Since its establishment more than 20 years ago, the Land Trusthas been committed to the pursuit of exemplary stewardship

of the land under its oversight. Our stewardship focus stemsdirectly from the organization’s mission: to protect the naturalintegrity of the Finger Lakes region.

In pursuing that vision, we main-tain and monitor our boundaries,combat non-native, invasive plants,sustain dwindling meadow habitats,restore wetlands and provide for low-impact public access to our conserva-tion lands. From a single 11-acrenature preserve, the organization’sholdings have grown to include 4,000acres of land open to the public andnearly 6,000 acres of private landssubject to conservation easements.

With this dramatic increase in its responsibilities, the Land Trust is focusing on its land stewardshipprograms as never before. The sheergrowth in acreage under our over-sight keeps us busy enough,but increasing rural resi-dential development acrossthe region puts added pres-sure on neighboring con-served lands and frequentlymeans even more work! Inaddition, the potential forincreased natural gasdrilling in the Finger Lakeswill likely call for vigilantmonitoring of our conser-vation lands to ensure that our boundaries are recognized and upheld.

THE LAND STEWARDVol. 22, No. 3 working to protect the natural integrity of the Finger Lakes Region Summer 2010

Newsletter of the Finger Lakes Land Trust

With Increasing CommitmentsLand Trust Expands ItsStewardship Efforts

continued on page 9

Please join us for the

Land Trust’s 21st Annual Meeting & Celebrationat Standing Stone Vineyards overlooking beautiful Seneca Lake. (See insert for details.)

This issue of The Land Steward isdedicated to our stewardship volunteersand you’ll read about a sampling of thepeople who represent the backbone ofour conservation effort.

P E R S P E C T I V E S

We dedicate today’sissue of The Land

Steward to all our volun-teers who toil, frequently inobscurity, to ensure the

future of our region’s conserved lands.From one-time volunteers who pitch into help build a trail, pick up trash,remove invasive plants, or help with filingat the office, to dedicated preserve stew-ards who might oversee a natural area fora decade or more––we simply couldn’tachieve our goals without them.

Every volunteer is important andwill become even more so in the future.Our job will not get any easier. An

increasing number of neighbors to con-served lands will call for more extensivemonitoring and management in thefuture, as will expected increases in visitors to our preserves. The plague ofinvasive pests continues apace, and itseems likely that our land managementefforts will need to become more inten-sive if we are to retain healthy nativeplant communities.

Each volunteer has his or her ownstory. I have met many and am repeatedlystruck by their strong connection to theland, whether that is through farming,hunting, bird watching, hiking or simplyadmiring the countryside. This connec-

tion to the land––a sense of “ownership”and an urge toward stewardship––seemsto be growing in the region, and it bodeswell for us all.

If we each took time every week toact as stewards for the land, think aboutwhat our Finger Lakes region could belike. To all of our volunteers, thank youfor leading the way!

––Andy Zepp

2 • THE LAND STEWARD

During Rocci’s tenure here, which he began as a land protec-tion specialist, the Land Trust added some 23 conservation

easements, along with numerous land acquisitions, to its portfolioof protected lands. Some of the morenotable projects under his wing includeHallpine Farms, our first state fundedpurchase of an agricultural conservationeasement, completed in Yates County;and the Kingsbury Woods ConservationArea, a 50-acre donation and addition tothe Emerald Necklace, a greenbeltdesigned to link 50,000 acres of publicopen space surrounding the greaterIthaca area. But it is perhaps the Fitchenland gift, a donation of 100 acres border-ing Shindagin Hollow State Forest in theTown of Caroline that, for Rocci, willprove to be the most memorable. “SylviaFitchen was my main contact for thefamily,” he recalls. “We worked togetheron the donation of her father’s propertywhile she was terminally ill, and shefinally succumbed right after the finalpieces of the project came together.”Looking back at it now, Rocci remi-nisces, “Sylvia was so appreciative to have been able to preserveher father’s legacy before she passed on. It just puts what we do inperspective.”

And putting things in their proper perspective wassomething Rocci Aguirre never let those around him ever lose

sight of. It’s sometimes easy to forget the big picture when you’reembroiled in hammering out the minutia. Rocci never did. Hisquiet, steadfast determination to go to bat for the little guys on

this planet––our endangered fauna, ourvanishing unspoiled landscapes, ourdisappearing natural resources––is aninspiration to us all.

