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EXPLORING
OUTDOOR
LEARNING

Building Media
Relationships
Saving Farm
Bill Programs
 conservation N E W S

Working Together on Stewardship Strategies

I
n 2013 conservation groups in New Yorks Hudson Valley formed
an alliance to confront challenges to the regions ecologybig
challenges like climate change, deer overpopulation, invasive
species, and habitat loss and fragmentation. The alliance is
helping conservationists develop more effective land stewardship
strategies in response to these urgent threats.
The Environmental Monitoring and Management Alliance
(EMMA), at www.emmahv.org, got its start with a grant from the
Land Trust Alliances New York State Conservation Partnership
Program. Founded by Teatown Lake Reservation, the program is
now housed at Vassar College, which secured a nearly $1 million
grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
to support EMMA and build Vassars Environmental Cooperative.
This alliance has blossomed into a robust, functional and
strategic partnership of organizations doing great work at a regional
cooperative scale in the Hudson Valley, says Glenn Hoagland,
president and CEO of the accredited Mohonk Preserve, an active
player in EMMA. I think the Land Trust Alliance can be very
proud of having spawned this group.
EMMAs 10 members include a botanical garden in New York
City, an environmental education center, several nature preserves,
an environmental outreach nonprofit, two college research stations
and a county park.
According to EMMAs strategic plan, the alliance allows
conservationists to communicate openly, share knowledge and
standardize research protocols. These connections help land
managers to respond to urgent challenges more quickly and
precisely; researchers to collect robust and reliable data; and
educators to draw from diverse datasets and replicate successful
programs rather than reinventing the wheel.
Mohonk Preserve has benefited greatly from EMMA, says
Hoagland, including helping us to get equipment to automate our
ongoing NOAA Mohonk Lake Cooperative Weather Station after
121 years of manual observation.

Birdwatching from the School Window

F
or 15 minutes each day, Susan Jeffers second-grade class
watches birds. The 7- and 8-year-olds hop excitedly as birds
approach the row of feeders outside a long row of windows in
the school hallway. They might jump or shout, but gradually
they learn: If they want the birds to come to the feeders, they cant scare
them. The bird feeders and birdseed at their schoolMt. Markham
Elementary School in West Winfield, New Yorkwere provided by
the accredited Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust through its Bird Quest
program active in over 30 schools.
Its fun to hear the kids get excited about seeing the birds and
knowing what theyre seeing, says Linda Garrett, the executive
director of Tug Hill Tomorrow. I think it makes them more aware of
whats happening right outside their door. A big part of our mission is
trying to make people more appreciative of all the cool resources that
are right in their backyard, so theyll be better stewards of Tug Hill.
Tug Hill Tomorrow gets local businesses to donate the bird feeders
TUG HILL TOMORROW L AND TRUST

and birdseed, which it provides for free to the schools. It also provides
copies of local naturalist guides and a teaching guide, which connect
birdwatching activities to state curriculum standards, including science,
math, art and writing. According to Jeffers, Bird Quest gives some
students who dont always excel in school a chance to shine.
Read more at www.lta.org/news/birdwatching-school-window.

8 Summer 2017 SAVING land www.landtrustalliance.org