The Finger Lakes Land Trust announced Monday it has purchased 39 wooded acres near its Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve in the town of Dryden from Charles Pearman, who has also donated a conservation easement on an adjacent 11 acres.

The Land Trust had made protecting the land a priority because of its woodlands on both banks of a Cascadilla Creek tributary and because it borders Cornell University's Durland Bird Sanctuary and forest owned by the Saltonstall Foundation artists' retreat. The Land Trust said it paid significantly less for the property than its estimated fair market value. The acquisition will be known as the Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve - Pearman Woods.

"This property is part of growing network of conserved forest land on the north side of Ellis Hollow," says Land Trust executive director Andrew Zepp. "Uncommon birds such as the winter wren can be found here and the protection of this land will help ensure water quality within Cascadilla Creek. We're very grateful to Charles Pearman for his commitment to the land as he could have gotten far more money if he had sold the property for development."

Pearman's easement on the 11 adjacent acres includes a scenic meadow on Ellis Hollow Creek Road while allowing the development of a single home on a designated portion of the land. These are the Land Trust's sixth protection projects in Ellis Hollow and put the preserve at 159 acres, in addition to easements on several forest parcels and on wetlands bordering Cascadilla Creek.

The Land Trust has launched a $90,000 fundraising campaign to cover costs relating to the acquisition and associated conservation easement. Lead gifts have already been secured from the Park Legacy Fund - a grant made by Dorothy Park to the Land Trust in support of land conservation within the Cayuga Lake Watershed, and an allocation from an existing natural areas acquisition grant from Cornell University.