Willard Wildlife Management Area

The primary purposes of Willard Wildlife Management Area (WMA) are wildlife management, wildlife habitat management, and wildlife-dependent recreation. Willard WMA land was originally a part of the Willard State Hospital and was managed as farmland. Farm operations were discontinued in 1963 and the land was transferred to DEC for hunting, fishing, and recreational use. Additional, smaller acquisitions have been made since that time, bringing the total property size to 154 acres. 
More than half of Willard WMA is made up of large fields, providing habitat for a variety of upland species, including grassland-dependent birds like Bobolink and Northern Harrier. A small shrubland is maintained around an old apple orchard, and the western portion of the property is an oak-hickory forest. Willard WMA borders Seneca Lake, but shoreline access is limited due to the high shale bluffs..