Dear Friends,
Protecting and caring for almost 8,000 acres of natural lands that are open 365 days a year is no small task. Add to that the fact that during the last 365 days our nature preserves and trails have seen, and continue to see, unprecedented increased use, and you have quite a challenge on your hands!
The Conservancy’s staff and board embrace this challenge and feel a huge commitment to serve our community as an essential service – ensuring that our preserves and trails are maintained and safe, but we need your help. We want each of you, whether you are new or familiar to our trails, to feel welcome to our 47 nature preserves, but to also feel a sense of responsibility to steward these incredible natural places.
That is where a simple step like joining the Conservancy as a member with a gift each spring becomes so important. Our ability to protect more natural land and keep our existing preserves open and accessible is directly related to your membership. Your support, whether through the gift of time as a volunteer or financial support as a member, ensures that we have the necessary infrastructure – parking lots, signs, blazes, and trails – for our community to enjoy these incredible nature preserves while also protecting the trees, streams, and unique ecosystems of these special places.
| Your membership to the Conservancy will help us respond to the continued and growing demand for open space and trails (our preserves are busier this April than the same time last year – during the height of the shutdown)! Significant trail projects at Climbers Run, Tucquan Glen & Pyfer, Welsh Mountain, House Rock, and Hellam Hills, are planned and your support is needed now to both create and re-build these trails that will provide opportunities for all members of our community to enjoy the peace and profound beauty of nature!
You understand the important role that trails and outdoor access for all play in building a community that values conservation and the environment. I hope that you will join us in making a gift for trails, for all of us in need of time outside, for wildflowers, and for the wildlife that call our preserves home. With gratitude, |
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| Fritz Schroeder Senior VP of Community Impact |
Your support is DOUBLED between Earth Day and Arbor Day!
Thanks to a generous donor who offered $10,000 as a match, the impact of your gift will go the extra mile (dollar for dollar) to help grow our trail system by over 30% in the next three years for all to explore. Your gift today ensures both current and future generations will benefit from the land we save, the trails we create, and the habitat we restore.
(Photos Left to Right) Kelly Snavely of Otter Creek Nature Preserve, Toby Richards of Hellam Hills Nature Preserve, and Mark Kaiser of Wilton Meadows Nature Preserve
(Header Photo) Fritz Schroeder of Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve where staff and volunteers have removed over 70 gallons of invasive garlic mustard and maintained the trail to welcome thousands of visitors to experience the spring ephemeral.
