Bedford Hills, NY—Westchester Land Trust (WLT), a nationally accredited land conservation nonprofit headquartered in Bedford Hills, NY, planted 15 trees at its Otter Creek Preserve in Mamaroneck on Sunday, May 19 as part of its ongoing, yearlong forest health initiative. The tree planting is one of many volunteer events aimed at restoring local forests. The events are supported by an anonymous donor who granted $100,000 to WLT to support efforts to improve forest health and combat the many challenges threatening trees across the region.

The trees, which included sweetgum, sycamore, and river birch, were planted by WLT and a local Girl Scout troop that has been volunteering at the preserve for the past year in a targeted forest restoration area at the 35-acre preserve. WLT acquired the preserve as part of a transfer from The Nature Conservancy in 2015. Otter Creek Preserve is the largest privately-owned tidal wetland designated and protected as a nature sanctuary in Westchester County.

Forest restoration in Westchester County and beyond, including Otter Creek Preserve is critical. Planting new trees is particularly important because forested landscapes face increasing struggles, with pests and diseases decimating many of our most common trees. In just the last decade, ash trees have become functionally extinct across much of the region. Over the last century, entire tree species, like chestnut, elm, and hemlocks, have mostly been erased from the landscape, and beech may be next, due to the emerging spread of beech leaf disease.

When mature trees die off or are damaged, young trees must compete with invasive plants for sunlight, nutrients, and water. Adding to the pressure, Westchester’s forests are overgrazed by an unsustainably large deer population, limiting natural tree regeneration. These threats leave forests vulnerable to other stressors, like climate change, which often brings extreme weather events like drought one year, deluges of rain the next, and high winds.

“The salt marsh landscape at Otter Creek is a true ecological gem and we’re dedicated to restoring and improving the health of the forests at our preserve,” said Kara Whelan, president of Westchester Land Trust. “We’re grateful to the visionary anonymous donor who funded this work and the many volunteers who are helping to get trees in the ground where they’re needed most.”

The forest health initiative relies on simple solutions that, when done on a large scale, can make a difference against even the biggest challenges. The six-figure investment supports an ambitious plan to restore the health of WLT’s forested preserves, including:

• Vine cutting at 60 targeted areas across 13 preserves to relieve trees of a massive stressor and freeing up their strength to stand tall against other threats. This is done in the winter and fall by cutting the vines at ground level and head height to prevent future growth.
• Planting more than 500 trees this spring and fall at 11 preserves.
• Erecting a 10-acre deer fence at WLT’s Frederick P. Rose Preserve (Lewisboro) to allow for regeneration in areas that are expected to experience a massive dieback of mature trees due to beech leaf disease. This work will be done by WLT’s conservation apprentices and Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Green Team.
• Protecting young trees in forest clearings outside deer exclosures at 10 preserves to encourage their growth with tree tubes that prevent deer browse.

“Our forests are important to our well-being—hiking strengthens our bodies and our minds and provides critical ecosystem services like climate change mitigation and flood protection,” remarks Janelle Robbins, vice president of conservation. “This life-changing grant gives us hope, and the opportunity to enact simple, strong practices and we invite the community to join us.”

WLT welcomes people of all ages and experiences to get involved in this work:

• Volunteers are needed to help with vine cutting and tree planting. Send an email to ben@westchesterlandtrust.org to receive information about upcoming volunteer outings.
• Landowners interested in protecting their land through conservation easements can contact gentian@westchesterlandtrust.org to learn more.
• Visit westchesterlandtrust.org, to follow WLT’s progress and amplify the initiative’s impact through donations.

We acknowledge that our region is within the traditional territories of the Lenape people and that their culture and traditions live on today. We strive to incorporate the priorities from Indigenous Peoples and underserved community members into our land conservation practices.