Unadilla River Headwaters

In addition to epitomizing our agricultural heritage, these farms play a key role in maintaining the regions biological diversity. The northern part of the Unadilla Headwaters is within an area identified by the State Department of Environmental Conservation as supporting several species of birds in need of focused conservation efforts. The open fields provide important nesting area for upland sandpipers and northern harriers—both listed as threatened in New York State—and provides wintering habitat for the endangered short-eared owl. Known as the "shorebird of the prairie," the upland sandpiper has experienced particularly drastic declines in recent decades as farm fields and grasslands have been lost to development.

Spanning the corners of Otsego, Herkimer and Oneida Counties, the Unadilla Headwaters also presents a unique opportunity to cooperate with our neighbors to the north and to create an expanding network of conservation lands that stitches together the fabric of central New York.