the Roosevelts’ treasured legacy of “a more abundant life for all.”
