 The area is referred to locally as the Montauk Moorlands, and was privately owned prior to the state's initial purchase of in 2005.The land was acquired for a total of $16.5 million, of which the Town of East Hampton paid $6 million, Suffolk County paid $5.5 million, New York State paid $4 million, and $1 million was paid from a federal grant.At the time of its purchase, the property represented one of the largest unprotected continuous tracts of undeveloped land in Montauk.