Teatown Lake Reservation

2012 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Environmental Education • Regional Conservation Stewardship of our preserve

1600 Spring Valley Road Ossining, NY 10562

914-762-2912 www.teatown.org

Environmental Education Teatown’s educators are knowledgeable, inspiring and instrumental in raising awareness about the natural environment, local history and living as environmentally caring and responsible citizens.

A wonderful new resource for Teatown’s educational programming is the Kathryn W. Davis RiverWalk Center in Sleepy Hollow. In addition to becoming a new eagle viewing site during Teatown’s Hudson River EagleFest℠, the RiverWalk Center has also been the host of numerous public programs.

More than 10,000 students attended over 400 educational programs Through the No Child Left Inside Initiative , Teatown was able to offer programs to 1,400 children from 6 disad-vantaged schools Public programs grew substantially with over 1,600 in attendance Outreach to Pre-K through 3rd grade continued through our collabora-tion with the Ossining Children’s Center, Ossining’s Little School and the White Plains Youth Bureau Teatown’s summer Nature Camp was filled to capacity with over 600 children, including our popular Nature Girls group. Teatown also introduced Mudprints, a bi-weekly newsletter for camp parents filled with highlights from each session Teatown’s Hudson River EagleFest℠ 2012 was the most successful to date with 5,000 in attendance Another successful Focus on Nature film series was held in the fall in collaboration with the Jacob Burns Film Center and Scenic Hudson

Regional Conservation

Teatown was awarded a grant from the DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program to locate and map vernal pools in the towns of Yorktown, Cortlandt, Putnam Valley, and Philipstown

Through the NY State Conservation Partnership program, the Land Trust Alliance awarded Teatown a grant to develop a standardized environmental monitoring protocol for the Hudson Valley. Teatown is working with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and other environmental organizations to identify the most pressing environmental issues the region is facing and to develop a common approach for studying these factors

Teatown was honored to accept the Hudson River Estuary Partner Award from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program for its regional conservation efforts

Teatown developed an intensive training program on the interpretation of site plans for its Environmental Leaders Learning Alliance (ELLA) program. This unique program consisted of 8 workshops held on topics such as wetlands, biodiversity, stormwater, conservation planning, effective communication techniques, and the basics of site plans

Teatown conducted a biodiversity assessment of the French American School of New York (FASNY) property and developed a management plan for the conversion of this former golf course into a biologically diverse landscape

Stewardship

Wildflower Woods continued to grow and develop with the following additions:

A new accessible trail system and bridge were installed Stone steps were built by the volunteer trail crew, the Jolly Rovers Work continued on the removal of invasive plants and their replacement with native species Educational signage was developed and will be installed Spring 2013

Researchers at Teatown are studying the ecology of eastern box turtles. The study focused on ways to establish displaced turtles to new habitats in a manner that increases their chances for survival. This 4-year effort began to yield some interesting results, and has significant implications for the conservation of this rare species

Teatown assumed trail maintenance responsibilities for the trails at the Westchester County-owned Kitchawan Preserve, John Hand Park, and a section of the Briarcliff-Peekskill Trailway from Blinn Rd. to Route 134

Teatown staff mentored three local high school students’ independent science research projects. One student, Rose Gonoud of Mahopac High School, was awarded first place in the environmental division of the Tri-County Science and Engineering Fair

Over 140 volunteers, including two trail crews based at Teatown, provided more than 2,800 hours of trail maintenance and repair in the Hudson Hills and Highlands. Six trail skills workshops were also held at Teatown

Membership and gifts support Teatown and its work. ARE YOU A MEMBER? JOIN OR GIVE TO TEATOWN:

1600 Spring Valley Road, Ossining, NY 10562 PH: 914.762.2912 x 113 FAX: 914.762.2890 www.teatown.org