Our Mission

Welcome to the official blog of the Onondaga Creek Conservation Council. We are a grassroots conservation organization active in Syracuse, New York. Our goal is simple: Conserve what remains of the precious natural resources associated with Onondaga Creek. Since this process is continous and essentially never-ending, we thought it appropriate to share our progress and achievements via this blog.

Over the past several years, the Onondaga Creek Conservation Council has been active in many projects. We have educated over 500 Central New York school children about the history and ecology of Onondaga Creek. We have met with various stakeholders to call for land and water conservation in both urban and rural areas. Through a consensus process, we have created a strategic plan to conserve the character and natural resources of Tully Valley. We have met with local farmers and towns to pursue farmland protection. We have written and submitted the Tully Valley Onondaga Creek Watershed NYS DEC Open Space Plan. In spring of 2009, the plan received formal Open Space designation.

Many people care about Onondaga Creek, and want to make a positive and lasting difference. We invite you to become involved in this collective vision and effort of conserving Onondaga Creek. Please write your thoughts and suggestions. Come to meetings. Lend your environmental enthusiasm and personal expertise. With thoughtful, cooperative, and patient work, and by bringing all sorts of people and entities together, we can conserve farmland, wetlands, and natural open space.

There are many historic examples of severely degraded waterways returning from the brink of utter decimation. Together we can add Onondaga Creek to that list, by treating it as a living thing with its own life history.