The mission for the Western New York Land Conservancy to permanently protect land remains simple. Fulfilling that mission is anything but simple.
So is the case with the Conservancy's recent purchase of the 226-acre Black Creek Preserve in the Allegany County Town of Birdsall.
"We need a willing landowner who’s willing to work with us on the timeline so we can raise all the funds," explained Conservancy Executive Director Marissa Riggi.
"But the benefit of working with us is that those owners still get to go visit the property that will be open to the public as a nature preserve. They know it will be forever protected in a natural state.”
The land contains forests, wetlands, and headwater streams. River otters, which have been mostly absent from the region for years, are making themselves at home. Preserving the property also works to protect the area's water quality.
The land has also proven to be "wonderfully resilient," Riggi says. Drone footage recorded the soggy property after more than three inches of rain, a downpour that likely would have created flood conditions in most locales. Six days later, the drone returned to show the land remained "intact," with much of the water absorbed into the wetlands.
In all, there are five Black Creek properties the Land Conservancy is working to preserve. Foundations and other donors have contributed nearly $1.4 million of the $1.9 million required for the project.
Public access is coming to the preserve, though that's another process that is less than simple.
"When we’re doing a trail system, we don’t just go out and just bushwhack," Riggi explained. Earlier this year, the Land Conservancy opened the trail system at its Floating Fenn property in Chautauqua County following a deliberative process.
"We want people out and enjoying nature," Riggi said.
"But we also to make sure the wildlife and the plant habitats that we’ve protected are protected."