Friends of Great Bear

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Friends of Great Bear is made up of residents interested in the conservation and protection of the Great Bear Recreation Area. In cooperation with the City of Fulton, Town of Volney and CNY Land Trust, we are advocates for the preservation and protection of this natural environment, while providing a great recreational resource.  

Since 2007, we have built many bridges crossing small streams. We have carried in tons of gravel to help mitigate the mud in the low spots. We have helped preserve the canal guard lock and built the steps adjacent to it to stop erosion. We have maintained all trails including fallen tree removal, drainage improvements and cutting back brush. We've even made some new trails. We also marked several trail loops and posted a map and other information at the trailhead.  

Some of the new trails we have built include the handicap accessible Apple trail, the Drumlins trails, and the Dear Run and 440 trails which created a new loop without having to use the stream bed and road in the northwest end.

The biggest project was helping raise funds to save Whiskey Island and Northern Great Bear. The property came up for sale and could have been lost but thanks to many individuals and organizations it is now part of Great Bear forever.

Over the years, several scouts have done their Eagle Scout projects at Great Bear. Some of these projects include building the kiosk, a handicapped access picnic table, benches and several puncheon/bog bridges. The picture above is from one such project.