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Conservation News
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Nature Play is Good for Children (and Adults Too!)
Continue readingProviding access to natural areas is central to the Land Alliance’s mission. Studies show that spending time in nature provides children with a wide range of health and cognitive benefits. Nature play improves children’s love of learning, academic performance, focus and behavior. Learn about the new nature play area that will be installed at the Humes Preserve.
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Fourth Season at the Roosevelt Community Garden
Continue readingOur Roosevelt Community Garden has become more than just a place to grow organic fruits, vegetables and herbs; it also is a place for gardeners to come together, to share and learn from each other.
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Worth the Wait: Humes Preserve Opened to the Public
Continue readingOn September 30th, North Shore Land Alliance officially opened the Humes Preserve in Mill Neck to the public without much more than a peep! We’d originally envisioned celebrations with Land Alliance members and donors at a preserve pre-opening., but…
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Restore our Bays: Applying Innovative Advanced Nitrogen Reducing Technologies to Long Island Septic Systems.
Continue readingNitrogen is one of the most abundant elements in nature and is essential to life. Almost 78% of the atmosphere is comprised of the inert nitrogen gas, N2, and nitrogen can be found in every strand of a living organism’s DNA.
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Government Updates: The Great American Outdoors Act and A Community Preservation Plan for the Town of New Paltz, NY
Continue readingOn July 22nd, in a 310-107 bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and a new Community Preservation Plan for the Town of New Paltz, New York.
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O’Neil Conservation Stewards Program Extended
Continue readingWe are grateful to the William C. and Joyce C. O’Neil Charitable Trust for extending the grant for our O’Neil Conservation Steward Program.
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Water Issues Are Not Unique to Long Island
Continue readingThe Florida Everglades is one of the most unique ecosystems in the world. Home to the American alligator, the Florida panther and countless other endemic species, the Everglades also provides important ecosystem services to South Florida such as replenishing our freshwater aquifers and buffering us from storms and flooding. The Everglades also face some huge challenges to its conservation.
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Loss of Plant Species
Continue readingBiodiversity is being lost – locally, regionally and globally. It is now estimated that approximately one third of global plant species are at risk of extinction.
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Schmidlapp-Humes Estate listed on Registers of Historic Places
Continue readingThis past spring the Land Alliance made application to have the Schmidlapp-Humes Estate Historic District listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The area making up the historic district encompasses 81 acres of the original 83-acre country estate that Carl and Frances Schmidlapp built from 1923 to 1927. The District includes the […]
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Coming Soon – Humes Preserve, Mill Neck
Continue readingThe North Shore Land Alliance purchased the Humes Estate (28 acres) from the Humes Family for conservation purposes on July 10, 2015. Two years later we purchased the adjoining Humes Japanese Stroll Garden (7-acres) and Smithers connector parcel (7 acres). The Estate property had been severely neglected for many years prior to our acquisition. It […]
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10 Land Alliance Preserves to Visit
Continue readingDuring these uncertain times, nature can help us slow down and recharge. In fact, the latest research suggests that spending time in nature reduces stress and anxiety. We currently own or help maintain ten preserves open to the public.
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Biodiversity in the Beaver Brook Watershed
Continue readingThe extraordinary variety of life on earth – a balance among plants, animals, microorganisms and the ecosystems in which they are found – is known as biodiversity. Protecting land locally helps preserve the biodiversity found right here on the North Shore of Long Island.
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Benefits of Native Plants
Continue readingWith warmer months finally settling in and more time spent at home, many of us have been planting. Have you considered native plants when making your choices? There are numerous benefits to having these species in your garden.
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Roosevelt Community Garden Impact
Continue readingGarden members kicked-off the third growing season on April 22nd (Earth Day) with an annual clean up of the garden and distribution of plants and seeds to gardeners to start their gardening.
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Volunteers Give a Hand at our Preserves
Continue readingVolunteers brave inclement weather to help remove invasive vines and shrubs, partake in a beach cleanup and habitat restoration project and remove trash from the Humes meadow. Students also help conduct hands-on assessments and….
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Improvements at the Humes Property
Continue readingIn preparation for its opening in July 2020, the Humes Property is getting some finishing touches. Repairs are being made to the formal garden, tennis court and old tennis hut. Plantings are also underway in addition to the creation of a new outdoor fitness area.
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Meadows and Trails Update
Continue readingSince our 2019 Fall Conservation News newsletter, the Suzanne and Carter Bales Quiet Meadow has started to look more meadow-like. After two years of clearing, rubbish removal and weed management, we seeded warm-season grasses and a small volume of wildflowers (along with winter rye), in the phase one area (3.5 acres) last November.
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Experience the History of the Humes Preserve
Continue readingThe Schmidlapp-Humes Estate, now known as the Humes Preserve, has a long history that dates to the Matinecock Indian tribe’s occupation of the area. It includes 17th-century boundary disputes between the Dutch and English and milling and farming from the 18th to 20th centuries.
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Places to Go and Things to Do
Continue readingWhile social distancing is recommended right now, there’s no reason you cannot get up close and personal with Mother Nature. Here’s a list of preserves we own or manage that are currently open to the public. You are welcomed to take a hike or jog along a preserve trail or pack a picnic lunch and enjoy “forest bathing” in a preserve meadow.
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Humes Preserve Opening
Continue readingThe Land Alliance purchased the Humes estate in 2016. After four years, we’ve retired our debt and are now preparing to open this spectacular 28-acre property as the Humes Preserve in June! As passersby can easily see, the meadow has been cleared and grasses are growing in. Thanks to a generous grant from NYS the […]
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Don’t Be a Litterbug
Continue readingWhile we welcome everyone to get outside and visit our preserves, we also want to encourage people to help take care of them. Litter is a big problem not only at our lovely preserves but all around our North Shore communities and in the world at large. Whether you’re driving down 25A or walking along […]
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NYS Budget Supports the Environment
Continue readingLegislature and Governor Cuomo have agreed on a State budget that prioritizes our environment and commits record funding to natural resource conservation and climate change.
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Protecting Habitat for Plants, Animals and People
Continue readingEarth is losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. There’s been an average 60 percent decline in mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians globally since 1970, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report 2018. While climate change and pollution are contributors, the number one driving force behind the catastrophic decline in species is habitat loss. Habitat is defined as the natural home of plants and animals
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Land Alliance Earns National Recognition
Continue readingNorth Shore Land Alliance is proud to announce that we have been reaccredited by the national Land Trust Alliance – proving once again that, as part of a network of over 400 accredited land trusts across the nation, we are committed to professional excellence and to maintaining the public’s trust in our conservation work.
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O’Neil Conservation Stewards Reflect on Their Experience
Continue readingAs we wrap up the fourth year of our college internship program, we thought it important to reach out to some of our past interns.