The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has purchased 53 acres in the hills above Northwest Bay – an acquisition that will protect both view sheds and water sheds.
The lands lie within the Town of Bolton and are divided by Federal Hill Road. Until the April 16 purchase, they were part of Federal Hill Farm, also known as the Ralph Bixby Farm.
The birthplace of Lillian Tuttle, who met and married a St. Louis industrialist named W.K. Bixby, the farm was purchased by her son Ralph sometime in the 1920s.
According to Alex Novick, the LGLC’s Land Steward, the land was once almost entirely farmland, as evidenced by the remains of roads and stone walls found in even the most steeply sloped areas. It is believed the farm dates to the 1790s.
Today, those steep slopes are forested. The parcel also contains a three-acre wetland and buffered streams that join the main branch of Indian Brook before entering into Lake George’s Northwest Bay.
“Protecting these features from development allows the land to do what it does best—absorb and filter water before it reaches the lake,” the LGLC stated.
The Federal Hill Forest, as the preserve is to be known, adjoins the 207-acre Sundew Pond property, which LGLC acquired and permanently protected in 2025.
“In addition to protecting water quality, the expansion of protected lands provides unfragmented habitat necessary for native terrestrial and aquatic wildlife to thrive,” the LGLC stated.
The LGLC purchased the land from the family of Ralph Bixby, which has maintained it for generations.
“After more than 100 years of Bixby family ownership, we are proud to entrust this land to the Lake George Land Conservancy,” said Will Bixby, a grandson of Ralph Bixby. “We share the LGLC’s commitment to protecting the watershed to preserve the beauty of Lake George for generations to come. It is an honor to have the LGLC as our neighbors, and we trust their stewardship to care for this land as we have. I think this would make our grandparents, Ralph and Lucy Bixby, very happy.”
LGLC Executive Director Mike Horn said, “We are grateful to the Bixby family for working with us to permanently conserve this land and carry forward their legacy of stewardship. Keeping the land in its current natural state will deliver long-lasting benefits for wildlife and for the local communities who depend on the lake’s exceptional water quality and beauty.” The protection of the 53 acres was made possible through the success of the LGLC’s 2025 Land Campaign, and through funding from a Water Quality Improvement Project grant, which is awarded and administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the LGLC stated.
