in the news
The Land Conservancy Purchases 226-acre Black Creek Preserve in Allegany County
November 13, 2025: The Western New York Land Conservancy is pleased to announce the purchase of a significant wetland in Birdsall, Allegany County. The 226-acre Black Creek Preserve is the first of five “Black Creek Protection Projects” that will be protected thanks to the generosity of our community, The Nature Conservancy in New York, and a critical grant from the New York State DEC's Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP), which awarded the Land Conservancy a grant to work with willing land-owners to permanently protect land in the Black Creek watershed.
The Land Conservancy Opens the Floating Fen Preserve in Chautauqua County
October 16, 2025: The Western New York Land Conservancy is pleased to announce the opening of its newest preserve, the Floating Fen Preserve in Chautauqua County on October 16th. This spectacular 225-acre forest is home to a unique wetland that includes a floating peat mat, “the floating fen,” from which the preserve derives its name. The fen was formed during the last Ice Age; when the glaciers retreated, they scored deep cuts in the earth that have filled in over millennia.
Visitors to the new preserve will be able to enjoy scenic vistas around this remarkable fen. The Land Conservancy’s stewardship team, led by Josh Balisteri, designed and built the 2-mile hiking trail. The Land Conservancy will host a grand opening to introduce the trail to the public.
Buffalo Rising: Now Open: Floating Fen Preserve in Chautauqua County
Jamestown Post-Journal/Dunkirk Observer: Floating Fen Preserve Opens in County
Buffalo News (YouTube): WNY Land Conservancy's executive director introduces new floating fen preserve
Buffalo News (YouTube): Flying the floating fen preserve
Niagara Express: Floating Fen opens in Chautauqua County
The Land Conservancy to hold its 2nd Annual Conservation Celebration on September 25th
September 16, 2025: The Western New York Land Conservancy will hold its 2nd annual Conservation Celebration, a fun nature-based party to celebrate and support its conservation work. The Conservation Celebration will be held at the beautiful Blueberry Treehouse Farm in West Falls (1897 Davis Rd, West Falls, NY 14170) on Thursday, September 25th, 2025, from 6-9 pm.
Last year, the Western New York Land Conservancy broke tradition. They traded in the formal gala for something a little more relaxed, a little more fun, and a lot more connected to nature. The first-ever Conservation Celebration brought together friends, families, and supporters for a joyful evening of music, food, and community under the trees at Blueberry Treehouse Farm.
Buffalo Rising: Land Conservancy Hosts 2nd Annual Conservation Celebration at Blueberry Treehouse Farm
WIVB: Executive Director Marisa Riggi joined the hosts of WIVB's "Wake Up!" to discuss our Conservation Celebration (watch below)
The Land Conservancy to Protect 732 Acres in the WNY Wildway in 2025
June 20, 2025: The Western New York Land Conservancy is thrilled to announce that it will be fundraising to permanently protect six properties this year totaling 732 acres.
All six properties are located within Core Areas of the WNY Wildway, the Land Conservancy’s landscape-scale conservation initiative that seeks to protect and connect some of the largest remaining forests in our region. Five properties (539 acres) are critical wetlands and their surrounding forests in the Black Creek watershed in Allegany County. The sixth property (193 acres) is land that is adjacent to our existing Janet Gallogly Allegany Wildlands in Cattaraugus County. Permanently protecting this property will more than double the size of that preserve to 377.5 acres.
Buffalo News: Land trust to protect another 732 acres in WNY
Buffalo News Editorial Board: Land Conservancy's efforts aimed at protecting wildlife-and people
Buffalo News (Another Voice by Marisa Riggi, Executive Director): Land protection benefits everyone
Salamanca Press: Land Conservancy to protect 193 acres in Allegany Wildlands
Olean Times Herald: Land Conservancy to protect 732 acres in WNY Wildway
New York Almanack: Land Conservancy seeks protection of WNY Wildway lands
The Land Conservancy to Host Acclaimed Author Lyanda Lynn Haupt at Trinity Episcopal Church on June 4th
May 12, 2025: The Western New York Land Conservancy will host author Lyanda Lynn Haupt in June to discuss her book Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit. In this illuminating and important book, Haupt explores what it means to live with the earth in both simple and profound ways. She invokes the term “rootedness” as a way of living in concert with the wilderness—and wildness—that sustains humans and all of life.
WXXI's "Connections" (Rochester): The Land Conservancy Purchases 38.3 Acre Grand Island Property
East Aurora Advertiser: Bestselling author Lyanda Lynn Haupt will speak at WNY Land Conservancy event
The Spark Bird podcast: Lyanda Lynn Haupt on Storytelling and Starlings
The Land Conservancy Purchases 38.3-Acre Grand Island Property
January 16, 2025: The Western New York Land Conservancy has permanently protected an additional 38.3 acres on Grand Island. The property will be maintained by the Land Conservancy and be known as the Jim and Edna Braddell Preserve. Funding for the purchase comes from the Greenway Ecological Standing Committee (GESC), which awarded the Land Conservancy a grant to protect the important bird habitat. In recent years, Grand Island has fielded a number of development requests. Since 2018, thanks to funding from the GESC, the Land Conservancy has protected more than 300 acres in the town—a figure that includes the Margery Gallogly (gal-a-glee) Nature Sanctuary, the Alt Preserve, the Funk Preserve, and the Love Road Preserve.
Buffalo News: Grand Island gets (yet another) nature preserve
Niagara Frontier Publications: The Land Conservancy Purchases 38.3 Acre Grand Island Property
New York Almanack: The Land Conservancy Purchases Grand Island Property