The primary purposes of Squaw Island Wildlife Management Area (WMA) are wildlife management, wildlife habitat management, and wildlife-dependent recreation. A sign overlooking Squaw Island at the end of the Canandaigua City Pier describes the island, at less than a quarter-acre in size, as the smallest State Park in the New York. It may be better thought of as the smallest Wildlife Management Area in the state, as it is under the jurisdiction of DEC's Bureau of Wildlife, even though it is technically designated a Unique Area. It has gained some level of notoriety as being one of only a few places worldwide where one can find "water biscuits". These flat, whitish cakes of lime, form when the lime falls out of solution in the water and is deposited over small objects such as pebbles or twigs. Squaw Island, once a popular picnic and day trip destination, has gradually been reduced in size by wave action from two acres to its present one-fifth acre. In recent times, projects have been undertaken to protect its eroding southern shoreline.