Andy Zepp from the Finger Lakes Land Trust came to talk at the final Rose Café of the year. In this talk, he spoke about what he does around the Finger Lakes Area. Although I was only able to stay halfway through, I admire what he does and how he helps the Finger Lakes stay in the best shape possible. I found his talk very interesting for the main reason that he developed a love for nature once getting to Ithaca. I can completely relate to this. Before coming to Ithaca, I didn’t do much outdoors. I would go for runs, but never really appreciate what is all around me. Since coming to Ithaca, this has completely changed. A day does not go by without me realizing how beautiful of a place we live in and how lucky we are. When I can, I enjoy getting off campus and finding some of these beautiful places we are so lucky to have. Because of this, what Andy and the Land Trust does is so important. They work to protect this area and all aspects of it. Without Andy and his team, many of the places we get to hike through would not be accessible to us or might even be destroyed in later years. The Finger Lakes trail is an absolutely beautiful place to spend some time. Having so many beautiful places so close to Cornell makes it standout from other college campuses and makes Ithaca such a special and important place.