Restoring Habitats, Restoring Hope

Fall 2021

It’s easy these days to feel worry, anxiety, and even hopelessness about our future. The problems we face in society and the natural environment we all depend on are colossal in scale and intricate in complexity. Yet here at the Pound Ridge Land Conservancy we believe the remedy for worry is work, the cure for anxiety is action, and the antidote for hopelessness is consistently pursuing our goals.

Across the nation, the land trust community is playing a critical role in achieving the 30 x 30 goal - to preserve 30% of our land in the United States by 2030 - the minimum amount needed to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. At the end of 2020, the amount of preserved land in the US was 12%, meaning we have nine years to preserve the additional 18%! What are we up against? According to the Land Trust Alliance, “From 2001 to 2017, new development in the United States claimed 25 million acres of natural land. This is the equivalent of losing an area the size of a football field every 30 seconds, every day." Local action by land trusts and other conservation organizations, aggregated across the country, are making an impact in this fight.

PRLC is the third largest landowner in Pound Ridge, protecting 560 acres through preserves and easements. That’s 560 acres of protected land by a local organization committed to long term stewardship. But it is not just the amount of land that is important – it’s the strategic location. Our preserves and easements form critical links in connecting other open spaces.

Acquired in 2019, our Olesen Preserve is only six acres in size but that six acres was the link needed to create a corridor of open space spanning 1,800 acres! The quality of the land matters too. After each acquisition our work continues. In less than two years we removed all the major invasive plants from the Olesen Preserve while also committing to the task of habitat restoration with over 300 plantings of native trees and shrubs, and six wood duck nesting boxes installed. And the restoration work will continue.

This year at the Armstrong Preserve, we converted what was a degraded monoculture of Japanese barberry into a native meadow where we have cataloged 40 different species in its first year and nearly doubled the size of the existing meadow. All our habitat restoration work increases the ecological resilience of our landscape that will allow it to adapt to future changes. In other words, preserving and restoring habitat for native plants and animals to thrive secures clean air, water, and health for our children. So, I ask each of you reading this right now, will you join us? Small actions, consistently made in the right direction, restore hope in a bright future.

-Andrew Morgan, Land Steward and Program Director, PRLC

President’s Message: 30 x 30

The UN Climate meeting in October in London highlighted that the massive species die-off is as great a threat to climate change as is carbon dioxide. Life controls the temperature of the earth; since multicellular life appeared 600 million years ago our planet’s temperature has fluctuated in a narrow band around 70 degrees. The more diverse that life is the better it is at mitigating climate change. We can help bolster biodiversity in Pound Ridge by avoiding the use of herbicides and pesticides, by reducing the size of our lawns, by planting trees, by removing invasive plants and replacing them with native plants.

We can also help by permanently preserving land, especially large parcels of land that are adjacent to already preserved land such as nature preserves, Town land, water company land or the Pound Ridge Reservation. The 30 x 30 movement aims to increase the proportion of preserved land in the US from 12% currently to 30% by 2030. Pound Ridge has the best biodiversity and the most resilience to climate change of any town in Westchester because almost half of our land is permanently preserved. The larger the contiguous preserved space is, the less the human impact, the greater the effect. We hope that you will help this vital effort by donating your land to or creating a conservation easement with the Pound Ridge Land Conservancy.

It looks likely that early next year we will acquire a new preserve adjacent to the Della Torre Preserve off Hackgreen Road. Its forest is rich in deciduous tree species and it has nearly pristine wetlands. This property is next to 500 acres of Acquarion land including the Siscowit Reservoir. Preserving it will help protect a vital watershed that provides water for Stamford.

Our long awaited bridge between the two ponds at the front of Halle and trail extension are now complete (see photo). We had hoped to complete it last year, but the beavers who moved into the front pond had other ideas. The grassy approaches to the bridge offer excellent viewing of the birds and other animals in the ponds. We hope to install a bench there next year. Our thanks to Ken Okamoto for his gorgeous plans, Josh Fischer for his master craftsmanship and Andrew Morgan for managing our beaver neighbors and for creating the new trail extension.

PRLC was invited by the Land Trust Alliance to submit an application in 2022 to become accredited. Accreditation means we will meet the LTA's tough standards for governance, finances, documentation and land acquisition policies. Becoming accredited will make us a more robust organization, one forever. capable of delivering on our motto to preserve Pound Ridge land forever.

The PRLC is looking for new board members. Two of our board members moved out of town this year. If you are interested in learning more about the PRLC and potentially joining our board, please contact us at info@prlc.net.

You already know that the work of PRLC is important. Many of you are already member-supporters. We need all of you to renew your membership today, with your tax deductible contribution at whatever level you can afford. If you have not previously contributed, we urge you to do so now, and become a member of this vital organization. All of our efforts - to protect native plants from deer browse, to commission professional management plans for all of our preserves, to build and maintain our kiosks, bridges and trails, to purchase and install signage for your education and enjoyment, and more – cost money. PRLC has an all-volunteer board, but we still have expenses. We are entirely contribution supported, and while we receive assistance from our grant partners for specific projects we need your help. Please give generously!

Your gifts will be amplified again this year because a committed supporter has offered to match the first $20,000 of donations that we receive through the end of 2021.

-Mike Kagan, President, PRLC