On Nov. 8, 2022, New Yorkers overwhelmingly approved the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act. State agencies, local governments, and partners will be able to access funding to protect water quality, help communities adapt to climate change, improve climate resiliency, create green jobs, and conserve farmland and natural areas (including working forests).
Bond Act funding will support new and expanded projects across the state to safeguard drinking water sources, reduce pollution, and protect communities and natural resources from climate change. This funding will augment the Environmental Protection Fund (part of the state’s budget allocation) to help local families and communities accelerate conservation initiatives.
The new Forest Conservation Easements for Land Trusts Program, administered by the Land Trust Alliance’s New York program, is an example of a new program funded by the EPF, that could be enhanced through Bond Act Funding. It offers competitive matching grants to qualified New York land trusts to fund the acquisition of conservation easements on forest land that will increase the pace of forested land conservation to combat climate change.
The loss of 2,800 NY farms is tragic not only for the farming families and communities in which those farms reside but also enormously damaging to the agricultural economy, wildlife corridors, and our region’s ability to respond to increasingly extreme weather events.
Cover crops and rotational grazing can reduce the emission of excess carbon dioxide as well as increase soil health to absorb flood waters. Farms are helping to slow down the impacts of extreme weather and climate change.
Drip irrigation and soil moisture sensors are conserving water resources during periods of drought, strengthening farm viability.
Agricultural agreements (technically referred to as agricultural conservation easements) are flexible to allow for farm innovation and diversification of income streams. The farm remains on the tax rolls.
The farmer continues to own and manage the land. The land can be leased, bequeathed, or sold, and the conservation
easement runs with the land.
Throughout New York State and the Tug Hill region, local families know how important agriculture is to our way of life, economy, and a network of conserved lands for wildlife and water quality.
Together we can conserve these critical lands while there’s still time.
In the heart of our local Tug Hill region lies a hidden gem – what is often referred to as the Core Forest. A region of wide scale importance for its wildlife habitat and long-term forest integrity, the Core Forest is seen as one of New York State’s vibrant working landscapes.
John Constable, a steadfast steward of the land, has been the guardian of his own corner of this forested haven for decades. His love for the towering trees, abundant wildlife, and clean, clear streams also mirrors the importance of preserving these forests, with their older trees, in combating climate change.
As climate goals become increasingly urgent, partnerships with individuals like John play a pivotal role.
John conserved his property with a voluntary conservation easement agreement years ago — long before the new forest conservation easement program. The results continue to be an inspiration as John emphasizes the value of these agreements in safeguarding the core forest and the resources it holds.
“I hope others will consider protecting their lands with the help of partnerships with the land trust and grants with the land trust, or donating a conservation easement and receiving the income tax benefits,” explains John, when asked about his land protection leadership, “I continue to own and manage my land and can conduct forestry activities that respect the conservation goals that
I established with the land trust.”
According to the 2020 New York State Forest Action Plan, “Privately owned forestlands cover 13.52 million acres and represent 74% of New York’s forests. 10.2 million acres are considered family-owned or non-corporate forests. Nearly 700,000 private forest landowners provide the public with the benefits of clean air and water, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and a forest-based economy.”
Property tax credit
Given the importance of land conservation as part of the overall economic vitality of NYS and areas like Tug Hill, New York State also provides a property tax credit for lands conserved with conservation easements.
The Conservation Easement Tax Credit (CETC) offers New York State taxpayers an annual income tax credit of 25% on their school district, county, and town property taxes up to $5,000. If a landowner’s tax credit exceeds the amount he or she owes in state income taxes, the landowner receives a payment for the difference.
Is the Forest Conservation Easement Program right for you?
If you are interested in learning more about the new Forest Conservation Easement Program for Land Trusts please refer to the Land Trust Alliance’s New York State page on its website. You can also talk to land trust staff about the income tax benefits of donating a conservation easement. Over 115 families have conserved their land with our land trust, including forest lands, farms, wetlands, and stream corridors.
When Bob McNamara decided to volunteer for the land trust, he wasn’t thinking about becoming a ‘mover and shaker.’ Rather, he just wanted to share his love of the outdoors and have fun with other people on Tug Hill. A few years ago, he took the lead on getting the Tug Hill Traverse Trail, a 20-mile hiking trail through the heart of Tug Hill, underway.
But time spent with Bob has done much more than build a trail. “Bob has become an inspiration for me,” remarked Bob Keller, who also volunteers. “He’s so passionate about making a difference, and he knows that no matter your age, your skills, or how much time you have, there’s something you can do to make Tug Hill a bit better. He’s also brought a lot of fun to the task at hand.”
Thanks to their enthusiasm, we now we have two Bobs who are passionate about volunteering, along with so many others. The impact is indeed inspiring.
“Getting outside and working on the trail with a great group of people is as much fun as hanging out with folks bird watching or canoeing,” reflects Bob McNamara. “We all feel like we’ve made a difference together. I hope others join us.”
Tug Hill Traverse Trail Volunteer Work Days
Join us in the heart of the Tug Hill region to help maintain and extend this 20-mile north/south hiking trail through the deep woods. Stay for an hour, stay for the day – it’s all good.
