by Andy Zepp, photos by Bill Hecht and Peter Carroll
A shaded path that provides access to a pristine stretch of Cayuga Lake shoreline. The occasional glimpse of a resident bald eagle, merganser or mink. Waterfalls and hidden glens punctuating a line of forested bluffs. Meandering lanes through towering oaks, hickories and maples. These are some of the sights one can experience at Bell Station, a natural area located 15 miles north of Ithaca.
This remarkable place is now conserved and accessible to the public thanks to a collaborative conservation effort involving local citizens, elected officials, grassroots activists, the Finger Lakes Land Trust and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
While it is today cherished as a public conservation area, Bell Station first got the public’s attention back in 1968. That was the year that New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) proposed the location as the site for a nuclear plant. NYSEG had already acquired the land from several lakeshore cottage owners and farm families and already owned the adjacent (and now defunct) Milliken Station coal fired power plant.
The proposal initially gained support from Tompkins County’s board of supervisors, and NYSEG proceeded with the blasting and excavation of an underground chamber at the site. A grassroots effort to oppose the plant soon emerged, however, with a particular focus on how the plant’s discharge of warm water might harm the lake and its well-known fishery. Opposition to the project soon included what was described in the press as “a bristling platoon of Cornell faculty.”
NYSEG announced its decision to abandon plans for a nuclear plant at Bell Station in 1973. For decades after that, the area was known for its wild stretch of shoreline and as a good place to go fishing or lounge on a boat.
In recent years, Bell Station has again been the focus of conservationists as the region’s undeveloped shoreline has dwindled. This 480-acre parcel soon became recognized for the natural resource and recreational values associated with the largest stretch of privately owned shoreline remaining in the Finger Lakes.
The FLLT and DEC forged a partnership to pursue acquisition of the land to create a public wildlife management area. A decade of courting NYSEG yielded lots of conversations, but no deal. Then, a shock to those seeking conservation of the area – in 2021, NYSEG announced its intention to sell the entire property to the highest bidder through an internet-based auction.
As the auction date of October 11 drew near, local citizens, activists and elected officials all implored newly ascended Governor Kathy Hochul to convince NYSEG to cancel the auction. Just a few weeks before the auction date, the governor announced that she had secured an agreement from NYSEG to cancel the auction and negotiate directly with the FLLT for a sale of the property that would lead to the creation of a wildlife management area on the shoreline portion of the property.
Just two months later, a deal was in hand and the FLLT completed the purchase of the property during the first part of 2022. Improvements to the site’s existing trails were completed and Bell Station was subsequently opened to the public. It has rapidly become a popular destination for hikers, fishers, hunters, paddlers, wildlife watchers and those seeking a quiet spot to look out over Cayuga Lake.
Since the initial acquisition, the Land Trust has acquired 110 adjacent acres that will be added to the wildlife management area in the future. This property includes the former Cedar View Golf Course – now a habitat for grassland birds that has been enhanced through a partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. On several agricultural fields that are part of the Bell Station property, the FLLT is exploring the feasibility of developing a research site to test alternatives for accommodating both agriculture and solar energy production at the same location.
In the 55 years since a nuclear plant was proposed at Bell Station, a lot has changed in the Finger Lakes – undeveloped shoreline has become rare on our lakes, and communities like Ithaca have grown considerably. But thanks to all those who spoke up for this special place, a visit to Bell Station can still provide the timeless thrill of startling a flock of ducks in the early morning or catching a fish at sunset.
For information about visiting Bell Station, visit gofingerlakes.org/bell-station.
