In 2002, a partnership between Hancock Timber Resource Group and The Nature Conservancy New York Chapter, Tug Hill Commission, and the State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation protected 45,000 acres of the Tug Hill Plateau-creating one of New York's three largest intact forests. The transaction preserves a vast contiguous stretch of the Northern Forest capable of sustaining viable wildlife populations including neotropical migrant songbirds which require expansive forestlands for breeding purposes, and far-ranging mammals such as the elusive fisher, bobcat and pine marten. The Tug Hill region feeds the headwaters of over 4,000 miles of rivers and streams, which begin their journeys from deep within the Plateau's core forest and provide potable water for the nearby city of Rome, New York.