When I asked Rocci to prepare a fewsentences to leave our readers with, hereplied, “My experiences working withour members and interested landownershave always been inspirational andrewarding. It’s been gratifying being partof this organization as it has grown anddeveloped, and I am proud of theaccomplishments we have all made overthese past five years. But, above all, Ibelieve that the time here has perma-nently changed who I am and how I seethe world…to be able to walk awayricher and fuller than when you arrivedis an amazing gift and one that I amtruly thankful for.”

On behalf of all of us here at theLand Trust: Thank you Rocci, for being

part of our lives and for playing such an important part of ourland conservation efforts during these past five challenging andwonderful years.

––Abbey Chernela

Staff Developments

Departing Director of Land Protection Rocci Aguirre

PHPTO

PROVID

ED BY R. A

GUIRRE

It is with sadness that we bid adieu to our Director of Land Protection, Rocci Aguirre, but we aredelighted that he will be moving forward in his land conservation career. Rocci will be leaving usafter almost five years at the helm of our land protection program to return to academic life. He willbe attending Antioch University New England, in Keene, New Hampshire, to pursue a master’s ofscience degree in resource management and conservation.

SUMMER 2010 • 3

Born and raised in the Rochester area, and with CanandaiguaLake summers in his resume, John is a Finger Lakes native

who discovered, over much time, that he is a Finger Lakes natural.All too soon after graduating from college, John was drafted

into the Vietnam War. Upon his return he had to find his waygradually back into the world. Continuing his college study ofhistory and art history gave him much needed focus, and he stillfinds intellectual refuge in scholarship.

He moved to the Skaneateles area (“to stay in touch; to feelconnected to the Finger Lakes”) and took a job teaching historyto middle school students. And he fell in love––with Skaneatelesartist and musician Margie Blakney, but also with a landscape.

“We lived for eight years, with the kids, in a rented farmhouse not far from New Hope [on the southwest side of thelake]––just beautiful up there,” John said. “Margie’s family had acamp down by the shore, so I became familiar with the southernend of the lake over time––lots of family and friends around inthat area, and great times.”

In his ramblings around the lake, he grew deeply familiarwith the forests that dominate the landscape of the southernslopes. And he knew High Vista Nature Preserve. In 2007, hegladly accepted an offer to become preserve steward: “I saw it asa refuge, just personally,” he said. “Because of my history … I’mlooking for peace and quiet.”

The trail maintenance John performs as steward gives him the special satisfaction of working alone, enveloped in theelemental peace of the woods, surrounded by birds and otherwildlife. “I always want to do something and not just lookaround,” he said. “I really enjoy working there on my own––you see things on your own that you wouldn’t see in groups, for example.”

In reflecting on High Vista, John stresses the crucialimportance of lake watershed stewardship in general, especiallyas Skaneateles Lake provides clean drinking water to localresidents as well as all of Syracuse. “The coffee I drink in themorning comes from High Vista: that’s how I think about it,” he told me. “Luckily, lots of people who live around the lake aregreat stewards.”

High Vista stewardship also provides him an important contrast to his “day job” as an art conservator and restorer ofpaintings, where he works alongside Margie and sister-in-lawSusan Blakney, at West Lake Conservators in Skaneateles.Laboring with Q-tips, small brushes and tiny spatulas, hepainstakingly cleans and repairs paintings all but lost beneathlayers of grime and neglect––call it art stewardship. “It’s veryexacting work,” John admitted, “so getting out into the open andwalking up at High Vista involves much more full-body move-ment, which is a really necessary complement to my work infront of an easel.”

John is a scholar of 19th-century American painting, with aspecial interest in the work of Skaneateles resident John D.Barrow, whose Finger Lakes landscapes were influenced by theHudson River School paintings of Frederick Church, ThomasCole and others. With their special attention to light and the wilds of the landscape, Barrow’s paintings are about the sublime

natural beauty and solitude he found along the shores of hislake, something John Sutton can deeply appreciate.

In an era of rapacious logging around the lake, Barrow “wasan early steward himself,” John explained. In many of his sweep-ing forest landscapes, Barrow omitted swaths of clear cut woodsmarring the scene, wanting to recapture natural beauty and notpaint its degradation. “But he didn’t just talk about art,” Johntold me. Joining many like-minded painters, Barrow gave publictalks about lake preservation and the importance of an environ-mental vision.

