The Western New York Land Conservancy has been granted the Conservation Partnership Program grant through the State Environmental Protection Fund.

It’ll go toward the development of the Western New York Wildway which is a plan to protect and connect the region’s largest forests, through partnerships, community engagement, and habitat restoration that builds upon previous investments.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the funding as part of $3 million in grants for 45 not-for-profit land trusts across the state.

She said in a statement, “Land conservation is essential in New York’s fight to mitigate climate change and protect our state’s unparalleled natural resources. Supporting the critical work of land trusts across the state will bring us closer to our goal of safeguarding 30% of public land in New York by 2030, ensuring future generations will have access to green space and protected natural habitats.”

Western New York Land Conservancy Executive Director Jonathan Kaledin speaks about the organizations latest efforts to acquire land adjacent to the College Lodge Forest property for conservation.

Area of ‘Floating Fen’ (photo by Erik Danielson)

The Western New York Land Conservancy has begun efforts to raise money for property adjacent to the College Lodge Forest near Fredonia.

Executive Director Jonathan Kaledin said the project is being called the “Floating Fen” and is a 223-acre property across the street from the College Lodge Forest, “It’s not all wetlands. It’s got a very good portion of upland with it, the property does. And, so it’ll be open to the public. But it has all sorts of things, neat things, associated with wetlands. It’s got great plants, it’s got iris, and a couple of orchids, and it’s got a little carnivorous guy.”

Kaledin said the Land Conservancy’s goal is to raise $925,000 by December 31st.

Once the land is protected, the Floating Fen will join the College Lodge Forest as a nature preserve, combining to form nearly 400-acres of protected land.

Kaledin said for those who want to donate to save the Floating Fen can visit wnylc.org. For more information, call (716) 687-1225 or email info@wnylc.org.

Janet Gallogly Allegany Wildlands

The Western New York Land Conservancy has announced that it has officially purchased a 185-acre forest in Cattaraugus County.

The forest, named the Janet Gallogly Allegany Wildlands, is located near Allegany State Park. It is home to a rich diversity of plants and animals.

Although it is not yet open to visitors, the Land Conservancy plans to soon build a walking trail system for the public which will keep the forest open as a publicly accessible nature preserve.

The property was purchased from the Sluga family, who voted unanimously to decide to sell the property to the Land Conservancy. Family member Steve Sluga said, “By selling to the Land Conservancy we knew we’d get to share this special place with others, but also that we’d have some control over what happened to it. That was important to us. We didn’t want to see the forest exploited. This public nature preserve is the best-case scenario for us, and we couldn’t be happier.”

Land Conservancy Executive Director Nancy Smith said the purchase of the forest next to protected state land is part of the long-term goal of establishing the Western New York Wildway. The WNY Wildway will link the forests of northern Pennsylvania to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and ultimately across the state to the Finger Lakes, the Adirondacks, and beyond.

It will be part of the Eastern Wildway, which stretches from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Canada. The Wildway will allow wildlife to roam across the landscape as they once did, it will allow plants and animals that have disappeared from the region to return home, and it will allow them to move around to find suitable habitat as climate changes.

Kaledin’s appointment will be effective January 9, 2023. He will succeed longtime Executive Director Nancy Smith.

Kaledin has held executive positions in the private, government, and non-profit sectors—including 15 years as New York General Counsel at The Nature Conservancy’s New York State office in Albany.
He holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was President of the Environmental Law Society.

Kaledin has considerable experience in the Western New York region—which includes extensive work on the Lake Ontario shoreline, acquiring Motor Island Wildlife Management Area on behalf of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, conservation work in the Zoar Valley, and advising on farmland issues out of The Nature Conservancy’s Jamestown office, among many other projects.

College Lodge Forest, Fredonia

The Western New York Land Conservancy and the Friends of the College Lodge Forest have announced the Land Conservancy has officially purchased the College Lodge Forest in Fredonia.

The College Lodge Forest becomes the newest Land Conservancy preserve. It will remain open year-round as a publicly accessible nature sanctuary with miles of existing hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country ski trails. The Faculty Student Association (FSA), a non-profit auxiliary of SUNY Fredonia from which the Land Conservancy purchased the forest, will continue to own the historic lodge and the 33 acres surrounding it.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony on May 27, the College Lodge Forest was formally inducted into the national Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN).

During the past few years, the Land Conservancy and the Friends of the College Lodge Forest carried out an ambitious fundraising campaign to protect the property. Purchased in 1939 by SUNY Fredonia students, with their own funds, for the main objective of promoting health outdoors, the land has been a prized learning laboratory for thousands of teachers, researchers, students, and the entire community ever since. The FSA has owned the property and operated the lodge since 1969.

In addition to being a sanctuary for people, the College Lodge Forest is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife, a pristine wetland with carnivorous plants, old-growth trees, and unique native orchids. It is also part of a significant migratory bird corridor.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley speaks with Western New York Land Conservancy‘s Jajean Rose-Burney about the purchase of the Allegany Wildlands.

Allegany Wildlands

The Western New York Land Conservancy announced it has met its fundraising goal to purchase the Allegany Wildlands.

The 200-acre forest is located in South Valley near Allegany State Park in Cattaraugus County. The Western New York Land Conservancy and Friends of the Allegany Wildlands raised $879,000 for the purchase, which included a $347,000 grant form the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Western New York Land Conservancy Deputy Executive Director Jajean Rose-Burney said they’re so excited to be able to move forward with purchasing the property, “This forest has American Chestnut trees, which is, these trees have basically been wiped out 100 years ago by a blight. But, this property still has 5 or 6 that are 40 to 60 feet tall, some that are flowering, great wildlife – bobcats, black bears, great plants, orchids. It’s a place that 10,000 years ago wasn’t even covered by glaciers so these plant communities have had much longer to develop and become more diverse.”

