NILES - Fred Bertram and Jo Werner picked through the dump of rusted metal and glass containers from a pre-plastic area with hands protected by work gloves.

The bottles and other litter have been undisturbed for years since they were dumped down a roadside's steep slope just a few hundred feet from where Appletree Point Road crosses over the tipping point of Carpenter's Falls into the ravine below.

The largest of the falls, at 90-feet high, shoots out from the surrounding crescent of rock like the concentrated spray of a hose.

Since last year, the falls, named after a distillery owner who used the spot, have been owned and protected by the Finger Lakes Land Trust, which was established in 1989 to conserve land through the establishment of nature preserves and working with property owners who select conservation easements for their private parcels.

Both Bertram, of Moravia, and Werner, of Skaneateles, were among 18 trust volunteers working to clean up the area surrounding the falls and to upgrade the trails leading to the falls Saturday.

Bertram and Werner collected the splintered glass and other refuse to be disposed of away from the dump.

Other volunteers placed donated mulch to better define the footpaths leading to the ravine the Bear Swamp Creek cuts through before emptying into Skaneateles Lake.

Still more volunteers constructed a crossing with culverts over a minor creek that flows with the collective output of nearby road ditches. Most of the improvements were with safety in mind.

It was the first major work upgrading the site since the trust purchased it last year.

For years, sightseers have trespassed on private property to admire and to party at the only major waterfalls in Cayuga County.

Now with the trust's ownership, the property is open to the public.

“We like to say that for generations people have trespassed here and we like to say now it's legitimized (for them to visit),” said Kris Scholl, of Niles, who has been a trust member for 10 years and is the chair of the trust's Eastern Lakes Chapter.

In an effort to reverse littering and partying that can result in degradation to the hemlock- and beech-dominated woods, Scholl and another volunteer who lives nearby visit the falls at least weekly to monitor the area.

He lives so close that if it was possible to traverse the ravine by foot, it would be quicker to walk than drive.

Scholl said there is a “sense of ownership by both local folks and people who come for the summer.”

Three main trails lead from the access point to the falls on Appletree Point Road, a left turn off of Route 41A in Niles.

One of them winds to a view of the falls behind a screen of hemlock trees rooting the entire height of a steep slope that slides down to meet the Bear Swamp Creek.

Bertram, a 15-year member of the trust, said he was glad Saturday was a truly drizzly April day because he would have been tempted to go on the more enjoyable activity of hiking.

Leaves were not out yet, but there was the greenery of fresh ferns and lily-like trilliums that will be blooming in a week or two.

The trust has owned the Bahar natural preserve at the foot of the Bear Swamp Creek ravine since 1998.

They also have a purchase agreement for the property that will connect their Carpenter's Falls property to the Bahar preserve.

When that purchase is completed, they plan to institute a mile-long trail that will run from the 90-foot drop of Carpenter's Falls to the lakeshore.

“This whole area is just so special to keep,” Werner said.

The purpose of Saturday's activity was getting the property ready for a membership field trip next Saturday following a 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. meeting at the Skaneateles Country Club.

The fact that it was Earth Day, an annual celebration of environmental protection of the planet, was incidental but fitting, said Scott Winkelman, an on-and-off volunteer board member with the trust for the past five years.

“Every day is Earth Day,” Winkelman said.

Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net