Leading Democrats say they would like to return Maple Bay to the Onondaga Nation, following up on promises made by a past configuration of the Onondaga County Legislature and County Executive Ryan McMahon.  But Majority Leader Nodesia Hernandez said it is not just in the legislature’s power t o do so. A number of obstacles appear to stand in their way — most of which would be cleared with a deal between McMahon and the Nation.  Legislature Democrats have spent some of their first months since the election talking to the Nation about the potential return of Maple Bay, though those meetings have revolved around the history of the land without clear plans of how to move forward.  “We can pass a resolution advising that land transfer, but we have to remember, even though we have the majority, it still needs to get signed at the top,” Hernandez said. “It’s not just about the Democratic caucus.”  One of the potential holdups for the transfer is Maple Bay’s status as part of the county’s parkland. Changing that designation would require legislative action from the New York State Legislature and the green light from Gov. Kathy Hochul. County legislators first committed to returning land to the Nation in 2011, passing a non-binding resolution to transfer Murphy’s Island to the Onondaga for “traditional uses.” When that land turned out to be too polluted, the legislature passed a resolution in 2016 in which they committed to returning Maple Bay.  During the 2025 election, a majority of the now-serving Onondaga County legislators said they were open to seeing how the twice-made promise to return land on Onondaga Lake to the Onondaga Nation could be fulfilled. Despite that, all communication between the county and the Nation has ceased, said Justin Sayles, a spokesman for McMahon.  Further conversations are “not warranted” as the Nation has not made a commitment to paying taxes to the county nor has the Nation refused to sue the county in the future, Sayles said. McMahon has alleged the Nation owes $1.3 million in back taxes to the county. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has twice ruled the counties can’t bring the nations into state court and lesser courts have delivered concurrent decisions, said Nation counsel Joe Heath. Heath said he doesn’t expect Democrats to immediately demand the county executive’s office to give back the land.  “But at least we now have folks who understand that this was their resolution, and that they have some responsibility and authority to see how it can be moved forward,” Heath said.  One of the key roadblocks to turning Maple Bay over to the Onondaga Nation is the parkland alienation and conversion process. The land would be subject to the alienation process just as any other municipal park in the state. It would also be required to undergo the conversion process because the county received state and federal money to make improvements to the parkland, said Dan Keefe, a spokesperson for the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Those processes would require action from state lawmakers. Heath called the parkland designation a “straw issue.” He said that the Nation would be able to petition the state to remove Maple Bay from that designation, calling the issue “more of an administrative change, and not a significant roadblock.”  Part of that process, Heath said, would include showing that the land would be preserved, restored, and protected, which the Onondaga Nation already plans to do. “I would submit that how that would be done is a very minor issue, compared with all the historic, cultural and spiritual issues and connections with their sacred Lake,” said Heath. The county and the Nation have discussed parkland alienation in previous conversations, Heath and Sayles said. If they can come to an agreement, both parties might have a potential sponsor in Albany. State Sen. Chris Ryan would be open to advancing a parkland alienation request if the Nation and county came to an agreement, said Brooke Schneider, a spokesperson for Ryan.  The state senate’s 50th district, represented by Ryan, includes Maple Bay.  “That local agreement would need to outline the terms and intent of the transfer before any state legislative action could be considered,” Schneider said.  Alma Lowry, an environmental lawyer who works with the Nation, said the Nation would consider pursuing an exception to parkland alienation rules. The rules, which are designed to protect public access to parkland, could be muddied by one government transferring the land to another. “If the Nation agreed to continue to allow public access to Maple Bay most of the time and essentially operated the property as a recreational space with the exception of ceremony days, legislation might not be needed,” said Lowry.  Heath was adamant that any difficulties related to parkland alienation could be solved with discussion between the county, state and Nation.  Hernandez said she hoped to speak to both the county executive and Republicans in the legislature to find a path forward. She is planning to hold town halls to hear from members of the Onondaga Nation about the potential land transfer.  The Nation, however, will wait to see how the Democratic legislature moves through its first and possibly only year in power.  “They keep trying to avoid the simple realities,” Heath wrote about county officials in an email to Central Current. “The legislature passed 2 resolutions. Joanie [Mahoney] publicly promised to carry those out, and McMahon made personal promises to Tadodaho and Betty Lyons. Either these get added to the already infinite list of broken promises, or it is time to do the right thing.” The post A majority of Onondaga County legislators want to help transfer Maple Bay. Here’s what’s standing in their way appeared first on Central Current. ...read more read less