Grant helps Westchester Land Trust battle deer, vines, climate change

By JESS FASANO

Two members of the Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team program help install a deer fence at Westchester Land Trust's Frederick P. Rose Preserve in Waccabuc in July. Photo courtesy Westchester Land Trust.

As part of its yearlong forest health initiative, Westchester Land Trust is gearing up for more projects that will help transform local forests. The nationally accredited land conservation nonprofit, headquartered in Bedford Hills, announced in April that it received $100,000 from an anonymous donor to support efforts to improve forest health and combat the many challenges threatening trees across the region.

The six-figure investment comes at a critical time when forests throughout Westchester County and beyond are up against growing threats, including pests, diseases, overgrazing by deer, smothering by invasive vines, and the impacts of climate change. 

WLT aims to use the funding to mitigate these threats with a plan to restore the health of its forested preserves. The plan includes projects such as vine cutting, tree planting, and protecting vulnerable forest areas from grazing deer. 

One recent project was the construction of a 10-acre deer fence at the trust’s Frederick P. Rose Preserve in Waccabuc, designed to exclude deer from a large group of beech trees. 

Janelle Robbins, the trust’s vice president of conservation, said that when the beech canopy fails due to beech leaf disease and the sun hits the forest floor, the hope is that there will be greater regeneration of the forest without any deer pressure thanks to the fence. 

The project is the trust’s largest deer exclosure to date. 

Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Green Team program, which hires local teenagers enrolled in the Yonkers Public School system for environmental jobs, assisted with installing the fence in July. “It’s a tried and true method to give nature a chance to rebound on its own,” Robbins said of the exclosure. 

Westchester Land Trust staff and members of the Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team program gather at WLT's Frederick P. Rose Preserve in July to install a 10-acre deer fence as part of WLT’s yearlong forest health initiative. Photo courtesy Westchester Land Trust.

In May, WLT planted 15 trees at Otter Creek Preserve in Mamaroneck, an effort that was also part of the ongoing forest health initiative. The nonprofit was assisted by a local Girl Scout troop that has been volunteering at the 35-acre preserve for the past year in a targeted forest restoration area.

Robbins noted WLT will solicit more help from volunteers throughout the year for additional tree plantings, as well as vine cutting. She explained these two types of projects are particularly gratifying because of the immediate visible impact. 

A member of the Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team program with invasive plants that were removed at Westchester Land Trust’s Frederick P. Rose Preserve to help bolster forest health. Photo courtesy Westchester Land Trust.

“You can see how much you’ve done,” said Robbins. “You feel really good at the end of the day, whether you’ve planted one [tree] or 10,” Robbins said. 

Community engagement is a key component of WLT’s forest health initiative. Robbins explained a person can experience a sense of “doom and gloom” when thinking about all the threats forests are facing, but there is hope in taking action. 

“We can act now. We can help, and you can have fun doing it,” she said. Robbins added that WLT has identified simple, replicable actions volunteers can take to help bolster forest health in their communities, while gaining skills they could use in their own backyards. 

“This is a really easy and straightforward way to get anybody, of any age, involved,” Ben Kleist, WLT’s preserve manager, said of the forest health initiative. He explained taking action can lead to having a personal stake in forests, noting that “what you care about you take care of.” To receive information about upcoming volunteer opportunities, email ben@westchesterlandtrust.org. 

In the future, WLT aims to assemble a toolkit with information gained over the course of its forest health initiative and distribute this toolkit to landholders, including municipalities, residents, and other nonprofits. The hope is that the toolkit would help remove initial barriers to supporting forest health, like where to find certain equipment. 

“We’re really working out those details so other people don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Robbins said. “We want to bring them solutions.”

Kleist summed up the idea like this: “We’re sticking with the plan, doing what we can, and trying to bring people into the fold.”

For more information about the forest health initiative and WLT’s progress, visit westchesterlandtrust.org. 

Editor’s note: Jess Fasano serves on the staff of a New Jersey-based environmental conservation nonprofit.