An aerial view of East Hampton, New York, where Steven Spielberg placed conservation easements on three properties in 2011 | Wikimedia Commons
A December 2011 report in The East Hampton Star said Spielberg had donated the conservation easements through the S.A.M. The land trust specifically linked the protection to Georgica Cove and Georgica Pond, and its 2011 publication said the easements would help protect habitat used by numerous mammals, birds, turtles and other wetland species. It reported that the three parcels were located in the Cove Hollow Farm neighborhood at the intersection of Chauncey Close and Ruxton Road.
The conservation easements placed permanent restrictions on what could be done with the land, and the Peconic Land Trust said the easements prohibited vegetative screening and landscaping except when such work was needed to manage or improve natural habitat or prevent a public hazard. The organization said the protected areas contributed to the health of Georgica Cove and Georgica Pond and provided habitat for mammals, birds, turtles and other wetland species. The properties are located around Chauncey Close and Cove Hollow Farm Road near Georgica Cove. Two of the parcels are next to one another, while the third lies across a small road. Spielberg’s family home, Quelle Farm, was on Apaquogue Road across the water from the three parcels. Trust to the Peconic Land Trust. The village’s involvement also gave the arrangement a local planning dimension. The transaction was approved not as a public acquisition of a park, but as a conservation measure consistent with East Hampton’s policies on natural resources.
