The
James A. Zaepfel Nature Sanctuary comprises 600 acres, including approximately
350 acres of wetland habitats. The
James A. Zaepfel Nature Sanctuary and Research Center is located in the Town
of Napoli in the western portion of Cattaraugus County, New York.
Cold Spring Creek bisects the property as it flows southward into the
Allegheny River. This portion of
New York State has a rich geologic and cultural history, containing the only
unglaciated landforms in the State and having been the home of a number of
Native American tribes.
The
Zaepfel Center is situated within an area that was covered time and again by
glaciers over the past 100,000 years. These
massive sheets of ice creeping south during the Pleistocene Era created the
wonder that is today the Zaepfel Nature Sanctuary and Research Center.
Approximately 15,900 years ago a glacial advance known as the Kent
Glaciation paused at the present location of Zaepfel.
As one can imagine, the ice sheet would have bulldozed the gravels,
silts and clays up in front as it scoured its way through the valleys.
At the terminal of the advance, this “pile” of material, also known
as a “moraine”, would be left in place, blocking the valley and creating a
dam of ice and debris. As the ice
retreated, this dam would hold back the meltwater, resulting in a shallow
lake. It is the ancient lake
floor and shorelines that today are the Zaepfel Center.