John’s sense of kinship with Barrow is not just about sharedesthetic taste but about an environmentalist’s way of looking atthe world as infused with spirit. Thoreau helped get him started,John says, but then he found a similar affinity with the beat

High Vista Preserve Steward, John Sutton

MARG

IE SUTTO

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John Sutton: High Vista’s Contemplative Conservator

continued on page 9

What does it take to be a land steward? Simple love of the land, surely. But also a strong sense ofenvironmental history and something approaching a spiritual relationship with nature, suggests John Sutton, steward of High Vista Nature Preserve at the south end of Skaneateles Lake.

Bob’s relationship with Steege Hill is avery long and intimate one. He first

started hunting there in 1955, when hewas fourteen years old, and built a homealong Steege Hill Road when he was in his mid-twenties. In those days, the road,which cuts along the west slope, wasnothing but a dirt track flanked by cow pastures on either side; a cornfield

occupied the southwest corner of the hill.In the early 1970s, the hill was logged.The damage was devastating. Loggersclear-cut the forest during the day andreturned at night to illegally hunt rac-coons and rattlesnakes. Though everyonefelt helpless to stop the destruction, Bobretaliated in his own small way. Knowingthe lumber trucks would be overloaded,he strung a tripwire across the road eachnight; when the trucks broke it, statetroopers were standing by to arrest them.After the big flood of 1972 ravaged theclear-cut area, the town of Big Flats wentto court to shut the logging operationdown.

In 2001, the Land Trust acquired an800-acre parcel at the top of Steege Hilland Betsy Darlington called to askwhether he was interested in becomingthe preserve steward. Since he had alwaysthought of the hill as his own “backyard”and had long been its unofficial defender,he fit naturally into the role of preservesteward.

Among many other things, he keepsthe 7.3 miles of trails (all of them oldlogging roads) cleared and marked, givesguided tours to visitors, mows themeadows so that raptors can find theirprey, and does much of the necessarycarpentry work. Bob’s keen animal-tracking skills, honed by years of hunting,often come in handy. Four years ago, hefound a bald eagle nest just below thepreserve, near the Chemung River, and henow helps the NYSDEC keep tabs on thisand several other nests in the area. It’s allas a volunteer, he notes: “Just one moreproject to keep me busy.”

Another time, Betsy called with a

different favor to ask. A Cornell graduatestudent, Rulon Clark, would beconducting a study of the timberrattlesnake, a species that is threatened in New York State: would Bob watch over him? For the next three years, heserved as guide and assistant to thescientist that he affectionately (and, headmits, erroneously) calls a “city boy.”They caught rattlers, implantedtransmitters under their skins, namedthem after country-western singers, andtracked their movements and behaviorwith radio telemetry. When Rulonfinished his research, Bob decided tocontinue the project, just for fun. For thepast six years, he’s gathered informationabout the resident rattler population andhas worked to educate his neighborsabout these poisonous but nonaggressivesnakes. Because he’s not licensed toperform surgery on reptiles, he takes theanimals to the Cornell Veterinary Schoolto have the transmitters implanted.(When we talked, he was monitoring therecovery of “Kellie Pickler.”)

Despite the fact that he works withsnakes most days of the week, Bob insiststhat he’s not a herpetologist: “I’m noexpert. I’m a retired bricklayer. I have nodegrees.” The DEC seems to thinkotherwise: a few years ago, they becameinterested in his work and he nowcollaborates with them. In addition, hetravels across the state to attend lectureson timber rattlers and trains gas pipelineworkers who are operating in the snakes’territory. He even assisted a BBC filmcrew shooting the series “Life in ColdBlood” at Steege Hill and then repairedthe damage caused by their equipment.

Bob’s self-described “addiction” toworking with snakes is considered aneccentricity; in fact, he says, more thanone person has suggested that he mightneed a psychological evaluation.Nevertheless, he has served as a tourguide for many ophidiaphobes who, forone reason or another, want to see thevery creatures that terrify them. Once, he helped a woman win a bet with herfriends; she took a photograph of a rattlerand won twenty dollars.

I ask Bob how long he plans to walkthe preserve trails and work with hisbeloved snakes. He answers, withouthesitation: “Tell me how long I’m going tobe healthy.”

