By Sharon Osorio
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-950951.mp3
East Aurora, NY – The Village of East Aurora is turning acres of land along Cazenovia Creek into a nature sanctuary that will allow residents and visitors public access to the creekside. WBFO's Sharon Osorio has the details.
"I think it's a remarkable project because it offers so many benefits for the community. The nature sanctuary has created a walkable waterfront destination for village residents, visitors to the Roycroft campus, and for school groups. It's just down the street from the Roycroft campus. It's a natural place with a rich history of public access that's now been secured for future generations."
Nancy Smith of the Western New York Land Conservancy is also co-chair of the Aurora Open Space Committee. The group's goal is to care-for and protect open-space resources in the Town of Aurora, and members considered it a priority to return the 5-point-6 acre Cazenovia Creek Nature Sanctuary to public property once the opportunity arose. It had been privately owned for about 60 years, but the house on that property became uninhabitable. An anonymous contributor donated $15,000 to purchase the property, then the group donated it to the Village. The village will pay for the back-taxes and the necessary demolition of the home.
"There's a beautiful path that winds down a hillside, and then there's a wide open area," says Smith. "It's a forested floodplain, which is kind of a unique ecological community. Then there's an upland ridge along the creek, which I think will be an ideal place for the path to walk along through the property. And then it's a loop, so you can exit on the other side of the property going again up the gentle hillside."
Smith says the Cazenovia Creek Nature Sanctuary offers a beautiful landscape year-round.
"It's a great place as far as watching nature changing in the different seasons," says Smith. "I've been there every month of the year, i think. I was there recently and I'm pretty sure you can see the bobcat tracks going across the Cazenovia Creek. In the springtime there are a lot of beautiful wildflowers. There's irises, there's just a whole host of wildflowers in the wetland part of the property."
She says during the height of artisans - known as Roycrofters - being drawn to the campus in East Aurora, the Cazenovia creekside was public property.
"When you come down the path, one of the places that you see is sort of a little alcove," Smith says. "We have a historic photograph of Roycrofters gathered in that exact same spot, so eventually there'll be a beautiful area up at the top - there will be a little space for parking - but some signage that explains the historical context and the natural features, and will include possibly photographs of Roycrofters at the site."
Smith says on the preservation end, there is work to be done.
"It is a unique habitat now, but there are some invasive species, so that's I'm sure going the be one of the projects the citizens' group works on, which is researching those and what are the best ways to restore the more native plants to the property," Smith says.
And, she adds, there can be economic benefits with opening and preserving this land.
"A lot of it is education, that protecting open space can have significant economic benefits," says Smith. "I think that's an important message to get out there. There's a new study by the comptroller that came out last year that talks about economic benefits of open space protection, and I think that is something that's not always fully understood by the general community as well as elected officials and decision makers."
The village is in the process of obtaining quotes to demolish the home on the land, and the group plans on marking boundaries around the property to ensure neighbors can maintain their privacy.