Savannah, NY - Black terns have joined a growing list of species considered “vulnerable” that have been sighted at the Seneca Meadows Wetland Preserve, a restored wetland and grassland site nominated as a New York Important Bird Area.

Despite its bucolic name, Seneca Meadows, Inc. owns the largest active landfill in New York State. In 2007 Seneca Meadows created the 600-acre wetland preserve as part of a mitigation measure to replace 70 acres of wetlands destroyed by a 178-acre expansion of the landfill. In 2024 the Montezuma Audubon Center (MAC) is scheduled to take over stewardship of the preserve.

“Seneca Meadows went above and beyond what they needed to do when they created this wetland preserve,” said Christopher Lajewski, Director of MAC. Marcy Neumire is the Public Relations Coordinator at Seneca Meadows. She said originally they expected a smaller project, since the state standard for mitigation was 3:1. Applied Ecological Services (AES), who were in charge of the work, suggested a more ambitious project could have a large impact given its proximity to the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. 

“This is actually the signature piece for AES,” Neumire said, and the largest restoration project they have ever done. On the preserve, 157 acres of wooded wetlands were restored using invasive-species management and plantings. Four hundred nineteen acres of wetland were created by altering hydrology and with plantings. The final twenty-four acres are restored grassland. “Watching the transition from farm fields with corn and crows to robust wetlands and native meadows teeming with hundreds of different plant and animal species has been a highlight in my career,” said Mike McGraw, a wildlife biologist with AES.

McGraw sighted the black tern during a survey this summer and suspected that breeding terns from the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge were using the preserve for foraging. Black terns need freshwater marshes and are classified as endangered in New York State. Other significant species that have used the site include pied-billed grebes, least bitterns, short-eared owls, and mole salamanders.

“Broadly, wetlands and grasslands have historically not been considered important habitat,” Lajewski explained. Since most grasslands in New York state have been converted to agriculture or have reverted to forests over the last century, few examples of true grassland habitat remain. Grassland species that have declined significantly in the state include bobolinks, grasshopper sparrows, and savannah sparrows. 

Grasslands must be maintained by periodic mowing or burning. Lajewski noted that there was evidence that local native people burned some areas to create or maintain open hunting grounds and clearings. Invasive species need to be controlled because without natural controls they can rapidly take over open habitats. AES manages the preserve now, but MAC will take over these duties when the transfer happens. Lajewski said that MAC currently manages habitat throughout the Montezuma Wetland Complex.

The Montezuma Wetlands Complex covers 50,000 acres and includes the Northern Montezuma Wildlife Management Area, the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, and other land owned by other conservation groups or by private landowners. Hundreds of thousands of birds migrate through, and Lajewski said that upwards of 300 species are seen throughout the year.   

The Seneca Meadows Wetland Preserve provides an array of habitats for species that are found in nearby Montezuma, but it also provides something else: a source of seeds. For the last three years, MAC has taken volunteers out to the preserve in late summer and fall to gather up the bounty. On Aug. 30, 88 first-year students at Hobart and William Smith have signed up for plant collection at the preserve to fulfill their day-of-service requirement.

Some of these plants, while important ecologically, might escape the notice of visitors. “There are quite a variety of sedges and rushes,” said Lajewski. Little and big blue-stem grasses are important plants for grasslands. Other species draw attention to themselves. “Arrowhead and pickerelweed in particular are quite showy in wetlands,” he said. Collected seed is then used to restore similar habitat in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. Lajewski estimated that the multiple pounds of seed they gather would cost thousands of dollars to purchase.

The benefit does not come completely without a cost. Katie Bennet Roll is an officer at the Finger Lakes Zero Waste Coalition and president of the Concerned Citizens of Seneca County, which she describes as “a group that’s been battling Seneca Meadows over several different issues in the past six years.” She cautioned, “Seneca Meadows’ parent company is a publicly traded corporation which, by definition, cannot legally do true philanthropy such as habitat restoration (for black terns or other wildlife), unless this project is calculated to increase shareholder value, which in this case means creating a more favorable public image so that they can, for example, win approval of their next expansion and continue to bury 6,000 tons of trash in Seneca County every day.” •