Days to help maintain and extend the Traverse Trail from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm on:
Fri, July 12
Sat, July 27
Fri, Aug 9
Sat, Aug24
Fri, Sept 6
Sat, Sept 21
When Serena Soldani went out to clean off her car this spring, something clicked. “Normally, I would mutter to myself about all the pollen on my car,” she said, “but this spring, given how stressed pollinators are, I decided to be happy about it.”
Serena is on to something. Nationally, we are witnessing a crash of pollinators. A 2022 comprehensive survey in New York found that more than 60% of the insect populations studied ranked as insecure, with 25% at risk and 15% not seen in New York since 2000. Declines are due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and extreme weather caused by climate change.
You may be aware of this, given increasing concern about honeybees in the news, but all pollinators are feeling the stress. According to Cornell University’s Pollinator Network, New York is thought to have approximately 450 wild bee species. Wild bees are often solitary and live in burrows excavated into the ground, in wood, or pithy plant stems.
Click the photos to learn more about each of these pollinators.
Jodi Towne
Clemons Tyler
Joann Ballard
Jeannine Eckel
Bees need a diverse diet
Trees and flowering plants offer different levels of proteins and vitamins that pollinators eat and use to feed their young, and a broad mix of sources keeps them healthy. That’s one of the many reasons that conserving and managing woodlands, along with a mix of meadow areas, provides important habitats for pollinators like bees, moths, flies, butterflies and birds.
Conservation areas like the Joseph A. Blake Wildlife Sanctuary in the town of Rutland, as well as newer conservation areas like the David Smith Conservation Area in the town of LeRay, and Keller Mohawk Hill in West Turin, are serving as critical havens for both people and pollinators alike.
As extreme weather increases, connecting areas of conserved land—including a mosaic of fields, meadows, stream corridors, and woodlands—will give wildlife of all kinds a better chance to thrive over time. Not only is our agricultural landscape dependent on healthy pollinators, but the woodland plants you love, including many of the iconic trees in our forests, depend upon them for survival.
What you can do
In addition to supporting greater land conservation and habitat, each of us can also play a role by enhancing the pollinator habitat around our communities. Recommendations from Cornell include:
Include native plants in your garden or landscape that support birds and wildlife throughout the year.
Reduce pesticides and herbicides as they threaten non-target species like pollinators.
Control invasive plants and maintain native species. Invasive plants outcompete and displace the natives that have co-evolved with our native pollinators over thousands of years. Selecting species that bloom throughout the year gives pollinators continuous food sources.
Consider pollinators when mowing. Reducing mowing frequency, staggering areas cut, and cutting at the tallest setting helps preserve floral resources and protect habitat for ground-nesting pollinators.
Leave coarse woody materials on your property for habitat. Dead trees, downed logs, and brush piles provide excellent shelter for pollinators and other animals.
Paul and Diane Miller live at the Bottom of the Hill. Tug Hill that is – along Fish Creek near where it flows into Oneida Lake.
Growing up on Fish Creek, Paul came to love the outdoors, fishing in particular, at an early age. After a career in the Marines, he and Diane returned to Paul’s family home on the southern boundary of the Tug Hill region.
As part of their love of the outdoors — something they passed along to their three daughters — Paul and Diane got involved
with Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust. In 1994 they responded to our first community-wide request for support to initiate local conservation efforts. Our land trust has stayed “top of mind” for them ever since.
One of Paul’s biggest contributions to the Tug Hill region has been researching the wild genetic characteristics of brook trout in the remote core forest known as the Heart of Tug Hill. “Fishing,” says Paul with a twinkle in his eye “is tough volunteer work, but
someone has got to do it!”
Paul continues to be one of our foundational volunteers, reflecting a commitment to the land trust of over 30 years. Today, in addition to volunteering, they are monthly donors as a way to support conservation throughout the year.
When Lynn Murray conserved his farm in 2015, in the town of Champion, his goal was to ensure that his kids could take over the farming later in life. Farming for Lynn and most of the farm families in the Tug Hill region is a family effort, and many of those farmers want to conserve their land so the next generation can carry on the family legacy. Yet farming is more than land. It’s a business in an increasingly tricky growing environment. The recent US Agricultural Census elevated this issue when it noted this spring that New York State has lost nearly 2,800 farms between 2017 and 2022, totaling 364,000 acres.
Reflecting on the evolving climate conditions, Lynn, a seasoned farmer, acknowledges the stark shift in weather patterns. “Well, it’s hard to quantify but obviously the weather seems more extreme than it used to be,” he observes. “So, we’ve had to be prepared for colder than normal summers, warmer than normal, or drier than normal. We have not had an average year in the last few years; it’s been more unpredictable.”
Farmers responding to a changing climate
Jon Ostrowski and his family are working on farming resilience, too. Together, they run an organic farm in the town of Champion – conserved in 2013. Jon notes, “We used to mow, rake, and bale it, but now, with the increasingly unpredictable weather, we’ve had to adapt.”
