Bethlehem has finalized its plans to transform 54 acres along the Hudson River into the Moh He Con Nuck Nature Preserve.
The Town Board unanimously passed the site’s environmental review at its Wednesday, July 8, meeting. Supervisor Jack Cunningham said the town has not yet started the first phase of preparing the site, which includes building a parking lot and clearing some trails at the River Road location just north of the Henry Hudson Town Park and the Glenmont Job Corps.
The work is to be done in house through the Bethlehem Parks and Recreation Department.
Cunningham told The Spotlight on Friday, July 9, that he is happy to see the project move forward.
`The Moh He Con Nuck Nature Preserve is a great opportunity for us here in Bethlehem,` he said.
The supervisor said the preserve’s name came from himself and the town’s former planning board chairman, the late Parker Mathusa, and it honors the Indian tribe that once occupied the area.
`The Mohican Indians occupied a lot of area along the Hudson River,` he said. `It’s where they first met Henry Hudson when he sailed up the river, which we memorialize on our town seal, and so we believe that it was likely that Mohican Indians occupied this area and hunted there.`
The phrase means, ‘people of waters that are never still.` “