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Conservation News

  • Adelphi Caliber Students

    Adelphi CALIBER Students Volunteer with the Land Alliance

    North Shore Land Alliance and Adelphi University’s largest community service organization, C.A.L.I.B.E.R. (Cause to Achieve Leadership Intelligence Brotherhood Excellence and Respect), are teaming up to raise $1,000 for tools for the Land Alliance’s Volunteers for Open Space Program. The Volunteers Program was established in 2008 to help advance our local conservation work and educational activities. […]

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  • Coming Soon – Humes Preserve, Mill Neck

    The 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

    During 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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  • skunk-cabbage-and-marsh-marigold

    Biodiversity in the Beaver Brook Watershed

    The 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

    With 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

    Garden 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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  • Land Alliance Thanks our Active Volunteers

    We would like to highlight two volunteers, Richard Weir and Peter Meleady, who have provided extraordinary services this spring (and over time) to help us accomplish our land conservation mission.

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  • Volunteers Give a Hand at our Preserves

    Volunteers 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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  • Reflections from a Long Island Water Education Teacher

    Since 2014, the Land Alliance has been visiting my West Side School sixth-grade science classes in Laurel Hollow to teach students about the effects of pollution on Long Island’s aquifer. This workshop/field trip is by far my favorite!

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  • Improvements at the Humes Property

    In 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

    Since 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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  • Humes Property

    Experience the History of the Humes Preserve

    The 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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  • O'Neil Stewards Program

    2020 O’Neil Conservation Stewards

    A Long Island native, Peter is a rising senior at Vassar College majoring in Earth Science and Society (a unique blend of Earth Science and Geography) and minoring in Creative Writing. When not exploring the Peconic Bay on a paddle board or attempting to hike the 46 highest mountains of the Adirondacks, Peter can often […]

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  • Friends Academy (FA) Students Raise Funds to purchase a Bench at the Humes Preserve

    Michael Mead and Blake Nagel would like to raise $2,000 to help purchase a bench for the Humes Preserve.

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  • Iselin Preserve

    Meet our 2020 Summer Conservation Stewards

    North Shore Land Alliance is pleased to announce that we’ve selected three new interns for our O’Neil Conservation Steward program for Summer 2020.

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  • Places to Go and Things to Do

    While 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

    The 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

    While 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

    Legislature 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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  • Climate Tips for Spring

    Even though Greenhouse Gas Emissions have been reduced with people staying home, climate change continues to be the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment.

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  • Protecting Habitat for Plants, Animals and People

    Earth 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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