More land in the Finger Lakes region will be protected from development now that the state has purchased 172 acres in the towns of Gorham and Junius, in Ontario and Seneca counties. The land will be available for recreation, but state environmental officials say a portion of the property is also needed to protect water quality and endangered species in and around Canandaigua Lake.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation purchased 95 acres immediately east of Canandaigua Lake in Gorham, Ontario County, and 77 acres known as the Junius Ponds Complex in Junius, Seneca County. The state will keep the land open for hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking and camping.
The Ontario County parcel, previously owned by the Gathercole family, is a steep-sloped tract that provides views of Canandaigua Lake and contains hiking trails and forests. “You can see the property from the lake,” said Andrew Zepp, executive director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust. Those views were a large factor in the state DEC’s push to keep the land open to the public, said Randy Nemecek, DEC regional supervisor for natural resources.
To keep the land, which was on the market, away from developers, the Finger Lakes Land Trust borrowed money to purchase the parcel, which sold for $474,000 in February. The state then purchased the land from the trust, and the trust repaid the loans.
The state also owns 300 acres near the summit of Bare Hill, about a mile away from the recently acquired 95 acres. (For a map of the Bare Hill trails, see page 71 in Take A Hike – Family Walk in New York’s Finger Lakes Region)
“The goal would be to link those properties,” Nemecek said. The Junius Ponds Complex was purchased for $104,500 by the DEC from the village of Lyons, in Wayne County, which used the complex as a public water supply. The land supports the bog turtle, an endangered reptile, and rare plants. Before the DEC took it over, the land was threatened by peat mining, sand and gravel mining, and runoff from the state Thruway.
(by Jill Terreri, staff writer, Democrat and Chronicle JTERRERI@DemocratandChronicle.com )
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