By implementing sustainable farming practices and new technologies, the Ostrowskis are investing in their farmland to withstand sudden droughts followed by heavy rainfall. “The switch to using a tedder to spread out the hay for faster drying has truly changed our approach. With rainy spells becoming more frequent, traditional methods have become nearly impossible during such periods.” “The farming community is poised to do our part, and down the road, we will have better technologies to do more,” emphasizes Lynn. Meanwhile, Jon stresses, “Conserving the land and keeping it green, whether ag or forest—we can’t keep taking over the land with more buildings; we won’t have the land we need to keep the earth healthy.”
The interest in farmland conservation and climate-smart farming is growing in New York. Farmers in Oneida, Herkimer, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties are looking to our land trust to assist them in voluntarily conserving their land as part of their long-term strategy to ensure the next generation has the opportunity to farm, no matter the weather.
Would you like to protect your land? Do you know someone who might be interested in protecting their farm, woodlands, or wetlands?
People protect their land for a variety of reasons. For many, it’s a way to ensure their love of the land will remain intact after they leave. For others, it’s a way to honor their parents and grandparents. Sometimes it helps with estate planning or financial management plans.
If you would like to explore if conservation is right for you and your family, contact Emily Antonacci, Land Stewardship and Conservation Manager, 315-779-8240, x12 or email eantonacci@tughilltomorrowlandtrust.org.
All conversations are confidential to provide your family the privacy it needs to make a decision that is right for you.
Flicker resting on a rock covered with moss by Pamela Underhill Karaz.
With today’s hectic lives full of work, school, sports, and family happenings, we all need easy-to-access public outdoor spaces close to home where we can take a break.
Thanks to growing support from people like you, we are expanding the number of places where people from all walks of life can breathe some fresh air, listen to the sounds of nature, and escape their daily pressures while protecting quality wildlife habitat at the same time.
National research to better understand and connect Americans and nature revealed that time outside spent with friends and family surrounded by nature’s healing power has become a necessity for maintaining perspective and finding joy.
The study also offered an important insight and a wake-up call for local land conservation groups like ours:
Participation in traditional nature-based recreation is stagnant or declining; Americans are spending more time indoors using electronic media more than ever before. At the same time, there is growing evidence that human health and well-being depend on beneficial contact with nature.
Our land trust has been working hard to increase access to nature close to home in partnerships with local families, community organizations, and municipalities.
Community conservation growing in the Tug Hill
The 121-acre French Settlement Road Public Conservation Area, located in the Town of Lorraine and donated to our land trust by Dr. Marvin Reimer, is one place to do just that.
This past summer, a parking area was installed thanks to a generous gift from Pure Water for Life. Public programs began this fall, featuring a morning Flow into Fall yoga series outdoors surrounded by the sounds of birds and flowing water.
This winter, we will be hosting snowshoe and cross-country ski outings. As funding becomes available, we will complete the trail system, including an accessible trail, signage, an information kiosk, and benches, in the coming year.
By Passion 4 Nature
Exploring on the eastern side of Tug Hill
If you’d like to explore another land trust project, the newly dedicated Keller Mohawk Hill Public Conservation Area in the Town of West Turin is a great place to go.
We are working with Ducks Unlimited, volunteers, and community members to make this a haven for wildlife and people. With restored waterfowl wetlands surrounded by open grassland and forested borders, it’s a place of wide open sky and wildlife abundance.
Improvements for wildlife and visitors are planned for the coming year, including an accessible trail system, limited tree plantings, signage, and seating.
Bobolinks and other migratory and grassland birds challenged by habitat loss and climate change now have a safe place to rest and raise their young.
Other special places to explore
There are several other public conservation areas owned and managed by our land trust, including the Joseph Blake Wildlife Sanctuary in the town of Rutland and the upcoming David S. Smith property in the town of Leray.
Each one offers important wildlife habitat and unique opportunities to connect to nature. As we face the need to connect more people to nature close to home to inspire a love of the land, wildlife, and community, these conservation areas are crucial for our overall health and well-being—and as a haven for wildlife.
That only happens because of people like you. Thank you.
If you are looking for folks who walk the conservation walk, you have found them.
Bob and Carol Keller have stood by the land trust year after year, conserving their land, participating in forest conservation efforts, cheering on community programs and the establishment of new public conservation areas, and contributing quietly to strategic initiatives.
Their unwavering support and generosity were recently honored at our fall Annual Meeting with the dedication of Keller Mohawk Hill Public Conservation Area.
Bob and Carol want you to know that this is a team effort. They love working lands, like well-managed forests and farms and treasure unique places for birds and wildlife. The Kellers also recognize that connecting kids to nature is the future of conservation and have embraced our efforts to connect to urban, suburban, and rural areas in and near Tug Hill.
To ensure that the land trust continues to thrive, they have also included Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust in their wills. Throughout the past 15 years, the Kellers’ steadfast efforts, combined with other land trust supporters, have been key to protecting, improving, and expanding the local places where people, like you, and nature, can thrive together.
Thank you, Bob and Carol, for all you have done and all you continue to do. You are an inspiration.
Paul and Diane Miller live at the Bottom of the Hill. Tug Hill that is – along Fish Creek near where it flows into Oneida Lake.
