In the back of a former dairy farm field in Naples, past a cluster of rolling hills formed long ago by glaciers, exceptionally clear water babbles over rocks in a well-defined streambed.
This isn't just any land, nor is it just another creek. The 122 acres off Route 21 south of the village, is well-known for its scenic view, where the undulating land gives way to forested hills in all directions. And Eelpot Creek flows through it.
The creek was once abundant with eels. But now it's a well-regarded trout stream and tributary to Naples Creek, another trout hotspot. It also feeds one of the wells the village of Naples uses for its water supply.
"The glacier stopped here and then melted and left all these piles of sand and gravel, and that acts as a recharge area for our groundwater," said Andrew Zepp, as he stood next to the stream on sunny but mild day earlier this month. "So we're standing not far from those hills, and it's one of the reasons you have great water quality here — and trout."
Zepp is president of the Finger Lakes Land Trust, which recently bought the property and an expansive stretch of Eelpot Creek. The “iconic” view is one reason the land trust bought the property. The ecological features, like those keeping the creek's water pristine and providing habitat for species including grassland birds, is another.
The purchase is also part of the trust's long-term Hemlock to High Tor initiative. That's a conservation effort targeting a forest belt that stretches from the southern end of Hemlock Lake, east to the state's High Tor Wildlife Management Area.
"An overall goal of this is to try to find areas in between that can act as linkages," said Lindsay McMillan, the land trust's Hemlock to High Tor project director. "We've got beautiful, intact forests here. How do we maintain the integrity of those forests?"
What is Hemlock to High Tor?
Hemlock to High Tor is a response to development creeping south of Rochester and Canandaigua. New construction threatens scenic views and important but sensitive land around the western Finger Lakes, Zepp said.
The project's focus area covers 114,000 acres between Hemlock Lake and the southern half of Canandaigua Lake. That area includes Hemlock and neighboring Canadice Lake, which serve as the public water supplies for the city of Rochester and are the only Finger Lakes with undeveloped shorelines. Canandaigua Lake serves as the drinking water supply for five municipalities.
Zepp said one main objective of Hemlock to High Tor is securing lands that are important for preserving water quality, especially areas with steep slopes.
While these areas provide stunning views — with forested hills towering over the lake's glass-like surface as it fades into the horizon — Zepp said the benefits extend far beyond beauty. The Lakeview Point Scenic Overlook in South Bristol is on a hill that, if developed, could lead to stormwater runoff that would affect the lake's water quality.
"This is the kind of place that's important, not just for the health of the lakes, but really for our tourism economy that's several billion dollars," Zepp said. "And it's not stopping development, but channeling it so we can still retain places like this."
The effort also is about protecting properties that create a greenbelt that would provide unfragmented habitat for animals, including river otters and wide-ranging predators such as bobcats and black bears.
According to Zepp, the Hemlock to High Tor area already has roughly 24,000 acres of conservation land comprising acreage owned by the trust and other nonprofits, land with conservation easements, state preserves, and other public lands.
On a map, that combined acreage looks like a patchwork. But additions like the Naples property can help establish corridors, over time.
"We're particularly interested in the opportunity to dovetail conservation with enhancing what are already some really important recreational assets," Zepp said.
Looking ahead
The Finger Lakes Land Trust also recently bought 117 acres of forested hillside and a gorge on the south end of Honeoye Lake. It plans to transfer that land to the state as an addition to the Harriet Hollister Spencer Recreation Area, which is part of a cluster of conservation land between Honeoye Lake and Hemlock and Canadice lakes.
And the organization has contracts to buy two other strategic properties. One is a 23-acre woodland adjacent to the trust's Canandaigua Vista Preserve. The other is 300 feet of wooded lakeshore that will be added to the Nundawao (Great Hill) Preserve — an area known as the birthplace of the Senecas.
Beyond that, the trust is using several approaches to conserving land between Hemlock and High Tor. That could mean the trust buys more property on its own. It could also work with landowners to put conservation easements on their properties, which would restrict them from future development. Or it could mean that the trust partners with the state, municipalities, or other organizations to buy and preserve land.
For example, the trust plans to transfer the new Naples property to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which would manage it as a satellite of the High Tor wilderness area.
"We're always looking for more areas, working with neighboring properties and land owners to see if we can expand footprints in a way that's like strategic and makes sense for the organization, for that community that we're serving," McMillan said.
