CAZENOVIA — On Tuesday, May 30, the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation (CPF) held its annual meeting to update its members and other interested community members on its work over the past year and its plans going forward.
CPF is a private, non-profit organization that works to protect the historical, agricultural, and natural resources in and around Cazenovia for the benefit of the community and the enjoyment of future generations.
According to CPF Executive Director Jennifer Wong, the annual meeting drew about 90 people to St. Peter’s Parish Hall.
Most of the topics covered during the presentation are also discussed in the spring 2023 edition of CPF’s annual “Upland Journal” newsletter.
In the newsletter’s “Message from the Executive Director,” Wong highlights CPF’s active engagement in community-level planning and its objective of keeping the community’s “sense of place” intact when change happens to ensure that Cazenovia remains vibrant and thriving for generations to come.
“In 2022 we worked with the Town of Cazenovia to develop a solar siting toolkit and hosted a series of webinars on emerging issues in commercial solar siting,” she wrote. “Currently, we are collaborating with the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association to engage with the community around potential future uses for the Cazenovia College campus. In truth, community-scale planning factors into each conservation project decision that we make.”
Among the 2022-23 highlights explored during the annual meeting were a Fenner property donation, two new conservation easements, a fundraising campaign launch, upcoming summer 2023 events, two additions to the board of directors, and CPF’s annual award recipients.
Fenner Conservation Club Pond
The Fenner Conservation Club (FCC) recently gifted CPF a 5.59-acre property at the corner of Cody Road and South Road in the Town of Fenner.
The FCC, which was formed in the 1950s with a mission to conserve wildlife and promote the upholding of fish and game laws, purchased the pond property in 1957.
According to the Upland Journal, its members built a clubhouse on the portion of the lot north of the road and used the site as a place of public enjoyment of nature for over 60 years. For several decades, the club hosted an annual fishing derby at the pond.
When the FCC decided to disband, its most recent president, Mat Weber, approached CPF about accepting the pond property as a donation. The club also donated the remainder of its assets to CPF to support the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the property.
“In considering the potential acquisition, CPF evaluated the opportunities for public access for fishing, birding, and quiet recreation,” the Upland Journal states. “In addition to the serene and scenic setting, the pond is also the headwaters of Munger Brook, a tributary to Chittenango Creek, an important trout stream.”
CPF closed on the property in April 2023 and is now developing a management plan to address short- and mid-term maintenance needs, plans for signage, and other amenities. According to CPF, a map will be posted to show public access areas as well as those areas along the pond shoreline that are privately owned and therefore not available for public recreation.
The Fenner Conservation Club Pond will be open to the public from dawn until dusk for birding, fishing, picnicking, and quiet recreation. Swimming and motorized boating are prohibited.
The pond is now one of seventeen properties owned by CPF, according to the Upland Journal, and the organization is planning a “grand opening” to be held later this summer.
The Meadows conservation easement
The Upland Journal also reports that CPF currently holds 25 conservation easements on agricultural lands and natural habitats and 11 easements that have terms protecting historical architectural resources.
In 2022, CPF worked with Russ and Lisa Brownback to place conservation easements on both the 29-acre Meadows Estate on Rippleton Road and the 56-acre undeveloped property, Meadows Field, immediately to the south. The field was recently purchased by the Brownbacks and is currently grazed by a herd owned by Albanese Longhorns. Until recently, it was owned by descendants of the Lincklaen and Hubbard families.
According to CPF, the project achieves the following: “Prevents the potential for future sub-division and development of a historically significant property; protects agricultural lands important to the operations at the Meadows Farm, also protected by CPF; protects a large tract of natural habitat and wetland areas along Chittenango Creek; preserves the greenbelt at the southern gateway into the village of Cazenovia; and represents a critical linkage in a future large-scale trail connectivity project.”
Gianforte Farm conservation easement
In December 2022, CPF added 471 acres of “important agricultural land” to its conservation portfolio through a purchase of development rights project with Gianforte Farm.
Headquartered on East Lake Road, the farm grows a variety of organic grains that are sold wholesale or milled on-farm into products such as rolled oats and flour.
The project was funded through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Farmland Protection Implementation Grant Program and will permanently conserve the prime agricultural soils.
Burlingame Meadow and the “Bring the Note to Rest Campaign”
During the annual meeting, CPF announced a new capital campaign aimed at raising a total of $25,000.
In 2015, when the Burlingame Meadow property was listed for sale, CPF launched a capital campaign and was able to raise most of the funds needed to purchase the property to provide parking and permanent public access to CPF’s popular Burlingame-Fairchild Trails. While most of the purchase was covered through gifts from neighbors and CPF members, CPF financed the remainder with a mortgage, which is the organization’s only debt obligation today.
Last August, CPF welcomed a Symphoria string quartet to the property for the first “Music in the Meadow” event.
