Forest Protection Project Buffers Rattlesnake Hill

A first of its kind land conservation project has been completed in the hills of Ossian, Livingston County, with the protection of Sugar Creek Forest by the landowner and Genesee Valley Conservancy.

Sugar Creek Forest is a 376-acre private property directly adjacent to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area.  Just over 80 percent of the property is forested; northern hardwoods interspersed with healthy stands of conifers, including hemlocks.  The remaining acreage is in two agricultural fields used for a variety of rotating agricultural crops.

The landowner manages the property for its timber, the agricultural fields as part of a broader agricultural operation, and uses the land for hunting and outdoor recreation.

The forest contains a mixture of red and sugar maples, oaks, hickory, white ash, black cherry, as well as white pine and hemlock trees.  Around 30% of the property is covered by conifer growth.

The protection of this property involved placing a conservation easement on the land to limit development and add restrictions to require management and maintenance of the forested areas, while allowing traditional agriculture to continue on the existing fields.  The easement limits development that would convert and cover the important soil resources that make this property suitable for sustainable timber and agricultural products.

This easement was purchased through the Forest Conservation Easements for Land Trusts program, a new Statewide initiative that funds the acquisition of conservation easements on forestland to help increase the pace of forested land conservation to combat climate changes.

Nearly 700,000 private forest landowners in New York provide the public with the benefits of clean air and water, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and a forest-based economy, according to the New York State Forest Action Plan.  The plan identifies some of the biggest threats to keeping privately owned forests healthy and intact as being fragmented by development pressure, inconsistent or lack of professional forest management practices, inadequate succession planning, and invasive pests which are often exacerbated by climate change and have the potential to devastate or completely wipe out entire tree species.

The conservation easement purchased on this forest was done so as a bargain sale, meaning the easement’s value was determined and then the landowner was compensated for just a portion of that value.  In essence, the Conservancy was able to pay a discount price for what the conservation of this property was worth, thanks to the landowner agreeing to donate 35% of that value in support of seeing this land become permanently protected.

Sugar Creek Forest is located at the northern boundary of the High Allegheny Plateau Ecoregion and Forest Legacy Area. This important conservation gateway contains many northern species and communities that reach their southern limit here, while southern species extend into this ecoregion but not beyond, making it an important convergence of biodiversity.

Forests in this area face multiple threats and unsustainable forest practices threaten to substantially reduce the supply and quality of forest products and recreational opportunities, as well as degrade water quality through higher volumes and faster flow rates of overland water. Retention of forest cover is critical, as it slows overland water flows and helps with infiltration into the soils, reducing soil erosion and stream sedimentation.  Forest loss has implications for fish habitat quality, as well as consumptive water use. 

The forest at this project site is mostly forested upland and includes steep slopes down to Sugar Creek. The steep slopes present at this kind of geology provides climax forest habitat community supporting a wide range of important species of flora and fauna. This project contains significant species of concern such as the red-shouldered hawk, timber rattlesnake, wild brook and brown trout, western chorus frog, cerulean warbler, sharp shinned hawk and ruff grouses in some of the nearby grassland edges.

One mile of Sugar Creek flows through this property, flowing south into the Canaseraga, before turning north to flow into the Genesee River at the Indian Fort Nature Preserve in Geneseo.  The creek is designated as a cold-water fishery, supporting trout.  This project’s conifer cover is especially important in providing year-round shade to the creek which keeps temperatures low so that trout can survive.  Trout is a sensitive species and cold water is one of the critical factors to keeping a stream suitable for their survival.

This conservation project involved accepting the 1st conservation easements in the town of Ossian by the Conservancy and is the first forestland protection project completed by the organization and just the second completed in New York State. 

This project was the result of a collaboration between Genesee Valley Conservancy, Town of Ossian, Land Trust Alliance, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. 

Genesee Valley Conservancy recently announced it was also the recipient of a forestland protection grant to help protect the Hemlock Hills Forest sitting just above Hemlock Lake in Livonia.  That project is just getting underway and will add 129 acres of protection to the forestland protecting the drinking water supply for the City of Rochester.

To-date, the Genesee Valley Conservancy has secured $548,000 from this forestland protection program to be able to protect 500 acres of some of the State’s valuable forests, right here in the Genesee Valley.

Genesee Valley Conservancy works throughout the Genesee River watershed to protect high quality habitat, open space and farmland for the community.  The Conservancy now oversees the protection of 35,715 acres.

Landowners in the Genesee River watershed interested in pursuing conservation options for their property, be it forestland, farmland, or a potential public nature preserve, should contact Genesee Valley Conservancy for more information.  Genesee Valley Conservancy will begin accepting applications for the next round of the Forestland Protection program in early 2025.  These applications include the qualifying criteria a property must meet to be eligible for consideration.  If you are interested in being notified when this opportunity opens, please contact Matt Halladay at matt@geneseevalleyconservancy.org.

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Genesee Valley Conservancy is a nationally accredited non-profit conservation organization working to protect the habitat, open space and farmland in the Genesee River watershed.  Over 35,715 acres of natural habitat and productive farm and forest land have been conserved by Genesee Valley Conservancy in partnership with private landowners.  The organization also owns nature preserves open to the public for recreation and education.  For more information visit www.geneseevalleyconservancy.org