Name: “Just Show Up” Volunteer Wednesday at Rushton Farm
Start: 2023-05-31
End: 2023-05-31
Location: Rushton Farm

News, ideas, questions, and observations from Willistown Conservation Trust Staff as we use local conservation to make a broad impact.

Land Protection Stewardship

An Intro to Easement Monitoring

Andrew Kirkpatrick / May 30, 2023

By Stewardship Director Andrew Kirkpatrick Every fall, the Stewardship Team heads out to monitor all of our conservation easements. In...

Nature Preserves Stewardship Trails Tree Planting Volunteers

Rushton Woods Preserve Improvements: A Bioretention Basin, New Trails, and More to Come

Andrew Kirkpatrick / March 27, 2023

By Andrew Kirkpatrick, Director of Stewardship If you’ve recently been out to Rushton Woods Preserve, you likely noticed some new...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird ecology Motus

Rushton Woods Banding Station Annual Songbird Banding Report 2022

Bird Conservation Team / March 27, 2023

By Alison Fetterman, Bird Conservation Associate and Northeast Motus Project Managerand Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager Hooded Warbler. Photo by...

General Volunteers

Meet our Corporate Partner: Veritable

Communications Team / March 27, 2023

By Wesley Yamamoto, Veritable Partner With a long-shared history of preserving the natural beauty and fostering a sense of community...

Volunteers Watershed

Insights from Two Years of Community Science Monitoring in Darby Creek

Anna Willig / March 27, 2023

By Anna Willig, Watershed Conservation Research and Data Specialist This March, the Darby Creek Community Science Monitoring Program (DCCS) —...

Bird Conservation Native Plants Nature Stewardship

Restoring Rushton’s Shrub-Scrub for the Benefit of the Birds

Mike Cranney / March 27, 2023

By Mike Cranney, Preserve and Facilities Manager For over 13 years, Willistown Conservation Trust’s (WCT) Bird Conservation program has been...

Bird Conservation Education Farm General Land Protection Staff Stewardship Watershed

Introducing WCT’s Strategic Plan

Communications Team / February 14, 2023

STRATEGIC PLAN | 2023-2025Saving, Studying, and Sharing Land, Water, and Habitat WHERE HAVE WE BEEN? Land conservation efforts have been...

Nature Preserves Rushton Conservation Center Stewardship Trails

It’s a Wrap for the Campaign for Rushton Woods!

Communications Team / January 31, 2023

Cover Photo by Jennifer Mathes In 2018 Willistown Conservation Trust embarked upon an ambitious $2 million fundraising campaign. Named the...

Conservation Stewardship

Request for Proposal | Rushton Woods Preserve

Andrew Kirkpatrick / January 25, 2023

Cover Photo by Jennifer Mathes ProjectWillistown Conservation Trust is seeking proposals for the design, permitting, and construction of a bioretention...

Watershed

Watershed Holiday Gift Guide

Watershed Protection Team / December 20, 2022

Check out some of our favorite watershed-themed gifts by clicking the photos to shop! And don't forget to shop local!...

Education Watershed

Help Keep our Drinking Water Clean by Reducing Salt Pollution

Anna Willig / December 15, 2022

By WCT Conservation Research and Data Specialist Anna WilligCover Photo by Jennifer Mathes Salt levels, often measured as chloride concentration,...

Conservation Nature Science Volunteers Watershed

Capturing a Snapshot of Darby Creek

Anna Willig / December 7, 2022

By WCT Conservation Research and Data Specialist Anna Willig At the beginning of November, the Watershed Protection Program at Willistown...

Rushton Conservation Center Sustainable Agriculture Volunteers

Market in the Meadow Vegetarian Chili Recipe

Communications Team / December 6, 2022

This recipe comes from What's Gaby Cooking.Cover photo by Jennifer Mathes You all loved our Vegetarian Chili from Market in...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Conservation Nature Staff

My Conservation Journey: A Tale of Two Countries

Bird Conservation Team / December 1, 2022

By WCT Bird Conservation Associate Phillys N. GichuruCover Photo by Jennifer Mathes My first memorable conservation experience was when, as...

