The speaker at the last Rose Café was Andy Zepp and the topic, the Finger Lakes Land maintenance and Trust. I learned that there is a lot to consider when managing these lands, and a lot more work that FLL staff do than simple “maintenance” implies. Apparently staff have to consider both public access and sentiment when deciding how to regulate land access, one of several jobs I hadn’t considered that FLL and Cornell Plantation staff have. Other such jobs included their responsibilities to both the land and people as well as fundraising. I left with a better understanding of Ithaca’s conservation efforts, and realized that Ithaca is not an anomaly as I once thought. Coming from the city, being environmentally friendly is sometimes presented as an option, a hobby, or impressive, so seeing compost bins daily and such beautiful landscape, I thought Ithaca was “special”, but what I learned is that it’s not. Instead why newcomers may have that perception is because locals are so invested in the well-being of their land, and they show it. I think Ithaca is a great place to build a desire to care for the community, land and people, as well as to get the resources to do so knowledgeably.