––Jacqueline Stuhmiller

Bob Corneau: Steege Hill’s Guardian Angel

4 • THE LAND STEWARD

Bob Corneau (left) relaxes with BBC crew filming David Attenborough’s series, Life inCold Blood, at Steege Hill.

BETSY DARLIN

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When Bob Corneau was a young man, Friday night was for drinkingbeer and shooting snakes. It’s still a bit of a surprise to him that, fifty years later, he has become the snake guardian of the Steege HillNature Preserve.

Candace Collmer: Taking Care of Nature’s Gifts

Candace hails from Bethlehem,Pennsylvania, but claims the most

fun she had in her youth came duringweekend trips to a family cottage on Lake Teedyuskung in the lovely PoconoMountains. There, she relished her timefishing off shores and docks and boatswith her father, and exploring the wonders of nature.

“I loved everything about the lake,”she said, recalling the long summer daysof catching frogs, salamanders and redefts near creeks and by the lake shore andcollecting mussels off the lake bottom,cracking them open and using them tofish.

“It was probably the most formativepart of my whole life in terms of who Iturned out to be and what I ended uploving to do,” she said.

Now, at the tail end of a career study-ing plant viruses and teaching studentsabout mating and courtship rituals infruitflies and wasps, Candace takes greatpleasure in being outdoors as she keepstabs on an easement owned by formerLand Trust board member Tom Reimersin the southeast corner of TompkinsCounty, and another easement owned byJane and Cliff DeMayo at the edge ofDanby.

To make sure the terms of an easement are met, the law requires thatsomeone regularly monitor the land, saidCandace. To uphold these terms, shechecks that signs are present and visibleand that nobody has encroached on aproperty. With regard to her role as asteward, Candace said, she feels part of an education network, where differentsources bring their own valuable input.Official entities like the Land Trust mayspread knowledge of invasive speciesthrough workshops, while individualowners, such as Reimers, may share intimate knowledge of their land. “In somuch as I can be an agent of learning andsharing useful information, and a sense of wonder, I feel I play a small part inbuilding a more vital network of effectiveand dedicated stewards,” she said.

Candace has been a volunteer stewardof Tom Reimers’ 52 acres since 2004. Oncea year, she meets with him to walk theland to check the signs and boundaries.

In the meantime, she thoroughly enjoysboth the beauty of the property and hiscompany, she said. “He has always gonewith me; he tells me all the things thathave happened,” she added.

The property includes Reimers’cabin, open fields, pine and spruce woodsand also mixed hardwood and hemlockforest. A steep slope leads to a wetlandand a stream that borders the parcel;another spring stream slows in the drymonths of summer. “On some visits, itseems like there are birds dripping out ofthe trees,” said Candace. “I love seeing andlearning about the different wildflowerswith Tom, and the larch trees are so beau-tiful, ever green with the softest needles.”Feeders attract hummingbirds and a habitat built from plywood and plasticdraws snakes. Though Candace andReimers have yet to see a black bear passby, and a motion-sensing camera has yetto capture a photo of one, ripped up logssuggest they have been there.

Since last year, Candace also beganmonitoring Jane and Cliff DeMayo’s 63-acre easement on East Miller Road in

Danby, where the couple lives part of theyear. Their easement is wooded with agorge and stream running through themiddle of it. Candace walked the propertyto check the signs and boundaries for thefirst time last summer with Chris Olney,the Land Trust’s director of stewardship.They found a few spots in need of signs,so Candace returned the following monthwith Finger Lakes Land Trust conserva-tion easement signs, and she and JaneDeMayo posted them together.

“Volunteering for the Land Trust isof value to me, because I so believe in themission of trying to keep land in itsnatural state and keeping large chunks ofland that can serve as preserves to animalsand plants of all kinds,” said Candace. Thevolunteer work pushes her to do what sheloves to do: spend time in nature whereshe may “take careful note of the beautyall around,” she said.

“It’s a small job, and as I movetowards retirement, I’ll have more time todo additional meaningful things,” sheadded.

––Krishna Ramanujan

SUMMER 2010 • 5

PHOTO

PROVID

E BY C. C

OLLM

ER

Easement Steward Candace Collmer

Quite often, adults who love nature had childhoods with fond and formative memories of the outdoors.This holds particularly true for Candace Collmer, a biology professor at Wells College and a volunteer steward of two Finger Lakes Land Trust conservation easements in the hills south of Ithaca.

6 • THE LAND STEWARD

from Around Our Region...

