ENFIELD, NY (607NewsNow) – A water quality improvement project in Enfield is complete.

On December 9, the Finger Lakes Land Trust (FLLT) announced the recent planting of 575 native trees and shrubs on a 25-acre property in the Ithaca-based conservation group’s Lower Nature Preserve.

FLLT associate working on tree and shrub plantings. Credit: FLLT/Jeff Katris

Located on Iradell Road in a former corn field bordering Taughannock Creek, the plantings will reduce stormwater flow and erosion, filter pollutants, and provide habitat and food sources for wildlife. The species planted include black cherry, shagbark hickory, sycamore, elderberry, and gray dogwood.

It’s FLLT’s fifth restoration project to create stream buffers in the Cayuga Lake Watershed. Over the last five years, FLLT and partners have planted over 10,000 trees and shrubs in the region.