Scenic Hudson and the Dutchess Land Conservancy have announced landowners Frank and Katherine Martucci have donated a conservation easement on their 171-acre East Heartland Farm in Ancram. The donation will "safeguard the productive and scenic land from any future development," according to a March 4 press release. Dutchess Land Conservancy will hold and maintain the easement. Currently, the land is leased to a local grain farmer who grows hay, corn and soybeans. East Heartland Farm was a priority of Scenic Hudson’s Foodshed Conservation Plan. The farm is centrally located within more than 3,300 acres in Dutchess and Columbia counties that Scenic Hudson, the Dutchess Land Conservancy and Columbia Land Conservancy are working to protect. It is nearby to approximately 2,000 acres of protected lands in Ancram that include other farmland, the Drowned Lands Swamp Conservation Area, Taconic State Park and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. In addition to its agricultural importance, the land is also an irreplaceable wildlife habitat. The Martuccis have also donated land jointly owned with neighbor Dan Slott to establish Ancram Rural Build, a program intended to provide affordable housing for families whose occupations support the county’s agricultural economy. Habitat for Humanity has constructed two homes on the land. Read the full press release at ScenicHudson [dot] org.