Kenneglenn Scenic and Nature Preserve
In February of 2000 the Western
New York Land Conservancy, the Friends of Kenneglenn and The Trust for Public
Land mounted a $400,000 capital campaign to raise funds to purchase the
Kenneglenn Estate in Wales located 30 miles from downtown Buffalo. Through the
successful fundraising efforts of this collaborative group, the Land Conservancy
purchased the Estate in November of 2000 and has established the Kenneglenn
Scenic and Nature Preserve.
Kenneglenn is a 130-acre
expanse that runs along the spectacular Hunter's Creek gorge. The Preserve
features wetlands and forest lands, as well as beautiful views of the gently
rolling hills that are characteristic of southern Erie County. The Preserve also
has a lodge. Kenneglenn is also adjacent to the protected Erie County owned
Hunter's Creek Land Bank, forming a band of protected open space along Hunters
Creek.
The Preserve will be accessible to the public for hiking, nature study and educational programs on a limited access basis. Group Tours are offered.
Recent press about Kenneglenn:
Kenneglenn:
Town of Wales
Nature Preserve is the Western New York Land Conservancy’s Pride and Joy
by Rick Ohler
(Courtesy of the East Aurora Advertiser)
As the East Aurora-based Western New York Land Conservancy turns 16 this year, it can point to a host of significant accomplishments in its short history. Among them is its growth from a four-person ad hoc group meeting in the basement of the old Roycroft Print Shop and Bookbindery to a robust non-profit organization with a roster of 650 members spread out across the eight Western New York counties of its service area. Also impressive is that to date the organization has protected over 4000 acres of farmland, wetland and forest from development by means of conservation easement or outright purchase.
And with the exuberance of a 16-year-old the Land Conservancy shows no signs of letting up. Executive Director Pat Szarpa and Community Outreach Coordinator Nancy Smith, along with a dedicated corps of volunteers, are building on the foundation established by original Land Conservancy members John Whitney, Lee Oprea, Ken Kohler and John Daleo and first Executive Director, Amy Holt. They have embarked upon a Five-Year Strategic Land Protection Plan with specific goals. One priority is the development of a plan to protect the unique geologic and environmental wonders of the Niagara Escarpment in Lockport and Niagara County. Another priority is farmland protection where the Land Conservancy has partnered with the American Farmland Trust and offers seminars and workshops throughout the region.
Always a champion of open space protection, the Land Conservancy was instrumental in drawing up and helping to implement the Town of Clarence’s greenprint, a master plan for greenspace. Other towns—Aurora among them—may soon follow Clarence’s lead as the Land Conservancy pursues initiatives with area municipalities. As well the Land Conservancy is constantly working with individual landowners anxious to keep their properties forever green by accepting donations of property, buying land or helping landowners establish legal restrictions that limit harmful use and development of their property. The stated mission of the Land Conservancy—To preserve land for future generations—seems to be in good hands.
The jewel in the crown of the Land Conservancy, however, is the 130-acre Kenneglenn Nature Preserve in the Town of Wales.
Tucked away at the end of a dead-end road, down a long, tree-lined gravel driveway not ten minutes from downtown East Aurora, Kenneglenn Nature Preserve is a magical place. Its magic lies not only in the breathtaking views of the steep gorge cut by Hunters Creek over the millennia. Or in the deep evergreen and deciduous woods that line the creek. Or the mixture of field, fen, rill and glade that are home to all manner of plants, insect, birds and beasts. What is magic about Kenneglenn is that it came to be at all.
A town such as Wales, and Aurora and Elma and Marilla for that matter, were at first a patchwork quilt of large parcels of land. Much of the land was agricultural—dairy farms with vast expanses of hayfield and cropland to support the needs of the herd. Many of the parcels were forested and provided lumber for mills such as the storied Kuchenbeisser Lumber and the old basket factory in Wales Center where Routes 78 and 20A part company. Some of the land had tree stands and Spartan camps for deer hunting. A very few parcels were just for recreation, second homes for city folk. So it was with Kenneglenn.
In 1920 well-to-do Buffalonians Charles and Florence Kennedy of Forest Avenue bought 400 acres in Wales and named the estate Kenneglenn. Over the next few decades they built a large summer home and two smaller cottages to accommodate a growing family, cousins, nieces and nephews, and in time grandchildren. Helen Kennedy Tirrell, daughter of Charles and Florence, writing in her 1946 reminiscence Memories for Molly, recounted her childhood adventures at Kenneglenn. In 20 marvelous longhand pages she paints portraits of a world as close to paradise as a youngster could get: of hikes and sleepovers and games and family togetherness all centered around this magnificent piece of land.
But in time the family began to scatter—to California, to Minnesota, to Maine—and visits to Kenneglenn became less frequent. Gradually, with the death of the elder Kennedys and Helen Tirrell, a few pieces of Kenneglenn were sold until only 130 acres and the summer cottage called Hillcrest remained. The Tirrell family, Helen’s husband Stan, and children Susan Fagrelius, Priscilla Bisher, David and Hugh Tirrell, faced an important decision. They knew that they wanted a part of Kenneglenn to remain green and wild and open, to some degree, to the public so that everyone could experience its beauty and serenity. And they feared that their land, lying so close to Buffalo and the suburbs, would attract offers from developers. A scenario with Kenneglenn divided into small housing lots or a tract development was not unreasonable.
Susan Tirrell Fagrelius went to work. She contacted then Wales Supervisor Mary Weinman and hatched a plan whereby the town would buy Kenneglenn for a town park. Unfortunately, town residents turned the plan down in a 1999 referendum. Undaunted Susan got in touch with a grass roots committee called the Friends of Kenneglenn, led by Reverend Jack Prinzenhoff and his wife, Mary. The Friends connected with the Land Conservancy who partnered with the Trust for Public Land and together they launched a campaign to raise money to buy the land from the Tirrell family at a more than reasonable price. Then, as Kenneglenn caretaker Jack Prinzenhoff says in his brief but delightful history called “The Genesis of Kenneglenn,” “On July 17, 2000, members of the Kennedy family, members of the Friends of Kenneglenn, and some directors of the WNYLC gathered at Hillcrest for a ‘passing the property and its stewardship’ ceremony.”
Seven years later Kenneglenn remains as a centerpiece of the Land Conservancy’s accomplishments. The land is wholly owned by the Land Conservancy and is part of a larger green corridor encompassing adjacent Hunters Creek Park. As a nature preserve access ( to humans, anyway) is by invitation only, but the invitation is frequently extended to Land Conservancy members and their guests in the form of themed hikes that explore the geology, ecology, plants, birds and animals of Kenneglenn. In the end everyone—the Tirrell family, the Land Conservancy, the flora and fauna, and Western New York—won, thanks to the generosity of an old Buffalo family and the dedication of many volunteers.
This summer Priscilla Tirrell Bisher will return to Kenneglenn for a visit, bringing her children and now a grandchild with her, the fifth Kennedy generation to enjoy the property. They will find a Kenneglenn remarkably unchanged. They will also find that their chosen stewards, the Land Conservancy, are steadfast caretakers of this natural gem and of all the natural abundance of the region.
For information about the Western New York Land Conservancy, hikes and educational activities at Kenneglenn and other Land Conservancy sites visit www.wnylc.org or call Pat Szarpa or Nancy Smith at 716-687-1225.