A Front-Row View: Montezuma’s New Accessible Wildlife Observation Platform Is Open!

A group of seven people, including RAA's Executive Director, pose to cut a yellow ribbon in front of a ramped viewing platform that has two levels.

We’re thrilled to share some wonderful news from the heart of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex! The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the National Audubon Society have officially opened a much-improved, accessible wildlife observation platform at the Northern Montezuma Wildlife Management Area in Wayne County, just steps from the Montezuma Audubon Center.

The platform is part of a larger accessibility effort across the complex, and Rochester Accessible Adventures (RAA) is proud to be named alongside DEC and the National Audubon Society as a collaborator in that work.

We love this project because both hosts are RAA Inclusion Partners. Montezuma Audubon Center partners with RAA through the On the Canals Accessibility Education Program (AEP), our partnership with the New York Power Authority and the NYS Canal Corporation. NYS DEC Region 8 is an RAA Inclusion Partner as well. Seeing two of our partners come together to open something this meaningful is exactly what inclusion looks like when it takes root.

On Friday, October 9, RAA’s Executive Director, Anita O’Brien, Inclusion Specialist Peyton Sefick, and DirectConnect Coordinator Mary Anne Price joined partners on the platform to cut the ribbon and celebrate.

A small group of people are seated in chairs listening to speaker standing at a podium in front of a two story wildlife viewing platform on a bright sunny day with blue sky and puffy white clouds.

RAA Staff members joined representatives from NYS DEC and Montezuma Audubon Center, as well as members of the community, for comments during the celebration event.

Beyond the Parking Lot — and Into the Details of Nature

Accessibility here doesn’t stop at the parking lot or the front door of the visitor center. It travels all the way out to where the wildlife is.

From the Montezuma Audubon Center, visitors follow an accessible stone dust path about 750 feet through restored forest habitat to a gently graded ramp entrance onto the platform. That means a child who uses a wheelchair, a grandparent with a walker, a parent pushing a stroller, and a birder who has been coming to Montezuma for fifty years can all arrive at the same rail, at the same moment, and watch the same heron lift off the same water.

DEC completed the platform with a $70,000 investment through the State Environmental Protection Fund, and the project complements Governor Kathy Hochul’s “These Lands Are for Everyone” initiative, which invests in inclusive, sensory-friendly, and accessible outdoor experiences across New York State.

This project is an example of both the complexity of the systems that must be navigated to ensure accessibility happens (e.g., land ownership, land management, finding appropriate funding, collaborative build) AND the simplicity of making inclusion happen when there is a strategic plan in place that all parties commit to and work from.

Four people, three standing and one in a power wheelchair, are on a viewing platform looking out across a wide expanse of a nature wildlife area with prairie, water, trees and big blue sky with great puffy white clouds.

RAA Staff members, Mary Anne and Peyton, spend time with Montezuma Audubon Center staff, Cassidy and Abby, during the celebration event.

In Their Words

“Creating meaningful experiences beyond the parking lots is as easy as being intentional about who you expect to be there. We are excited that Montezuma Audubon Center and NYSDEC understand and are committed to ensuring people with disabilities and all of us across our lifespan can explore the absolute beauty of New York’s lands — off roads, on trails, immersed in the smallest details of Nature.” — Anita O’Brien, Founder and Executive Director, Rochester Accessible Adventures

DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton highlighted the 50,000-acre Montezuma Wetlands Complex as one of the Northeast’s best opportunities to protect and restore an extensive wetland system for both wildlife and public enjoyment — and noted that this project gives people of all abilities an opportunity to view bird migration and other wildlife.

Montezuma Audubon Center Director Chris Lajewski described the new platform as an exciting part of a larger effort to improve accessibility at the center and across the complex, with timing that couldn’t be better: fall migration is kicking in right now!

A woman with short red hair and sunglasses with a black vest with RAA's logo is at a podium with the logos of Audubon and NYS DEC; a railing is in the background.

RAA’s Executive Director, Anita O’Brien, speaks from the podium at the ribbon-cutting event of the new viewing platform.

Intentional Inclusion Is the Whole Point

The ribbon-cutting was the perfect time to remind us all of the simple truth that is at the core of RAA’s mission-driven work:

So many curated spaces have built for those who can walk the trail or climb the stairs.  Every one of us is only ever one moment away from needing something different than that. We age. We get injured. We heal slowly. Access to nature isn’t a favor we do for someone else. It’s a promise we make to all of us, including our future selves.

That’s why we’re so grateful to DEC and the National Audubon Society. Inclusion here is being chosen. It is being built into the design. This platform was built on purpose.

And the work doesn’t end when the ribbon is cut. An accessible platform is a beginning. The real promise lives in what comes next: the programs, the invitations, and the welcoming atmosphere that turn a place people can reach into a place people actually come to, again and again, and feel that they belong.

The corner rail of a viewing platform in the foreground with a huge wide-open expanse of prairie, water and trees in the far distance, with blue sky painted with whil puffy clouds.

The view is absolutely stunning! Big sky, prairie, water, trees, and wildlife! A bald eagle was spotted gliding across the treetops during the ceremony.

Plan Your Visit

Fall is a spectacular time to visit. The Montezuma Wetlands Complex sits along one of the most active flight lanes in the Atlantic Flyway, and species of note in the area include Bald Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, Ospreys, Northern Harriers, and Short-eared Owls.

A view from the back side of a wildlife viewing platform surrounded by grass and trees with first signs of autumn in the background.

A view of the platform from the back side. This platform also features a gutter system under the top deck to eliminate rainfall under it so visitors can use it as shelter on rainy days.

Thank You!

A heartfelt thank you to our Inclusion Partners at NYS DEC Region 8 and the Montezuma Audubon Center, and to the National Audubon Society, for leading with intention and for inviting RAA to be part of this work. Thank you as well to the New York Power Authority and the NYS Canal Corporation, whose support of the Accessibility Education Program helps make partnerships like this one possible. You didn’t just build a platform. You built a doorway.

Ready to Explore?

Montezuma Audubon Center and NYS DEC Region 8 are just two of RAA’s Inclusion Partners ready and waiting to welcome you. Looking for more inclusive places to get outside, paddle, bird, and play? The DirectConnect Resource Guide connects you to Inclusion Partners and inclusive recreation opportunities across New York State. Want a hand finding the right fit? Our DirectConnect Coordinator, Mary Anne, is happy to help you plan your next adventure.

#MakeInclusionHappen #TheseLandsAreForEveryone #AccessibleOutdoors #Birdability

Read the Coverage

Official press release:

In the news (October 8, 2026):

  1. FingerLakes1.com — Accessible wildlife platform opens at Northern Montezuma in Wayne County
  2. Finger Lakes Daily News — New Accessible Wildlife Viewing Platform Opens at Montezuma
  3. EIN Presswire — DEC and Montezuma Audubon Center Celebrate Opening of Improved Accessible Wildlife Observation Platform

Event photos: NYSDEC Flickr album

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