Schoolteacher's 128-acre retreat joins wildlife corridor; easement protects forests, wetlands and stream

When life doesn't give you time to breathe, you tend to look out for space to do the same yourself, deliberately. For Jeanne Paisley, a schoolteacher with three kids and a half-hour daily commute, there was a consistent wish for some room to breathe. According to The Land Steward, the Spring 2013 newsletter of the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Paisley had bought 128 acres of forests, fields and wetlands in the town of Richford in Tioga County, New York.A campsite she couldn't forgetIt all began with a family road trip. Paisley and her husband lived on Long Island and had no summer work. Thus, the couple decided to buy a tent and took their three children on a trip all over the United States and Canada. When they returned to New York, they chanced upon this land and the family agreed it was the best campsite they had ever seen.The land suited her job as well. The drive to Paisley's school was just half an hour and she liked the setting. She recalled seeing red salamanders in the driveway when they first arrived at the site. And what made her especially glad was that there, no neighbour would ask her to mow her lawn. For her, the appeal was natural beauty and the freedom to leave nature a...