Syracuse.com - Nature Conservancy exec answers questions about recent 500-acre purchase on Sodus Bay

[HuntingNY-News]

The property, located in Wayne County, features Sodus Bay shoreline; forests, wetlands and grasslands; and the mouth of Third Creek, a stream that flows into Sodus Bay.

Frank Ordonez/The Post-StandardJim Howe, the executive director of the Nature Conservancyâs Central and Western Chapter of New York, stands on land recently acquired by the group. The property borders on Sodus Bay.The Nature Conservancy recently announced the purchase of almost 500 acres of undeveloped land on the shore of Lake Ontario known as Shaker Heights.

The property, located in Wayne County, features Sodus Bay shoreline; forests, wetlands and grasslands; and the mouth of Third Creek, a stream that flows into Sodus Bay.

Jim Howe, executive director of the Nature Conservancy’s Central and Western Chapter of New York, noted there are very few privately owned properties along Lake Ontario that remain undeveloped.

“The land provides a critical refuge for migratory birds and waterfowl, and spawning areas for many fish, including a very threatened native fish — the lake sturgeon,” he said, adding that protecting Third Creek will enhance the water quality in Sodus Bay.

View full sizeTom Schmitt/The Post-StandardThe Nature Conservancy's purchase covers nearly 500 acres.

Howe talked this week about the background of the purchase, how it will eventually be transferred to the state and the benefits to local outdoors enthusiasts:

Who was the prior owner of this property, and how did the purchase come about?

It was purchased from Shaker Heights Inc., a real estate company that owns a large tract in the area and has already developed some of it with houses, including some areas of the Sodus Bay shoreline.

A couple of years ago, our staff went about prioritizing our work on the Lake Ontario coastal shoreline and did an analysis to determine where the important places were. We looked at such things as undeveloped shoreline; large, intact forests; wetlands; areas along river mouths; and rivers that feed into the lake. This area just jumped out at us. In addition, it was near other protected state-managed lands.

What was the total cost and how was the money raised?

We closed on the property on Dec. 28. The sale price was just under $1.2 million. We obtained $1 million from the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund.

We initially approached the owners in 2009 when the market wasn’t that strong. We’re trying to raise the additional $200,000 from private donations, and we’re pretty close to that now. The final cost to us will ultimately be about $1.3 million, as a result of surveys, appraisals, property taxes and an ecological assessment.

In your press release on the purchase, you mentioned the land would eventually be “transferred” to the state as an addition to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lakeshore Marshes Wildlife Management Area. Does that mean you’re just going to hand it over free of charge, or will the state have to pay for it? What’s the timeline for this to happen?

We expect to transfer the property to the state either late this year or in 2013. We intend to sell it at a steeply discounted rate — possibly the amount we won’t be able to raise to cover our total costs. It’ll be somewhere in the neighborhood of about $100,000.

You mentioned that this purchase will benefit local ice fishermen who frequent Sodus Bay. Talk about that. And what about hunting? Will that be allowed?

All the property is in the town of Huron. There’s a stretch of road, Shaker Tract Road, where a lot of ice fishermen park along and have access to the bay. That will continue and be preserved.

In regard to hunting, under our ownership, we’re not going to allow hunting for the time being. But when the state acquires it, it will most likely become a state wildlife management area, with all the same rules and regulations of other state wildlife management areas. Most likely, hunting will ultimately be allowed.

For those who don’t know, what other land has your chapter of the Nature Conservancy bought and preserved from development in Central New York? And where has the money come from to buy that land? Is any of that open for hunting?

We own and manage about 27,000 acres in Central and Western New York, and I would say at least 22,000 acres of that are open to the public for hunting. It’s not wide open, though. We have a permitting process.

How does your group raise money to do all this?

Primarily from members. We have some 15,000 in our chapter and 1 million members nationwide.

Are there any other big proposed purchases planned for Central New York in the near future that you can talk about?

There are lots of things going on, but I can’t talk about any of them yet. We keep such things under wraps until they’re finalized.

Are there any misconceptions out there that you’d like to correct about what the Nature Conservancy is, or what it does?

A lot of people think we’re doing these things just for nature. Actually, we’re benefiting people just as much as nature. Whether it’s generating drinking water or providing recreational opportunities, saving a forest that’s soaking up carbon and pumping out oxygen or preserving a wetland that’s filtering our water every day.

Conservation is much more than just taking a hike, going hunting or catching a steelhead. It’s fundamentally and ultimately about how people can survive on a planet with billions of people.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog

[Culvercreek hunt club]

"In regard to hunting, under our ownership, we’re not going to allow hunting for the time being. But when the state acquires it, it will most likely become a state wildlife management area, with all the same rules and regulations of other state wildlife management areas. Most likely, hunting will ultimately be allowed"

Well this sucks. Very good duck hunting area. Really going to piss me off if any of our tax money is involed in this.