The Finger Lakes Land Trust (FLLT) purchased 30 wooded acres adjacent to the Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in the town of Catharine, Schuyler County. Located off of Oak Hill Road, the property shares a boundary with a picturesque section of the Finger Lakes Trail which follows along Cayuta Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River.

The FLLT intends to ultimately transfer the parcel to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as an addition to the WMA, expanding recreational opportunities in this area. With elevations reaching 2,000 feet, Connecticut Hill is a popular destination for hikers, birders, and hunters, as well as winter activities such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Photo: FLLT

With over 11,000 acres, Connecticut Hill contains approximately nine miles of designated hiking trails and many more miles of dirt roads and access lanes. Recognized as one of the state’s Important Bird Areas, the WMA is host to a wide variety of songbirds, as well as wide-ranging mammals such as fishers and black bears.

Connecticut Hill is also an important component of the Emerald Necklace, a proposed greenbelt linking 50,000 acres of existing conservation land in an arc around Ithaca, from the Finger Lakes National Forest in the west to the Hammond Hill State Forest in the east. The Emerald Necklace is identified as a priority project in New York State’s Open Space Plan.

“This latest project is the fourth we’ve completed in this area,” said FLLT President Andrew Zepp. “Connecticut Hill encompasses one of the largest intact forests remaining in our region and hosts a diversity of wildlife. Places like this are increasingly important for many reasons—from water quality to carbon sequestration and providing the opportunity for people to connect with nature.”