Ed and Claudia York

    In 2002 the York family completed a "bargain sale" to VLT of a conservation easement on their 259-acre beefalo farm on Garvin Hill Road. The Yorks donated half the appraised value of the easement, while the VLT purchased the remaining half, the bulk of the cost being covered by a grant from the Freeman Foundation, and the remainder by the GLT.
    Purchased by the Yorks in 2000, the farm contains 62 acres of prime agricultural soils, 27 acres of pasture, and 156 acres of managed forest, including 23 acres of sugarbush. It has 3,400 feet of frontage on Garvin Hill Road, and a wide view of the Stannard-Wheelock Range.
    The farm dates from at least the mid-19th century, when the present farmhouse was built. The Yorks have added two barns and other outbuildings. For seven years they managed a beefalo herd of 90 animals, (beefalo are a cross-breed of 3/8 bison and 5/8 beef cattle (see photo below). The meat was sold to health food stores, co-ops, and restaurants. Unfortunately, illness forced the Yorks to sell their beefalo in 2007. Currently the land carries a small herd of black Angus cattle.
    In 2004 the Yorks established their homestead on 85.5 acres along Swamp Road purchased from the Carver family, and donated an easement on it to VLT. This land borders the former beefalo farm to the west