The Tablelands at Uihlein Farm: Current Ecological Survey, Grassland Bird Potential, and Future Recommendations 2020

Adirondack Watershed Institute

Michale Glennon, Adelaide Balliett, McKenzie Kelly, & Ray Curran

In 2020, the Henry Uihlein II and Mildred A. Uihlein Foundation Trust (Uihlein Foundation) acquired a parcel of land totaling approximately 428 acres, previously donated to Cornell University and used for potato production and research until its transfer back to the Uihlein Foundation. Formerly Tablelands Farm and purchased in 1906 by the Lake Placid Club, the farm was one of several which supplied the dining rooms of the Club and provided dairy products, poultry, beef, and fresh produce including potatoes. Purchased by Henry and Mildred Uihlein in 1949 to add to the Heaven Hill estate, and donated to Cornell University in 1961 to establish a research potato seed farm, it remained with Cornell until its transfer back to the Uihlein Foundation this year (Lake Placid-North-Elba Historical Society 2020). This parcel, which we have often referred to as “the potato field,” was the subject of research by the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI), in partnership with the Uihlein Foundation, during summer 2020.

AWI has been working with the Uihlein Foundation since 2019 to examine how bobolinks and other bird species respond to management practices in hay fields on Heaven Hill Farm, an adjacent parcel across Bear Cub Lane in Lake Placid, NY. These efforts are focused primarily on grassland specialist bird species including the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis). These species depend on grassland habitat for successful breeding and are often found in hay meadows and pastures in the Northeast US in part due to the dearth of natural grassland habitat. As a group, grassland birds are one of the most imperiled on the continent, primarily as a result of long-term habitat loss and fragmentation combined with intensifying agricultural production on remaining farmlands.

Heaven Hill Farm fields are currently managed for forage production for a herd of cattle. The Uihlein Farm was used to grow potatoes and the land was terraced and drained to facilitate the scientific studies undertaken there by Cornell University, but all potato cultivation ceased by 2017. Because this former agricultural parcel will no longer be cultivated to the same extent, the potato fields, hereafter referred to as the Tablelands at Uihlein Farm, provide an opportunity for future grassland bird conservation as well as a variety of education and interpretation activities. For both the Heaven Hill Field and the Tablelands, the Uihlein Foundation will develop ideas for future management consistent with its mission, which includes scientific and educational uses related to forests and farming. Many people and organizations are invited to use these lands and nature observation is of interest to many of the recreational users. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to build on our work at Heaven Hill and to expand our partnership with the Uihlein Foundation through efforts to document wildlife and ecological characteristics at the Tablelands to provide a basis for future restoration and management of those lands for grassland birds and other species.