The Genesee Land Trust Conservation Plan

Abstract

Over the Fall semester of 2007, 9 graduate students created a Strategic Conservation Plan for the Genesee Land Trust (GLT), based in Rochester, NY. The plan features a series of natural resource inventories as well as a scenic viewshed analysis of the 1.3 million acre territory covered by GLT. Regional land use history and demographic trends are explored using US census data and changes in land cover. To help land trust decision makers, two GIS suitability models were created, one using equal weights and one using GLT preferences derived from an exercise using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Three focus areas were created for the urban region of greater Rochester. In addition, the Cornell team highlighted the Arcadia focus area in Wayne County due to its high quality farmland, connectivity with protected lands and scenic resources. Finally, the Cornell Team recommended land use planning tools, methods to measure the success of the plan and fundraising strategies to help GLT make their conservation vision a reality. This project was funded in part by a grant from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program, administered by the Land Trust Alliance Northeast Program with support from the State of New York.