Protecting Wetlands, Stream Corridors and At-Risk Wildlife Species
Honoring their parents by protecting the land
Otsego Land Trust (OLT) recently completed an important land protection project within Otsego County's beautiful Butternut Valley. Located along the gorgeous and biologically diverse Butternut Creek, the property, known at OLT as Mussel Flats, was purchased from the Wheeler Family.
Many years ago, Robert and Blevyn Wheeler spoke with OLT Board member Carla Hall and then-Board Chair, Earle Peterson, about conserving their property. Years later, Robert and Blevyn’s children (Kate, Diana, John, and Bob) decided to move forward to protect the land they had loved so deeply. “Protecting this land feels like a love letter to our parents and honoring them in a way that will last forever,” Diana Wheeler said.
Much more than just acreage
The 82-acre Mussel Flats boasts over 7000-feet of frontage on Butternut Creek and contains extensive wetlands, critical for wildlife and flood attenuation. The property also has high quality farmland in active cultivation. But this story is so much richer than a few stats can communicate!
Mussel Flats was purchased by OLT as a “Trade Land” (see sidebar) and then transferred to The Wetland Trust (TWT), a non-profit organization which focuses on wetland protection and improvement.
Giant eastern hellbender is generally nocturnal and crawls along silt-free stream floors. They emerge at night to hunt. Photo courtesy of Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo.
TWT also acts a wetland mitigation bank, keeping wetlands in reserve for wetland establishment and improvement projects required by state or federal regulators. Jim Curatolo, the Executive Director of TWT, jumped on board the “project train” very early in the process. The project would not have been successful without Jim’s determination and experience.
The property also supports, or may support in the future, some amazing wildlife species including American eel, yellowlamp mussel, eastern elliptio mussel, river otter, and giant eastern hellbender.
The Upper Susquehanna Coalition (USC), a non-profit that works in a multi-county region in NYS and Pennsylvania to enable wetland, floodplain, streambank and stream protection and improvements, contributed significant time, expertise, and funding to enable OLT to pursue and complete this project. USC staffer, Lydia Brinkley, shared “USC is thrilled to have been a part of this project. It is a model for multi-organizational and individual partnerships resulting in uniquely important land, water and species conservation.”
The Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) has also played a vital role. SWCD, in cooperation with USC, planted nearly 20 acres of riparian area plants within the property, utilizing NYS’s “Trees for Tribs” program. Mark Kugler, a SWCD staffer, says “The plantings will eventually grow into a forested wetland, providing habitat and water quality benefits for generations to come.”
Lydia Brinkley (Upper Susquehanna Coalition), Michelle Herman (The Wetland Trust), and David Diaz (Otsego Land Trust) stand amongst thousands of trees and shrubs recently planted at Mussel Flats.
This project, totaling nearly $200,000, was made possible by the financial support of The Wetland Trust, Upper Susquehanna Coalition, Tianaderrah Foundation, Dr. Earle N. Peterson, Edward Lentz, and additional individual donors. It is also indebted to the many generous donors throughout our region who provide general support for OLT’s operational costs. OLT’s Hannah Lee Stokes Land Conservation Fund also played an important role in covering some costs prior to reimbursement from grants.
Ed Lentz, Chair of the Butternut Valley Alliance, an organization that seeks to connect communities, protect the environment, and promote the arts within the Butternut Creek Watershed said, “The BVA is really excited to see this land, especially its wetlands and creek frontage, protected by OLT and owned and managed by The Wetland Trust. We thank OLT for making this happen and we are glad to have played a small part in this effort.”
OLT cannot protect land without the support of our communities.
We invite you to visit our website and click the “donate” button in order to help advance work critical to our region’s quality of life, food production, water quality and critters. Look for the rest of the Mussel Flats story in our Spring 2022 edition.
By David Diaz
Important land protection tool
Trade lands
Trade land properties are acquired by land trusts with the specific intention of transferring or selling them to another entity.
If the trade land has significant conservation value, a permanent conservation easement is placed on the land before it is transferred from the land trust to its new owner.
Why use trade land agreements?
They allow the original owner, who wants to relinquish the property, to protect their land and put it to good use.
They enable land trusts to assure important land resources and qualities are permanently protected without taking on the onerous and ongoing expenses of owning lots of land themselves.
Can provide land trusts with significant revenue depending on the transaction.
