Events

The Western New York Land Conservancy is thrilled to virtually host Dr. Simard for a livestreamed virtual event. Finding the Mother Tree: An Evening with Suzanne Simard will include a presentation on her pioneering work and a conversation. To watch, click here.

When discussing wetland habitats, it’s easy to get bogged down in the linguistic swamp of loosely applied terminology. At the College Lodge Forest Preserve, an extensive wetland complex presents excellent examples of Marsh, Swamp, Fen, and everything in between. In this workshop we’ll learn about the differences in hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation structure and soil that distinguish these habitats from one another. 

Sometimes trees are well-behaved, presenting obvious clues that allow us to open up a field guide and identify them with confidence. But not all tree species have read the books we write about them. In this workshop, we’ll take a step beyond the usual Tree ID hike to sort out the complex array of trees growing in the swampy forests of the Margery Gallogly preserve on Grand Island.

For more than two centuries, the impacts of land-use change in the wake of expanded European settlement have driven dramatic changes in Western New York’s forests. Participants in this workshop will explore the biological clues that allow us to “read” the deeply interwoven wild and human history that is written on the landscape, and consider the role of our modern society in shaping its future.