BVA connects people to place through community, conservation, and creativity.

A group of engaged volunteers, BVA works to enhance quality of life in the Butternut Valley—an area of western Otsego County along the Butternut Creek Watershed connecting rural towns, hamlets, and villages from its headwaters near Basswood Pond in Burlington south to its confluence with the Unadilla River near Mount Upton. The main community hubs in the region are the villages of Morris and Gilbertsville.

Recent BVA initiatives include recruiting Sidney Federal Credit Union (SFCU) to open a full-service branch in Morris to prevent a banking desert after Community Bank’s closure in 2024, and leading NY Forward grant applications that may bring a total of $9 million in revitalization funding to Morris and Gilbertsville.

The organization also advances conservation projects that protect the Butternut Creek Watershed and fosters community through events such as the Summer Harvest Festival and Gravel Grinder, On the Trail of Art, the Friendsgiving Fundraiser, and the Fun Creek Float. It also offers educational programs on the environment, history, and culture of the Butternut Valley; organizes volunteer trail and creek clean-ups throughout the year; and sponsors the annual Visionary Scholar Award for high school seniors living in the Butternut Valley.

BVA is a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation. Your donation is tax-deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.

BVA Leadership