Land Along Lake Ontario Protected (NY)

Lyndonville, NY, October 27, 2005: The nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the Town of Yates announced today the permanent protection of five acres along Lake Ontario. The property has been a high priority for acquisition for the Town of Yates (Orleans County). The land will become a town park, open to the public for passive recreational purposes such as picnicking, hiking, and wildlife observation.

“We are very pleased to have helped secure public access to Lake Ontario,” said Clark Wallace, project manager for the Trust for Public Land. “It furthers our mission of helping to protect land for people to enjoy.”

The property, which had formerly been owned by New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (NYSEG), is comprised of five acres of woods along Lake Ontario at the end of Morrison Road.

The town’s 2001 master plan made a recommendation to secure public access to Lake Ontario for town residents. Before this acquisition, there was no public access to the lake within the town. This acquisition will provide only one of three public access points to Lake Ontario in all of Orleans County.

“We would like to thank TPL, NYSEG, and the State of New York for cooperating to make the purchase of this property possible for the Town of Yates,” said Yates Town Supervisor Russ Martino.

“Making this property available for passive recreation for this generation and future generations is an outstanding result,” said Jim Laurito, NYSEG’s president. “We are pleased to have contributed to enhancing the quality of life in the Town of Yates.”

Funds for the $75,000 purchase were provided by a grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.

New York’s Great Lakes shoreline is an invaluable resource of utmost ecological and recreational significance. Protection of this property is part of the Trust for Public Land’s Great Lakes Greenprint, an effort to identify and preserve important properties in the Great Lakes watershed in New York, working in partnership with local communities and organizations. Funding for the greenprint effort is provided by The Henry Philip Kraft Memorial Fund, Sarah K. de Coizart Article TENTH Perpetual Charitable Trust, and West Hill Foundation for Nature, Inc.

Within New York’s Great Lakes watershed, the Trust for Public Land has completed 17 land protection projects totaling more than 4,750 acres. This is TPL’s first land protection project in Orleans County. TPL has helped to protect five properties totaling 390 acres in Monroe County.

The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, TPL has helped protect two million acres of land in 46 states

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