Conservation Opportunities Abound
Conservation at the Rye Nature Center can mean a few different things with regards to our scope of activities and comes with varying responsibilities. On the hyper-local level, it means caring for our grounds, removing encroaching invasives, and protecting our most precious natives along with planting new ones.
Our Conservation Director, Jax, Speaking about the Healthy Yards movement
On a community level, our conservation team provides expertise and consultation for all who seek it (both on our grounds and even at home visits). This can come in the form of public programs where we teach the practice of composting plant waste or hosting relevant speaker events with experts in the field. We also pride ourselves on being a provider of resources such as young native trees and birdseed for filling up your home feeders.
On the more macro level, we aspire and act as a conservation hub, looking to model and assist in implementation of various restoration and citizen science projects. This can range from trying out new ways to mitigate growth of invasives like Japanese stilt grass, inviting county parks employees to our site for tours, operating as a training station for the DEC’s eel monitoring project, to helping prepare high school students for events such as Envirothon.
In the spirit of being a community resource for conservation information, our Conservation Director, Jax, and the Nature News team are announcing the opening up of our Conservation Corner:
Do you have any burning conservation questions? Do you have a stretch of property that is asking for some new trees and shrubs but are not sure what to plant? Has a bird been chirping outside your window and you want an expert to identify it? We have your answers!
We are now fielding any and all conservation questions from our dedicated readers! Email your questions to Jax@ryenaturecenter.org with the subject line reading ‘Conservation Corner.’ Once we’ve received a batch of inquiries, we will publish the questions and answers (anonymously if you prefer) in an upcoming Nature News blog post.
Another major responsibility of our Conservation Director’s job is to connect and invite volunteer groups to our property. These groups can be professional organizations or local school clubs. In order to make joining in on the conservation effort more approachable, we asked Jax to share some insights on conservation volunteering, both here at the Rye Nature Center and around Westchester:
The Power of Volunteers at Rye Nature Center
Rye Nature Center wouldn’t be what it is without our volunteers. Truly — the care they bring to our 47 acres shows up in every trail, every restored habitat, and every moment someone gets to enjoy the woods.
In 2024, we had 410 volunteers contribute 1,641 hours of service. That’s a lot of time spent planting, pulling, hauling, digging, and caring for this place — and it makes a real difference.
Here’s just some of what volunteers help with:
Ecological Restoration: Planting native trees and aggressively removing invasive species.
Waterway Health: Cleaning up trash and debris from the vital Blind Brook.
Park Maintenance: Updating and maintaining our extensive network of trails and natural play spaces.
We work with everyone — students completing service hours, Scouts tackling big projects, and corporate groups looking for a meaningful way to spend a day together. If you’ve ever wondered how to make a direct impact on your local environment, this is it.
Tree Planting Push with the helpful hands of our friends at Regeneron
Volunteering Beyond Rye
This spirit of stewardship stretches well beyond the Nature Center. If you’re looking to get involved in similar work throughout Westchester, there are many wonderful organizations doing hands-on environmental work that are always happy to welcome new volunteers.
Here are a few great organizations dedicated to protecting our region's natural resources:
Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary
Volunteer NY (A website that provides a volunteer calendar for your area)