HADLEY - About 50 people gathered with state officials at the Summit House on a foggy Tuesday morning to celebrate the preservation of land.

The event was organized by Kristin DeBoer, executive director of the Amherst-based Kestrel Land Trust, and brought together the state partners involved in saving 1,000 acres of land on the Mount Holyoke Range over the last two years, this in addition to the 10,000 acres already preserved.

DeBoer said it's important to bring the conservation community together "to pause, to celebrate."

At the same time, she was hoping to bring in additional supporters. Between the Mount Tom in Holyoke and Mount Holyoke ranges, she is hoping to preserve an additional 5,000 acres of land.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Department of Fish and Game, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and Kestrel Trust working together were able to preserve the land as part of the Mount Holyoke Range Landscape Partnership Program.

As DeBoer said in her remarks, the project began with a $350,000 anonymous gift, which they were able to leverage into the $3 million in funding including the $1.5 million Landscape Partnership Grant from the energy office.

She wanted to thank the donor but couldn't because the gift was anonymous.

She thanked all the landowners who sold their land to go into a protection.

Assistant Secretary for Environment Dan Sieger said "This single project protects 11/2 square miles of this nationally significant mountain range that contains 27 rare species as well some of the most unique geologic formations in southern New England.

"In one project about one-fifth of the remaining unprotected land within the Range's landscape has been permanently protected."

And he said the partnership provides a blueprint "for future conservation partnerships in the Commonwealth.

"It involved local government - four adjacent towns as well as the federal government via a Scenic Byways grant and four state agencies.

"Most importantly, the project was conceived by the Kestrel Land Trust who coordinated the conservation of more than dozen ownerships and brought significant private funding critical to the success of the project.

"This project exemplifies how state government needs to break down the silos to find collaborative ways to reach ambitious goals in an effective and efficient way."