Finger Lakes Land Trust adds six acres to nature preserve

SCOTT, N.Y. — The Finger Lakes Land Trust (FLLT) recently acquired six forested acres in the town of Scott in Cortland County.

The land shares a boundary with and will add to FLLT’s High Vista Nature Preserve, bringing the total area to 153 acres of publicly accessible lands. The organization has been steadily expanding the High Vista Nature Preserve, and the contiguous 303-acre Hinchcliff Family Preserve in Spafford, by securing key parcels of surrounding land. It added 28 acres to Hinchcliff last year, buffering a new hiking trail on a 75-acre property that FLLT added to the preserve in June 2020.

The preserve is accessible from a trailhead on Vincent Hill Road or from within Hinchcliff. Hikers can now travel more than 4.5 miles within the two preserves. The trails are open during daylight hours for quiet nature observation and low-impact recreation such as hiking and trail running.

Acquiring the land allows FLLT to protect the steeply sloping hillsides that are vital to the health of Skaneateles Lake, which is the source of drinking water for the city of Syracuse.

The organization is working to create a greenbelt of protected lands around the southern half of Skaneateles Lake extending from State Route 41 on the east side to State Route 41A on the west side.

Other publicly accessible conservation lands in the area include Carpenter Falls State Unique Area, Bear Swamp State Forest, and the land trust’s Bahar Nature Preserve and Cora Kampfe Dickinson Conservation Area.

Collaborating with landowners and local communities, FLLT protects more than 29,000 acres of the region’s undeveloped lakeshore, gorges, forest, and farmland. It owns and manages a network of more than 45 nature preserves that are open to the public and it holds perpetual conservation easements on 172 privately owned properties.

The FLLT focuses on protecting critical habitat for fish and wildlife, conserving lands that are important for water quality, connecting existing conservation lands, and keeping prime farmland in agriculture. It also provides programs to educate local governments, landowners, and residents about conservation and the region’s unique natural resources.