Overlook Wetland
LaGrange, Dutchess County, NY
151 acres
Not open to the public except through special trips with the Nature Conservancy.

Geology:

At the La Grange wetland site, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation owns James Baird State Park, and The Nature Conservancy owns the Overlook Preserve. The boundaries are based principally on known rare turtle habitats and the known or presumed movement corridors connecting these habitats. (SIGNIFICANT HABITATS AND HABITAT COMPLEXES OF THE NEW YORK BIGHT WATERSHED: Dutchess County Wetlands COMPLEX #27 http://training.fws.gov/library/pubs5/web_link/text/dcw_form.htm)

History:

WWII & Cold War  --  Albert Jolis served with the OSS as an intelligence officer. He became a virulent anti-Communist.

1984 -- Albert Jolis donated 135 acres in Dutchess County, NY.

 Jolis negotiated a diamond deal in the French territory of Ubangi, which became the Central African Empire, and he became an international diamond merchant. 

1996  -- he published his autobiography entitled A Clutch of Red Diamonds: A Twentieth Century Odyssey. 

2000 --  Jolis donated an additional 16 acres.

2000 (September) -- Jolis died. 

The discovery of the rare Blanding's turtle on the property led to the Conservancy beginning a program of protection for the turtle.

Habitats:

wetlands, low hills, second growth forest. Overlook Wetland is considered one of the two best habitats in New York State.