By Hayleigh Gowans
For some time, the trails at the popular Three Falls Woods in Manlius were not available for public use, but now a portion of it can be enjoyed by all thanks to its recent acquisition by the Central New York Land Trust.
The CNY Land Trust (CNY LT) is a member-run nonprofit that seeks to preserve and maintain natural land in Onondaga and Oswego counties to provide free public recreational use. Recently, the board of directors announced the acquisition of about 120 acres of land in Manlius that will serve as two nature preserves for the public to enjoy low environmental impact recreational activities.
Meredith Perrault, director of the CNY LT, said this acquisition will allow people to enjoy areas that were previously not open for public use. This includes a large portion of Three Falls Woods in Manlius, a piece of land with unique cliff formations and waterfalls that had long been an area for avid naturalists to utilize, but had been closed off in recent years due to private ownership. The recent acquisition also includes additional land on the West Branch of Limestone Creek, which is noted for intact floodplain and forest.
“This is a huge community benefit,” said Perrault. “It is a milestone for Manlius and moment we can celebrate. Three Falls Woods is a really well known property.”
The 120 acres of land was donated by Manlius residents Harold and Barbara Jones. Harold is a retired professor of Spanish from Syracuse University and said after his retirement he wanted to give back to the community. He has done this by donating a 130-piece Audubon gallery collection to the Manlius Library, and also by purchasing natural local land to turn into nature preserves.
In 2016, Jones came to the CNY Land Trust and with his idea to purchase 40 acres of land off of Brickyard Falls Road in Manlius adjacent to the seven-acres the CNY LT already owned so they could expand their nature preserve area.
In early 2017, Jones got the idea to work with the property owner of Three Falls Woods to look into purchasing a portion to turn over to the CNY LT for public access. Working with the CNY LT, realtors and the property owner, Jones was able to purchase nearly 80 acres near Seneca Turnpike and Sweet Road, adjacent to a natural area owned by the Village of Manlius, to turn over to the land trust.
“CNY Land Trust is very thankful to our supporters for their far-sighted and consequential action taken to protect Manlius land for community benefit,” said Rick Smardon, president of the CNY Land Trust Board of Directors, in a press release which announced the acquisitions of the nearly 120 acres between the two parcels of land.
The Manlius Greenspace Coalition (MGC) is a group that has worked toward reinstitution of public access to the Three Falls Woods area, and their members will work with the CNY LT to mark trails and boundaries for the two new nature preserves as well as establish public parking areas for visitors to utilize.
“We hope people use this area both as a recreational area for hiking as well as an educational site,” said Phil Bonn, member of the MGC. “The unique topography and geology of Three Falls Woods provides a wonderful opportunity for both.”
The areas are now available for public access, said Perrault, and people can utilize it free of charge from dawn to dusk for low-impact recreation such as hiking, photography and nature study. Hunting, trapping, fires, camping and the use of motorized vehicles are prohibited to continue preservation of the natural land.
Since there is no clear public parking and access points marked for the areas yet, Perrault said she encourages interested people to sign up for the CNY LT mailing list to be informed when they are established.
To learn more about the Central New York Land Trust, go to cnylandtrust.org.
To learn more about the Manlius Greenspace Coalition, go to facebook.com/ThreeFallsWoods.