Participants on a wildflower walk at the Dorothy McIlroyBird Sanctuary enjoy the sun while discussing the day’sevents.

Friends of Grimes Glen, volunteers, and family enjoy the first falls at the glen inNaples, Ontario County.

KENN M

URR

AY

Melissa Yearick, a wetland specialist with theUpper Susquehanna Coalition, shows off asalamander egg mass at Exploring Vernal Pools,part of the Spring 2010 Talks and Treks series.

EMILY EISM

AN

BETS

Y DARLIN

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A young naturalist looks for amphibians during a recent outing.

EMILY EISM

AN

SUMMER 2010 • 7

An early morning bird walk at the Goetchius Preserve yielded 36 bird speciesincluding Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark during this year’s Spring Bird Quest.

BETS

Y DARLIN

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(left to right) Volunteers Dave Schurman, Roger Hopkins, and Peter Marks celebrate thecompletion of the new entrance sign at the Etna Preserve.

CHRIS OLN

EY

Last Spring, Cornell’s chapter of Roots and Shoots held an Earth Day 5K race, raising nearly $800 in support of the Land Trust’s conservation efforts in the region.

SARA

HEINS

“Enchantment in the forest glen, summerat the gates, the long welcome light of sun”

–– Josh [from the visitors’ log, Sweedler Preserve at Lick Brook]

8 • THE LAND STEWARD

The Greens have been both farmers and caretakers of the landthat has provided them with a living over the past 120 years.

As Don succinctly put it, “No farmer goes out to intentionallydestroy his land.” WhenDon’s father took overthe farm in the late1930s, he turned it into asmall dairy operationwith 18 cows. Financiallimitations dictated themodest size of the herd,but it also helped preventovergrazing of the land.

Don assumedresponsibility for thefarm in the mid-1970s.Although he earned abiology degree fromSUNY-Geneseo—wherehe developed an affinityfor reading and a lifelongdesire to learn—hespent weekends andsummers back on thefarm, helping his father.Don’s father and grandmother instilled inhim the values of hard work, resourceful-ness, and a land ethic that informs hisfarming methods to this day.

Don continued to raise dairy cowsuntil the early 2000s, but today the Greenfarm produces a single crop: hay, which issold to local horse farms. Don handles allof the farming duties (such as cutting,baling, and preparing for transport) him-self, and that is no small feat—the farmlandoccupies about three-quarters of the prop-erty, so it produces a substantial amount ofhay. Don also actively manages the woodedareas of the property, which provide thefirewood used to heat his home throughoutthe winter.

For all that Don Green (and his fore-bears) have done to nurture and care for the land, perhaps hismost exemplary act of stewardship was to donate a conservationeasement on his property to the Land Trust in 2005. The ease-ment provides specific land-use guidelines that help protect theproperty’s open spaces and natural resources. Furthermore, theagreement is binding on all future owners, ensuring protection ofthe land in perpetuity.

The decision to donate the easement was driven in part byDon’s desire to uphold the century-plus legacy of the land as anindependent farm. “I’ve seen farms in this area turned into hous-ing developments,” Don said. “But I’ve been working this land all

my life, and so did my father and his father. It’s important to methat it is protected.”

At the same time, Don also wanted to preserve the land forfuture generations. Although his children are pursuing careersother than farming, the process of transitioning the property tothe fifth generation of the Green family is underway. Don isbuilding a house (by himself, using local materials) for his oldestdaughter on a small parcel of cleared land in the northwest cornerof the farm. She will own the house and an adjacent five acres.Meanwhile, Don’s younger daughter and her family live in thehome previously occupied by his parents, just across Green Road(the eponymous thoroughfare that bisects the Green farm) fromDon’s own house. She also owns 100 acres on the east side ofGreen Road, though Don retains the right to farm this land aslong as he wishes.

Don’s family wholeheartedly supported the idea of donatinga conservation easement. The easement also takes some pressureoff of future generations in terms of keeping the land in thefamily. “If they feel the need to sell some or all of the land forfinancial reasons—which happens all the time in farming communities—the land will remain protected regardless of whoowns it,” said Don.

After 35 years as a farmer and land steward, Don still enjoysthe time he spends working and caring for the land. “Farmingisn’t the way to riches,” he laughed, “but it has its own rewards.”

––Jeff Tonole

Don Green: Farmer with a Vision

The Green property is striking in its beauty and diverse in its composition.

