Ice cream for a cause

Warwick - Bellvale Farms Creamery will donate 1 percent of its revenue during September in support of the Orange County Land Trust. The creamery is located at 385 Route 17A between Greenwood Lake and Warwick. It's "Orange County Land Trust Month" program began Thursday, Sept. 1, with remarks by historian and author Richard Hull. The Land Trust, founded in 1993 by former County Executive Louis V. Mills, helping landowners preserve their land by establishing conservation easements, which allow the landowner continued use of the land excluding residential or commercial development, or by purchasing or accepting gifts of land. In the past year and a half, the Land Trust has helped landowners protect more than 1,000 acres in Orange County, including parts of the Shawangunk Ridge and Mt. Eve, open farmland and a 255-acre wooded preserve in Warwick, which is open to the public. Negotiations are currently underway to preserve an additional 695 acres of farmland, more than half of it in Warwick.