Archive: News

To the anointed who know about Salt Point, it's a great place.  It's on the lake, there is plenty of space to hike or picnic.  And it is unsupervised, which, on the down side, attracts crime and loud parties.  And litter.  Saturday a small group of people who love the area came to clean it up.  "It's a place where people get access to the lake, where it's not currently supervised, says Cayuga Lake Watershed Network's Sharon Anderson.  "There's a lot of bonfires and parties and picnicking in a little more uncontrolled way than places like Myers Park or Stewart Park."

"It's a nation-wide effort through the Coastal America program, and locally through the American Littoral Society," Anderson says.  People all over America come to local beaches to pick up litter.  "The American Littoral Society wants us to record what we pick up," Anderson says.  "They have a data sheet with a list of different items.  The hope in doing this is that instead of just picking up trash they can educate people so there isn't as much trash in the future."

This is the third year Cayuga Lake Watershed Network has been involved in the effort.  Each year the event attracts a small, stalwart group to Salt point in what seems like a hopeless task.  But that will be changing as the Town of Lansing begins to put its management plan into effect.  This year the Town signed a lease with the New York Department of Conservation so that it can restore and manage the area.  The park will be gated at night, and access will be limited.  Hiking trails will replace dirt roads that currently criss-cross the area, and the eventual plan is to attract native birds that used to come to Salt Point.  Town officials expect that will make the area safer and cleaner.


"I think it's wonderful that the Town is taking it over," Anderson says.  "There are times when I come down here and turn around and say, hmmm, maybe not today.  I don't necessarily, as a person here by herself, feel comfortable.  And over time I hope there will be some trails on the up slope, away from the lake.  That will be great because I live in Ludlowville, and one of the things I wish there was more of is hiking, walking opportunities that are close by without having to travel."

Lansing resident Linda Westlake agrees.  "It's a nice spot, and if it could be turned into something that more people could have access to and enjoy, maybe a quiet spot to come to, that would be a good thing," she says.  Westlake's home is on the lake, and she sometimes kayaks to Salt Point.  As a member of Cayuga Lake Watershed network, she heard about the cleanup through their newsletter.  "I live on the lake, so I'm just interested in preserving the lake," she says.  "I come down here by boat sometimes, and sometimes to the park.  I think it's a nice spot and I'd like to do what I can to improve it."

Anderson checked out the area a few days before the cleanup.  "It looked a little bit less trashy than previously," she said.  "We do know there are local people here that live near Myers that are good at coming down just as individuals with trash bags and picking things up.  We appreciate that.  That's a great thing."


Anderson met volunteers at the entrance to the park with trash bags, protective gloves and the American Littoral Society's data sheets.  They concentrated on the shore line, picking up trash mainly by hand.  Anderson says that she hopes when the Town begins managing the area that it will cut down on litter, but not on people using the area.  "Many people don't know that its here," she says.  Among other things there will be more publicity.  I'm glad that there's still going to be access for people here.  I think it's really important.  So much of the lake shore is privately owned.  It's nice to have a place where people can come and relax and have free access to the lake."

The Cayuga Lake Watershed Network participates in other cleanups through the year, including one at Fall Creek, and a new one in the Cayuga Lake inlet.  Anderson says that even with Town management there is likely to be some trash.  She says will be back for another cleanup next year.

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