Easement donor Don Green

BOB G

ROWE

Don Green’s commitment to land stewardship grew out of the history of his farm in Ontario County, about30 miles south of Rochester. His maternal great-grandfather acquired the 200-acre property in 1890, andDon represents the fourth generation to farm the land. The property is striking in its beauty and diverse inits composition, with lush rolling hills of farmland ringed by dense woodlands of maple and ash.

BETSY LANDRE

SUMMER 2010 • 9

Preserve Steward John Sutton enjoys the peace andtranquility found in High Vista’s mature woods.

JOHN SU

TTON

poetry of the 1950s and 60s, which led him, inturn, to the serious study of Zen and TibetanBuddhism that delights him today.

“Luckily for us modern environmentalists,the birth of our movement came in the HudsonRiver School and their friends,” he suggested.“They were very spiritual people and saw natureas the hand of God––you know, the originallandscape. These artists were trying to paint,frantically, to capture the spiritual beauty of thelandscape before it was all destroyed….and theyknew that could happen.”

Surveying the landscape today at the south-ern end of Skaneateles Lake, John Sutton reflectsthat it looks more like Barrow’s paintings thanever because of a century’s forest re-growth. Andhe would like to help keep it that way.

––Eben McLane

GARDENERS WANTED!Volunteer gardenersneeded to help tendthe Land Trust’s nativeplant garden in down-town Ithaca. Pleasecall Abbey in the Land Trust office at607-275-9487.

Clarification:Access to the Ithaca College natural area at Van Buskirk Glen, which was featured in thelast issue of The Land Steward, is by permissiononly, as the site is managed for research andeducational purposes.

John Sutton: High Vista’sContemplative Conservatorcontinued from page 3

With the passage oftime, more and more proper-ties subject to conservationeasement are transferredfrom the original donor to a“second generation” ownerwho may not be familiar withwhat such easements meanfor their properties. This generational change requiresthat the Land Trust investmore effort in reaching newlandowners to educate themabout their easement agree-ments, to ensure a commonunderstanding and avoid any possible easement violations.

To expand its outreach to easement landowners, the Land Trust last yearreleased its first issue of Afoot in the Field, a newsletter designed specifically for conservation landowners. This year, we’re also offering several fieldtrips––providing guidance on forest management options and the creation ofvernal pools––designed specifically for landowners.

Out at our nature preserves, we’ve recently partnered with the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service to restore meadow habitats at two sites and restored a small wet-land within the Owasco Flats. This year, we’ll be expanding our efforts to controlnon-native invasive plants that threaten to crowd out our native flora. And withadditions to our portfolio, such as our new Kingsbury Woods Conservation Area,we’re inventorying the site’s natural resources and will provide for appropriatepublic access through carefully designed trails.

All of this couldn’t possibly happen without the Land Trust’s dedicated network of volunteers and the commitment of our conservation landowners.Each year, more than 200 volunteers from across the region dedicate their time and effort to care for our network of conservation areas and monitor ourconservation easement properties. At the same time, more than 70 conservationlandowners partner with the Land Trust to ensure the future of their lands underconservation easement.

This issue of The Land Steward is dedicated to our stewardship volunteers,and you’ll read about a sampling of the people who represent the backbone ofour conservation efforts––from Don Green, a fourth-generation Ontario Countyfarmer to John Sutton, restorer of fine art from Skaneateles; from Bob Corneau, a passionate southern tier sportsman and naturalist to Candace Collmer, collegeprofessor and plant pathologist from Ithaca. Thanks to the efforts of these com-munity leaders, and many others, the Land Trust is poised to meet the challengeswe face in maintaining a consistently high standard of land conservation.

With Increasing Commitments, Land TrustExpands Its Stewardship Effortscontinued from cover

The Leopold LegacyAldo Leopold believed that conservation isa state of harmony between humanity andthe land. Regarded as the father of modernwildlife ecology management in the 20thcentury, he was an early pioneer in thedevelopment of modern environmentalethics for the preservation of wilderness.

Carl Leopold, one of Aldo’s fivechildren, was the Founding President ofthe Land Trust. Like his father and hissiblings, Carl also held a deep andabiding interest in preserving theenvironment. Carl provided leadershipto the Land Trust for twenty years until his death in 2009.

