The Finger Lakes Land Trust has dedicated its 123-acre Tapan Mitra Preserve in the town of Ithaca after completing important public access improvements.
The preserve is located off State Route 13 and borders more than 2,000 acres of conserved lands that also include the Land Trust’s Sweedler and Thayer Preserves at Lick Brook, a Cornell Botanic Gardens natural area, and Robert H. Treman State Park. The Tapan Mitra Preserve protects more than a mile of frontage on the Cayuga Inlet, a major tributary to Cayuga Lake.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on June 10th to celebrate the public access improvements, including a 7-acre addition to the preserve, a new interpretive kiosk with information on the area’s trails, and an improved parking area.
The preserve, formerly known as the Cayuga Inlet Conservation Area, was renamed in 2019 in honor of the late Tapan Mitra, a leading economic theorist and long-serving Cornell University professor who loved the outdoors. During his life, Dr. Mitra collaborated with the Land Trust to identify shared priorities as a part of his estate planning process. This collaboration led to a bequest, administered by the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, which ensures permanent protection and stewardship of the preserve. Support for the preserve’s expansion and improvements also came from the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, the Town of Ithaca, Tompkins County, the Community Foundation’s Hullar Family Fund, the Fields Pond Foundation, and many community members.
By working cooperatively with landowners and local communities, the Finger Lakes Land Trust has protected over 30,000 acres of the region’s undeveloped lakeshore, rugged gorges, rolling forest, and scenic farmland. The FLLT owns and manages a network of over 45 nature preserves that are open to the public and holds perpetual conservation easements on 179 properties that remain in private ownership.
