• MacDonald Property

    New Composting Hub at the MacDonald Property

    Composting’s value in ameliorating climate change impacts and its public popularity couldn’t be more evident. But at the same time, composting programs’ budgets are being cut in New York City and Long Island alike. At a time when New York City’s community composting program cuts may cause layoffs and disruption of existing services which could reduce waste processing capacity by as much as 25% (https://www.wastedive.com/news/dsny-community-compost-budget-cuts-big-reuse-les-ecology-center-compost-power-nyc/700572/), the need for education about the benefits and how-tos of composting is greater than ever. And little is being done in our community; it is time for us to pick up the reins. As a first step in what we hope will become a larger initiative, the Land Alliance jumped in and constructed three compost bins at our MacDonald property in Matinecock. The compost system will allow processing of vegetation debris on site. Grass clippings, leaves and other vegetation debris from the property will be contained, turned and moved among containers by volunteer and an experienced landscape contractor maintaining the property. Over time we plan to add material from other properties. In addition, we are conducting a series of educational workshops led by local experts and educators on composting at home, food waste and soil analysis and benefits through composting. Community members will learn to understand the value of this practice to enhancing natural communities, reducing waste and minimizing soil erosion. This new program was made possible through a grant from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program (NYSCPP) administered by the Land Trust Alliance. Match funding from National Grid, alongside the NYSCPP support, is allowing us to upgrade irrigation, set up tables and benches at the property and develop planting areas that will include a blueberry enclosure, fruit trees, a pollinator corner and a small meadow on which the compost will be used. Interpretive signage and deer fencing will round out our project. Composting helps complete the nutrient cycle by recycling plant material and returning nutrients to the soil onsite. MacDonald’s habitat value will be enhanced in an area of intense development pressure. It will welcome a community of diverse economic and cultural backgrounds to learn about composting and its support of our native plant and local wildlife that depend on them.


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  • Cushman Woods

    Cushman Woods Meadow Transformation

    About two years have passed since we launched site preparation for the Cushman Woods meadow. The first step was forestry mulching, which involved the use of a powerful brush-cutting tool to cut and shred years’ growth of undesirable vegetation. It included porcelain berry vine and multiflora rose on about five open (but badly) invaded acres of Cushman Woods Preserve. This area is located along a utility line in the northwest part of the property. Then came monitoring and removal of invasive mile-a-minute weed, unhealthy and invasive trees and vines (that clung to desired meadow trees). This was followed by the planting of new trees to screen the debris area.  The extensive tree work and the addition of four lovely benches were funded by Oliver Grace and the Oliver R. Grace Charitable Foundation. A milestone was reached when the Cushman Woods meadow was seeded late last fall with warm-season native grasses and wildflowers. Funding for site preparation, meadow design, seed and installation was provided by the Cushman family and the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District. The photo above shows the wild rye coming in early to help combat regrowth of invasives before the natives can establish.


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  • Volunteer to Plant A Woodland Pollinator Garden

    Restoration of the Williams Preserve

    Williams has come a long way since Mary and Tim Williams donated this beautiful 4.5-acre Lattingtown parcel to the Land Alliance last June. We are embarking upon an extensive preserve-wide habitat restoration. Our restoration ecologist consultant Peter Meleady generously donated the plan. Thus far, we have been readying the site for plantings. We plan to begin implementation this spring, thanks to a $42,000 grant from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program (NYSCPP) and New York’s Environmental Protection Fund. The NYSCPP is administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. We are also installing irrigation lines. They will enable us to have water for plantings proposed for the lower part of the property, along the pond edge and to establish a small grassland area. Many thanks to Spadefoot Design and Construction for donating services related to infrastructure upgrades. Our volunteers have done a great job of cutting English ivy from majestic oak, tulip and sycamore trees, uncovering and extending the stone staircase that leads from near the pond to what will be the meadow and digging out multiflora rose from the creek. They uncovered an expanse of spring ephemeral trout lily where we found only a handful of flowers last year. Our latest Walk in the Woods on a rainy Saturday showed participants our progress and provided a bit of the property’s history, along with a glimpse of what’s to come. Additional funds will be needed to complete the project. If you would like to contribute to the development of this wonderful new public preserve, please contact Jane Jackson at 516-922-1028 or jjackson@northshorelandalliance.org or click here to donate.


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