The Aldo Leopold SocietyIn 2006, the Land Trust created the Aldo Leopold Society inrecognition of the Leopold family’s philosophy and practice of land conservation. The Society recognizes Land Trust mem-bers who make an annual leadership gift of $1,000 or more.These unrestricted gifts help continue the Leopold legacy of

conservation and stewardship.Contributions to the Leopold Society

are critically important in allowing the Land Trust to take advantage ofconservation opportunities as they ariseand to build a strong foundation forfuture stewardship of our lands.

BenefitsMembers of the Aldo Leopold Society areannually recognized in the Land Trust’snewsletter, The Land Steward. In additionto an annual reception, members areinvited to special field trips to learn more

about current conservation projects. Leopold members alsoreceive invitations to celebrate new acquisitions of naturepreserves and conservation areas.

You are invited to become a member in The Aldo LeopoldSociety by making an annual contribution of $1,000 or more tothe Finger Lakes Land Trust. We look forward to welcoming you.For more information, contact Jan Hesbon at the Land Trustoffice: (607) 275-9487.

10 • THE LAND STEWARD

Burch CraigFrom

Sybil CraigRachel Hall

Lee and Staffan LundbackTodd and Hadley Matarazzo

Sue and Mike Smith

Our sincerest appreciation for gifts

in honor of: Doug FitchenFrom

Deborah O’Connor

Thomas M. FoxFrom

Randall Stewart

Julia HardinFrom

Frank and Blythe Baldwin

Carl Leopold From

Roger and LeMoyne Farrell

Frank SilvernailFrom

Paul and Anne Schnell

Hollis TedfordFrom

Jeff and Elizabeth CoonsSybil CraigRachel Hall

Todd and Hadley MatarazzoJulie Miller

David B. SchwartzSue and Mike Smith

Our deepest gratitude for thoughtful gifts in memory of:

Become a Member of the Aldo Leopold Society

The Leopold Family outside their Wisconsin homestead

Located betweenHammondsport and Watkins Glen

Features fields and forest and borders state land.

Conservation easement allowsfor single house on property.

Asking price is $45,000

Contact Dennis Carlson at 607-569-2020

“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land” – Aldo Leopold

Conservation BuyerWanted for 25 Acre

Rural Retreat

Calling All Volunteers!Are you ready to give something back to the natural areas that help make our communities in the Finger Lakes great?

Join with the Finger Lakes Land Trust Trailblazers, and we’ll call on you to help with a variety of great projects.

While helping to sustain our local natural areas, you’ll get the opportunity to meet interesting people and learn about our region.

This year we will be stepping up our efforts to control non-native invasiveplants at some of our preserves, and your help will be needed.

Please consider joining us out in the field!To join the Trailblazers, send an e-mail to info@fllt.org or give us a call.

Many insects that live near water spend only a few hours to afew weeks of their lives as airborne adults. The rest of the

time, they live underwater in streams and ponds as eggs, and then as aquatic larvae or nymphs clinging to the sides of rocks or swimming in the water. Three of the most common stream-dwelling insects are stoneflies, mayflies and caddisflies. They arecornerstones of aquatic food webs and are also vital indicators ofstream health.

Larvae and nymphs are forms of insects that live in the waterbefore they metamorphose into adults. Larvae—like those of caddisflies—go through a complete metamorphosis and hardlyresemble the adults they become, changing from grub-like larvaeto flying adults in a few short steps. Stonefly and mayfly nymphslook a lot more like the adults they will grow up to be. They havesix legs and a somewhat similar body shape to their adult forms.You may even see the beginnings of wings form-ing. Nymphs go through a slow metamorphosisas they mature over the course of the year.

Aquatic nymphs and larvae have importantadaptations for obtaining oxygen that allowthem to live in stream environments whereoxygen levels are relatively high. Mayfly nymphsbreathe using gills; other insects like stoneflynymphs and caddisfly larvae absorb oxygen

from the water directly across their body surfaces. In variable-oxygen environments like warm ponds, on the other hand, mosquito larvae use a breathing tube, much like a snorkel, thatprotrudes from the tip of the abdomen.

Adaptations for breathing determine the habitats in whichyou’re likely to find the adult forms of these particular insects. Forexample, while you’re more likely to find flying mosquitoes and

dragonflies near still water, mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies arefar more abundant near running water. Have you never seen anadult mayfly? Adults live only about a day, and sometimes lessthan that. For many people, their closest encounter with adultmayflies occurs while they are in their cars. If you've driven past astream or river and wound up with a bug-plastered windshield,you’ve just met several hundred mayflies.

