The Finger Lakes region of New York is undergoing a significant morphological transformation characterized by "amenity-driven sprawl"—low-density residential development occurring far from established urban infrastructure. This trend poses a critical threat to contiguous forest ecosystems and regional water quality. Traditional demographic analyses, reliant on decadal census tracts, lack the spatial granularity required to detect disjointed "leapfrog" development patterns in rural landscapes. This study utilizes annual time-series data from the US Forest Service Landscape Change Monitoring System (LCMS) to quantify land use change in the Finger Lakes region from 1990 to 2023. By applying a density-based neighborhood analysis (Angel et al., 2007), we differentiated between "smart growth" (urban extension) and "leapfrog sprawl" (isolated development). Results indicate a persistent acceleration in land conversion; while the regional population has stabilized, the footprint of developed land has increased by 42% (+136,797 acres) since 1990. Spatial analysis reveals that 80% of the region's infrastructure is now located greater than 1,000 meters from urban cores, confirming a dispersed development topology. While total forest acreage remains statistically stable due to agricultural succession, the rate of new development has outpaced forest regeneration by a factor of four since 2013. To translate these findings into conservation action, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) model was developed. This prioritization framework identified 1,022 acres of high-value contiguous forest currently facing immediate fragmentation threats ("Tier 1"). These findings provide the Finger Lakes Land Trust and other land use planners with a spatially explicit roadmap for land conservation, and can inform a shift of resources from opportunistic preservation to targeted strategic intervention.