Rose-Burney said once the land purchase goes through this year, they hope to open it to the public as a nature preserve that includes walking trails by middle of 2023.

The Western New York Land Conservancy and the Friends of the Allegany Wildlands are announcing a $310,000 matching gift to save the Allegany Wildlands, a stunning 200-acre forest located only a few hundred feet from the Allegheny Reservoir near Allegany State Park. They need members of the community to donate to match the gift by the end of this year. Every dollar donated will be matched, dollar for dollar. The total fundraising goal to save the Allegany Wildlands is $879,000, and they have to secure that funding by the end of this year. Once that goal is met, the Land Conservancy will purchase the land and keep it open as a publicly accessible nature preserve forever.

The Allegany Wildlands is home to a spectacular diversity of plants and animals. During the last ice age, the glaciers never covered this forest, keeping intact an ancient plant community. As recently as 150 years ago, the forest teemed with massive American Chestnut trees, which had dominated eastern forests for 40 million years, but were wiped out by a blight. Amazingly, six American Chestnuts that are more than 40-feet tall still survive at the Allegany Wildlands, some of which are producing seeds. Large oaks, a threatened lily called a White Clintonia, and rare orchids also grow here. Underneath the forest canopy, black bear and bobcat roam the ridges and ravines. Majestic Bald Eagles soar overhead, colorful songbirds nest in the tall trees, and playful river otters search for fish in the nearby reservoir.

But the Allegany Wildlands is also threatened. If the Land Conservancy community cannot meet its fundraising goal by December 31, 2021, it could be logged and developed.

The Gallogly Family Foundation has given $200,000 towards the matching gift. Kasey DeLuke of the foundation, also a Land Conservancy board member, said: “The Land Conservancy has proven time again to be excellent champions of our region’s most environmentally significant forests. Over the years, they have demonstrated how the work of a dedicated community can benefit an entire region. We are extraordinarily pleased to be able to assist the Land Conservancy in their efforts to save this incredible forest.”

The matching gift includes $100,000 from the Lenna Foundation. “The rolling, thickly forested hills that carpet this area are some of the most beautiful in our region,” said Randy Ordines, President of the Lenna Foundation. “By protecting the Allegany Wildlands, the Land Conservancy community is helping to form a corridor of connectivity from Northern Pennsylvania to the Finger Lakes—joining with other protected forests up and down the east coast. We are proud to assist the Land Conservancy in these efforts.”

A third, anonymous donor contributed an additional $10,000.

“Saving forests like the Allegany Wildlands is incredibly rewarding work,” said Nancy Smith, Executive Director of the Land Conservancy. “But it truly takes a community coming together to make this work successful. We are immensely grateful for these gifts. They are a strong show of support for the work we’re doing to protect the Allegany Wildlands, and to build a future Western New York where lush green forests remain intact.”

In the early 1800s, the property was purchased by the Sluga family from the Holland Land Company. Generations of their family have been its stewards ever since. Though the Sluga family has decided to sell their land, for the next chapter of this forest’s story, they want it protected. Protecting the Allegany Wildlands will also kick off an ambitious idea—creating the Western New York Wildway. The Wildway will be a connected corridor of protected lands that stretches from the vast forests of northern Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes, through to the Finger Lakes, the Adirondacks, and beyond. It will form part of the Eastern Wildway which runs all the way from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The Wildway will allow plants and animals to migrate across the land as they once did, it will allow those that have disappeared from our region to return home, and it will allow those in need to move around to new homes as climate changes. The Allegany Wildlands is already connected to 7,000 acres of protected state land, nestled between Allegany State Park and South Valley State Forest, and it is a significant link in a future Western New York Wildway.

The Land Conservancy needs donations of all sizes in order to save the Allegany Wildlands. For larger donations, naming opportunities include:

• ONE DONOR OF $200,000 can name the preserve (Reserved)
• ONE DONOR OF $100,000 can have the trail named in their honor (Reserved)
• DONORS OF $25,000 OR MORE can have a bench named in their honor.
• DONORS OF $10,000 OR MORE will have their name listed on a plaque placed at the preserve.
• DONORS OF $2,000 OR MORE will be recognized in the Land Conservancy newsletter.

If you would like to donate to save the Allegany Wildlands, you can donate online at wnylc.org or send a check made payable to “Western New York Land Conservancy” to P.O. Box 471, East Aurora, NY 14052. Please call or email if you have questions: (716) 687-1225 or info@wnylc.org.

The Western New York Land Conservancy is a regional, not-for-profit land trust that permanently protects land with significant conservation value in Western New York for current and future generations. The Land Conservancy envisions a future in which open spaces, working lands, wildlife habitat, and scenic beauty are cherished and protected as part of the landscape and character of Western New York. The Land Conservancy is accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and is one of 1000+ land trusts nationwide, including 87 in New York State. Land trusts have protected over 56 million acres of land. To learn more about the Land Conservancy, visit wnylc.org.

Rose-Burney said the Western New York Wildway will be part of the Wildlands Network’s Eastern Wildway, which is a planned network of wildlands and corridors from Eastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. He added that it would help plants and animals that might have disappeared from the region in the last 200 years come back, “You know, as climate changes and habitats change due to climate change and warming it’ll allow plants and animals to move across the landscape as they need as they seek and find and need new suitable habitats as climate changes.”

The Land Conservancy will use the funding to meet over the next year with partners to refine the Wildway boundary map; prioritize parcels for protection; and write and design the plan.