Aquatic invertebrates are bellwethers of water quality. In astream that is relatively pristine, oxygen levels remain quite con-sistent from year to year. However, if nutrient run-off or otherpollution gets into a stream, oxygen levels can drop precipitously.Scientists use the presence or absence of certain insect taxa tohelp determine the health of a stream ecosystem. Stonefly andmayfly nymphs, for example, are only present when high levels ofdissolved oxygen exist. On the other hand, mosquito larvae,

because they breathe oxygenthrough their snorkel tubes,are quite indifferent to fluctuations in oxygen, andtherefore are not the bestindicators of aquatic health.

Aquatic insects form akey link in stream and pondfood webs. Many species ofcaddisflies protect their softlarval bodies from the perilsof predators by buildingtube-shaped cases fromsticks or small rocks andsand, bound together bystrong silk that they spin.Other types of caddisflies,predators themselves, lurk inthe dark crevices betweenrocks, and then strike out at

smaller larvae, their preferred food. Still other types of caddisflylarvae as well as mayfly nymphs filter or graze particles of algaeand fungus from the water or the surface of rocks, helping tobalance plant productivity in aquatic ecosystems and keep thewater cleaner. Most stonefly young, as well as dragonfly anddamselfly nymphs, are lightning-fast predators, snatchingherbivorous aquatic insects and even small fish.

Fish food preferences are also closely linked to the life cyclesof insects that live in and near the water. One of the keys to successful fly-fishing is a strong understanding of what the fishare eating. Fly-fishers spend much of their time “matching thehatch,” using fur, feathers, metal and thread to create elaborate,and often highly realistic, versions of aquatic nymphs, larvae, andadults that are designed to trick a trout into thinking it’s found adelectable meal.

Next time you’re near a stream, reach in and pick up a rock. See who’s living underneath, and get a closer look at themicrocosmos that lies just below the water's surface.

––Karen Edelstein

A C L O S E R L O O K

Aquatic Microcosmos: More than fish in those streams!Fly-fishers, aquatic entomologists and curious children spend a lot of time in streams, turning over rocks, observingwhat’s crawling around on the surface or floating downstream in the current. What are these people looking for?

SUMMER 2010 • 11

Stonefly nymph

BROWN SOIL &

WAT

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Caddisfly larva

EUREKA

LERT!

Finger Lakes Land Trust202 E. Court StreetIthaca, NY 14850

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SATURDAY, JULY 24, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Please join us for the Land Trust’s 21st Annual Meeting & Celebration at StandingStone Vineyards overlooking beautiful Seneca Lake. (See insert for details)

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Finger LakesLand Trust202 E. Court Street

Ithaca, New York 14850Ph: 607-275-9487 • Fax: 607-275-0037

email: info@fllt.org • www.fllt.org

Western Lakes Office P.O. Box 620

Canandaigua, NY 14424Ph: 585-880-9934

Finger Lakes Land Trust

Officers: Chris Proulx, PresidentHoward Hartnett, Vice PresidentBob Werner, SecretaryBurch Craig, Treasurer

Board Members:Katherine Borgella Stu SchweizerJim Fralick Stephanie SechlerSteve Green Donald SpeckerBob Growe Doug SutherlandBarbara Hamlin Marianne Young

Advisory Council:James Byrnes Albert JoergerThomas Eisner Robert MrazekJohn Fitzpatrick Mark StashAlexa Gifford David Zorn

Staff:Andrew Zepp, Executive DirectorRocci Aguirre, Director of Land ProtectionAbbey Chernela, Office ManagerKaren Edelstein, GIS Projects ManagerEmily Eisman, Outreach and MembershipManager

Megan Fenton, Land Protection Specialist Jan Hesbon, Director of DevelopmentBetsy Landre, Senior Field RepresentativeChris Olney, Director of Stewardship

Newsletter Editors: Eben McLaneKrishna Ramanujan

Newsletter Layout: West Hill Graphics, Inc.

Advisors:Legal Counsel: Elizabeth Bixler; Randy

Marcus; Miller Mayer, LLP; Peter Miller;Richard Ruswick; True, Walsh, & Schubert, LLPForestry Consultant: Michael DeMunn Stewardship Advisor: Betsy Darlington