The Finger Lakes Land Trust recently agreed to sell 213 acres of the easternmost portion of the former Bell Station property to AES with the understanding that it will be utilized for solar power generation. The purchase was undertaken by AES as part of a project involving a portion of the defunct Milliken Station coal power plant in Lansing, Tompkins County.

The land to be sold is adjacent to the former power plant and was acquired from New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) along with 287 adjacent acres that feature more than 3,000 feet of undeveloped shoreline on Cayuga Lake. In 2021, NYSEG intended to sell all of this land through an internet auction before Governor Kathy Hochul and other elected officials requested that they negotiate a sale to the FLLT instead. This was accomplished with the understanding that the FLLT would ultimately convey the shoreline portion of the property to the state to establish the Cayuga Shores Wildlife Management Area.

Photo: Bill Hecht

Discussions relating to the conservation of this shoreline property were initiated more than a decade ago, and the leadership of the Town of Lansing expressed their desire to conserve the shoreline while also ensuring that a portion of the property remains on the tax rolls (the state’s wildlife management area is exempt from property taxes). The sale of the property to AES will achieve this goal while supporting the state’s climate goals and converting carbon-based energy generation to renewable sources.

The FLLT is selling the land subject to several conditions and commitments:

• The intended use of the property is for solar energy production and agricultural co-utilization;
• A forested area existing on the property shall be retained for its value in sustaining wildlife and maintaining water quality;
• A wildlife corridor shall be maintained along a protected stream that runs through the property;
• Existing wetlands shall not be disturbed and a buffer will be maintained around them;
• Any buffer plantings on the land shall be of species native to the region;
• A portion of the property shall be designated for research with an expected focus on agrivoltaics – the production of crops in conjunction with solar energy production.

Proceeds from the sale will be allocated to the FLLT’s Opportunity Fund, used to make time-sensitive land conservation projects possible, and its Stewardship Fund which supports long-term management of the FLLT’s conservation lands and monitoring of its conservation easements.

The FLLT continues to pursue the conservation of additional lands along the shoreline of Cayuga Lake in the vicinity of this project and is currently working on the addition of a 110-acre parcel to the Cayuga Shores Wildlife Management Area.