HELP PROTECT LITTLE ITALY
“I bought Little Italy to protect it during my lifetime. I donated Little Italy to Genesee Valley Conservancy to protect it forever.”
- Mark Occhioni
What is Little Italy Nature Preserve?
An 70 acre property, home to a former salt mining town in York, Livingston County circa 1890-1923.
An outdoor-classroom used by York Central School to teach students about local history and nature.
A key trail connection between the Groveland Secondary Trail and Genesee Valley Greenway St. Park
The Frank DiMino Foundation has pledged $200,000 towards the stewardship needs of Little Italy Nature Preserve. This generous gift is contingent upon $200,000 in local contributions.
For every dollar donated through the end of 2025, they will match it 100%. This doubles the impact of your contribution. We need to secure $200,000 in local gifts by year-end to meet their generous pledge and close the budget gap for this new nature preserve. Checks/Stock Transfers... any method of giving will get us closer to the goal. Contact John for details 585-243-2190
What are the plans for Little Italy Nature Preserve?
The landowners transitioned ownership to Genesee Valley Conservancy in 2025 to ensure it remains accessible to the community and to faciliate ongoing stewardship of the land.
Increase community use of the property for recreation and education.
Protect and improve the wildlife habitat along and water quality of Bidwell Creek.
Share the cultural history of this Italian mining town with students and visitors.
When making your gift, add a comment on the final page “$x to Stewardship Fund” so we properly allocate and match your gift to this effort!
We ask you to consider a contribution to our Stewardship Fund this year, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar thanks to a $200,000 matching challenge being offered by the Frank DiMino Foundation.
This challenge is being offered to help ensure the permanent protection and stewardship of Little Italy Nature Preserve. Your contribution to the Stewardship Fund will double, but this match ends on 12/31/2025.
Donations to our Stewardship Fund support the costs of owning and maintaining nature preserves like Little Italy. Nature preserves are permanent obligations for the Conservancy that require funding to maintain and improve: annual monitoring to ensure boundaries are maintained, time/tools to keep trails accessible for the public, supplies to build and maintain improvements like bridges, parking areas, and signs, and funding to support invasive species removal efforts and management planning. We also maintain insurance on all preserves to protect these places from legal actions.
When making your gift, add a comment on the final page “$x to Stewardship Fund” so we properly allocate and match your gift to this effort!