Butternut Land Conservation Project

The Otsego Land Trust, Otsego SWCD, Butternut Valley Alliance, and USC are working on an exciting project in the Butternut Creek Watershed. The project, temporarily nicknamed “Mussel Flats”, already has several funders in place, including USC.

The property has many conservation worthy attributes including over 1 mile of Butternut Creek streambank, 24 acres of wetlands, existence of yellow lampmussels, 30 acres in active agriculture, and will result in the establishment of 15 acres of riparian buffer. It’s also important to note that American eel were released at the property in 2019, with future plans for more releases. Additionally, Butternut Creek has an active eastern hellbender recovery program.

A multi-pronged approach to conserving the property is being utilized:

• Otsego Land Trust purchases property with help of many funders.
• USC covers costs related to the purchase transaction (appraisal, survey, title, etc) and riparian buffers.
• Otsego Land Trust transfers the property to The Wetland Trust.
• Otsego Land Trust retains a conservation easement over the property.
• Otsego County Soil and Water Cons District implements riparian buffer improvements along Butternut Creek.
• The entire property, including the buffer, is protected in perpetuity!

The Otsego Land Trust works in Otsego County and portions of Chenango, Madison, Oneida, Herkimer, Schoharie and Delaware counties. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the chief purposes of conserving land and providing open spaces for public use.