Given the success of the event, CPF is planning to present the evening concert in the meadow again this summer on Aug. 19 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Between now and the 2023 Music in the Meadow, CPF will be working to settle its debt so it can pursue other conservation projects.
With support from two donors, gifts will be matched 1:1 up to $12,000. According to the organization, any additional funds raised through the “Bring the Note to Rest Campaign” will be added to CPF’s Mission Fund, a reserve fund used to advance critical conservation objectives and secure important conservation properties.
“A musical rest is the open space between notes, an absence of sound that contributes to the musical composition,” the Upland Journal states. “Just as the composer cannot overlook the importance of these empty spaces between the notes, our community, as stewards of this land, cannot overlook the importance of the open spaces in our landscape. They are essential to our experience of Cazenovia.”
Today, CPF manages approximately eight miles of all-season public trails on the 358 acres of protected lands in the Burlingame-Fairchild Hill area.
On June 3, 2023, CPF celebrated National Trails Day by teaming up with Meier’s Creek Brewing Company and focusing on the Burlingame-Fairchild Trails.
Upcoming events
Each year, CPF hosts numerous community events, including Poetry on the Trail, Walks ‘N Talks, Walk Among the Spirits, and the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot.
Over the next few months, the organization will continue its community engagement efforts by inviting the public to join in several educational and recreational activities.
On Saturday, June 17, at 8:30 a.m., avid birder and former CPF board president Jim Steinberg will lead a guided walk-through of the Burlingame Meadow to identify the locations of the 2023 bobolink nesting sites as part of the Walks ‘N Talks Birding Series.
On the last Thursday of the month from April through October, weather permitting, community members are invited to join CPF board members, staff, and other volunteers for Trail Work Thursdays. Spend an hour or two beautifying the community’s trails, then grab a refreshment at a local establishment. The group meets at the St. Peter’s Church parking lot, 10 Mill St. at 4:30 p.m. to collect tools and divide into work crews before heading out. RSVP to [email protected].
Children are invited to join nature educator Amy Kochem at the Burlingame Meadow to learn some fun facts about fireflies on July 5 from 8 to 9 p.m. as part of the Walks ‘n Talks Kids’ Discovery Series.
Additionally, CPF will present its biennial fall gala event at Owera Vineyards in Cazenovia on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, from 7 to 10 p.m. Catering will be provided by the Brewster Inn.
To learn more about these and other events, visit cazpreservation.org/events.
New board members and awards
The CPF Board of Directors consists of volunteers from the Cazenovia community who give their time and expertise to further the mission of the organization. Elections are held at the annual meeting each May.
This year, the board welcomed Jocelyn Gavitt and McKenzie Houseman.
According to the Upland Journal, Gavitt, who has lived in Cazenovia since 2001, is a licensed landscape architect specializing in site design and community planning. She has worked with numerous communities on projects and programs that build on and promote their natural assets in the public sphere. As president of the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association, she worked to implement the GoCaz program, which included GIS mapping, trail and park signage, and a website to connect people to local recreational activities. Gavitt teaches design studios in landscape architecture and community planning at SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry. She is also the executive director of the Hamilton-area nonprofit organization Partnership for Community Development.
Houseman has strong ties to the Cazenovia community that extend back generations. Both sets of her grandparents raised their families in Cazenovia, and she and several of her family members started their businesses locally. Houseman owns 20|EAST & Cazenovia Cut Block, her grandfather Henry Grey Barr opened the Brae Loch Inn in 1946, and her cousin Travis Barr is co-owner of H. Grey Supply Co. Houseman earned her undergraduate degree at SUNY Oswego and her master’s in elementary & special education at LeMoyne College, and she has served on the boards of both the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce and Madison County Tourism.
The CPF Board of Directors also bid farewell to former treasurer Craig Buckhout, who provided CPF with many years of financial leadership and service. According to Wong, Buckhout plans to stay involved as a member of the finance committee.
On May 30, CPF also presented the following awards:
Restoration Award –James and McKenna Parke for their historic barn renovation at 3790 Number Nine Rd.
Stewardship Award – John and Beezie Madden for the quality, care, and design of their farm for retired show horses, including Olympic and World Cup equines, off Erieville Road.
Community Service Award – Ken Reger, Ken Edkins, and George Belton for constructing five new trail kiosks.
Community Service Award – Gary Mason for his continued stewardship of the Burlingame properties, from mowing and trimming to picking up trash and removing fallen trees from the trails.
The annual meeting also provided the community with information regarding topics such as stewardship program upgrades, updates to the CPF Strategic Land Conservation Plan, 2022 and 2023 grant awards, and the status of the Gorge Trail Gateway project, which is aimed at improving trail access to the CPF Gorge Trail at the Buyea’s parking lot entrance.
The Spring 2023 Upland Journal and additional information on CPF can be found at cazpreservation.org.
