Home » News » NY Will Make Largest Return of Land to Indigenous People After Historic Agreement – ​​NBC4 New York

NY Will Make Largest Return of Land to Indigenous People After Historic Agreement – ​​NBC4 New York

New York will return more than 1,000 acres of land, one of the largest land returns of any state to an indigenous people.

This is due to a landmark agreement as part of the Lake Onondaga Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program, Governor Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday, along with Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior Deb Haaland and the Onondaga Nation, Tadodaho Sidney Hill.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service signed a resolution directing Honeywell to transfer title to more than 1,000 acres of open space in Tully Valley in central New York , to the Onondaga Nation.

“Today is a historic day for New York State, the Biden Administration and our many partners in respecting and recognizing the Onondaga Nation as the original stewards of these lands and waters,” Governor Hochul said. “This picturesque Tully Valley location will be owned by the Nation and its people to continue its conservation legacy that will protect these cultural and ecological resources for the benefit of the Nation’s citizens and all New Yorkers for generations to come.”

The landmark agreement is the result of the March 2018 NRDAR agreement between the Trustees and Honeywell International, Inc., and will transfer title to the land from Honeywell to the Onondaga Nation to restore and manage the property using Traditional Ecological Knowledge ( TEK), historical cultural practices, and sound science.

The Tully Valley property includes the headwaters of Onondaga Creek, more than 45 acres of wetlands and floodplains, and approximately 980 acres of succession forests and fields. The cool waters of Onondaga Creek support a small population of brook trout, which can be fully restored with proper management. Wetlands, floodplains, forests, and fields are home to wildlife such as great blue herons, songbirds, waterfowl, hawks, bald eagles, frogs, bats, and other mammals, including white-tailed deer.

The federal-nation-state partnership that led to the return of this property to the Onondaga people will include a conservation easement with DEC. The easement will protect and restore natural areas, including fish and wildlife habitats, and allow compatible outdoor recreational and educational uses, including public access to Fellows Falls.

The Onondaga Nation will develop a Restoration Management Plan, in consultation with the Trustees, to determine the type and extent of recreational and public use that will not interfere with the Nation’s re-establishment of culturally and ecologically significant native vegetation and habitats.

The Trustees’ funding and implementation of the NRDAR projects is the result of the legal settlement with Honeywell following the earlier release of included mercury and other hazardous substances into Lake Onondaga, its tributaries and uplands. As part of the Lake Onondaga NRDAR process, USFWS and DEC assessed contaminant-related injuries to natural resources, such as waterfowl and turtles, and quantified the loss of use of natural resources to the public, such as fishing. The agencies then solicited restoration project ideas from a wide variety of stakeholders and the Onondaga Nation to identify the types and scale of restoration needed to offset those natural resource damages, as well as projects that could help address the cultural losses of the Nation and its citizens.

The settlement requires Honeywell International to implement 18 restoration projects, including the Tully Valley land transfer announced Wednesday, and pay more than $5 million for trustees to implement additional restoration projects in the Onondaga Lake watershed and its surrounding areas. surroundings. Projects completed or in process include 100 acres of grassland restoration; preservation and restoration of an additional 850 acres of habitat within the Onondaga Lake watershed; a public boat ramp along the Seneca River; improved habitat and fishing opportunities along the shorelines of Lake Onondaga and in Ninemile Creek; a public boat ramp along the Seneca River; an extension of the Empire State Trail from Camillus to Harbor Brook; and the transfer of the Honeywell Visitor Center to the State.

Copies of the Restoration Plan can be found for Lake Onondaga on the USFWS website. For more information on the Onondaga Lake cleanup, visit here.

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