Marshland Conservancy – Remediation of the Critical Meadow Habitat

The Little Garden Club of Rye, plans to use the Founders Fund grant to help restore the native habitat in the meadow at Marshlands Conservatory; the oldest known continuously-managed meadow in New York State.

The meadow, an open area of 16 acres, is mowed every Spring to prevent trees from seeding the area and growing back into forest.  Ideally, the meadow should feature native grasses and wildflowers to supply a habitat for small mammals, turtles, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators.  But mowing, as a sole solution, has allowed pernicious non-native plants to take over, limiting the growth of native plants and species diversity. In 2024, goats were brought in to graze the meadow as an alternative versus mowing alone.

The Curator of Marshlands, supported by the Friends of Marshlands Conservancy, Inc., the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, and a wide-geographic community, conducted an extensive study of the property to develop a long-term, sustainable program of wildlife and native plant protective practices. A three-year program utilizing habitat-friendly practices to replace mowing has been initiated. Select seeding mixtures, sown after clearing, can "turn the tide" in favor of more native, slower-growing plants.  

 An additional element of this program is the study and documentation of the meadow flora. Marshlands is an education center and part of a network of public parks and lands that share knowledge. Over 200 species have been identified in the meadow, and over fifty species have been vouchered. Herbarium Specimen Cabinets, each holding 26 vouchered reports, will be acquired to build a reference library of species that have been successfully established, or re-established, as a result of removing or restricting invasives

 The result of this project will be two-fold: 1) identifying native species that stand up to invasives; 2) cataloging those species for the benefit of educating the local region.