The Finger Lakes Land Trust (FLLT) received a $100,000 grant through the New York State Conservation Partnership Program to launch the Hemlock to High Tor Initiative. This effort will ensure the future of a forested landscape that extends across 114,000 acres, extending from Hemlock Lake in the west to the High Tor Wildlife Management Area in Naples.
This area hosts one of the most extensive contiguous forests remaining in the Finger Lakes region. These forests play a vital role in stabilizing steep slopes and providing clean water for our lakes. They also harbor a diversity of wildlife, including wide-ranging mammals such as the black bear, bobcat, and fisher.
Photo: Bill Hecht
The FLLT will focus on developing and building consensus around long-term strategies to accelerate land and water conservation while enhancing both the quality of life and the region’s outdoor recreation-based tourism economy. The Hemlock to High Tor Initiative will be based on existing conservation accomplishments and partnerships within this focus area. Thus far, the FLLT has secured more than 2,300 acres in this area by establishing five nature preserves, two public parks, 13 conservation easements, and eight cooperative acquisitions with New York State.
The FLLT recently welcomed Lindsay McMillan of Hemlock, NY, to lead this effort as the Hemlock to High Tor Project Director. From 2019 to 2024, Lindsay served as the Association Director of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association and is a founding member of the Lake Friendly Living Coalition of the Finger Lakes.
The New York State Conservation Partnership Program is funded through the state’s Environmental Protection Fund and administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). More than $3 million was awarded to 45 not-for-profit land trusts across the state. The funding will support 61 projects designed to protect water quality, prevent farmland conversion, boost public access for outdoor recreation, and conserve open space. The $100,000 awarded to the FLLT will be matched by private contributions.