Education Science Staff Volunteers Watershed

Fish Shocking

Lauren McGrath / November 29, 2022

On Saturday, October 22, the Watershed Protection Program joined scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University’s Fisheries...

Conservation Land Protection Nature Preserves Stewardship Trails

Chester County Commissioners, PA DCNR, Willistown Conservation Trust, and Willistown Township Celebrate 12-Acre Addition to Kirkwood Preserve

Monica McQuail / November 2, 2022

Photo from L to R: Julie Graham (WCT), Drew Gilchrist (PA DCNR), Judy Thomas (Chester County Parks & Preservation), Jeanne...

Staff

Your Voice is Valued! Help us Complete Our DEI Audit so Our Organization can Improve its Practices

Communications Team / October 31, 2022

Cover Photo by Jennifer Mathes In 2020 Willistown Conservation Trust made a renewed commitment to its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion...

Conservation Education Land Protection

2022 Lenape Sojourn

Lauren McGrath / September 29, 2022

By Watershed Protection Program Director Lauren McGrath; Photos by Kate Etherington On August 16, 2022, Executive Director Kate Etherington and...

Education Science Watershed

State of Our Streams Report Chapter 4: Alkalinity and Hardness

Watershed Protection Team / August 24, 2022

By Anna Willig and Lauren McGrath | Willistown Conservation Trust Watershed Protection Program Cover Photo by Jennifer Mathes Since 2018, the...

Education Science Watershed

State of Our Streams Report Chapter 3: Specific Conductivity, Chloride, and Nutrients

CommIntern / August 17, 2022

By Anna Willig and Lauren McGrath | Willistown Conservation Trust Watershed Protection Program Cover Photo by Jennifer Mathes Since 2018, the...

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Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird ecology Bird Events

Getting the Band Back Together

Bird Conservation Team / August 29, 2019

Fall migration is just around the corner. And that means the banding station at Rushton Woods Preserve will be back...

Conservation Land Protection

What is a Conservation Easement?

Erik Hetzel / August 27, 2019

Landowners in the Willistown area are the primary stewards of the natural and historic heritage of our countryside. Fortunately, the...

agroecology Farm

Food and Feathers

Fred De Long / August 20, 2019

At first glance, Rushton Farm looks like your traditional example of small-scale intensive sustainable agriculture. Crops sit nestled within the landscape...

Interns, Co-Ops Stewardship

Meet Laryssa Terleckyj, our Stewardship Intern

Blake Goll / July 30, 2019

Each summer, Willistown Conservation Trust hosts students who are pursuing degrees related to the conservation work we do here. We...

Conservation Nature Stewardship Watershed

You Have Options

Watershed Protection Team / July 23, 2019

Single-use cutlery, food containers, and straws are used for a few minutes and discarded to remain in the environment forever....

Farm Sustainable Agriculture

Water, water everywhere and lots and lots to drink

Fred De Long / July 19, 2019

WaEvery so often, a visitor or volunteer at the farm will ask if the water from our well is “safe”...

Conservation Nature Stewardship Watershed

Choose to refuse single-use coffee cups

Watershed Protection Team / July 16, 2019

Plastic and paper coffee cups are not recyclable in most locations. Even ‘compostable’ cups are rarely composted as they require...

Farm Sustainable Agriculture

Meet Henry’s Garden

Fred De Long / July 16, 2019

In 2012 Henry’s Garden was established in memory of Henry Jordan whose commitment to addressing issues of poverty and access...

Conservation Farm Nature Rushton Conservation Center Watershed

BYOB – Bring your own BAG

Watershed Protection Team / July 9, 2019

The average family accumulates about 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store. The majority of these...

Conservation Interns, Co-Ops Nature Stewardship Watershed

New Trees Breathe New Life into Ailing Streamside Meadow

Watershed Protection Team / July 9, 2019

In the haze of a steamy May morning, a team of volunteers, students, and Trust staff met in the dewy,...

Bird Conservation Conservation Interns, Co-Ops Nature

Back to School: Banding a purple martin colony

Blake Goll / July 5, 2019

About a 15-minute drive from Willistown Conservation Trust are the Glen Mills Schools (GMS). While this private institution is closed...

Academic Partners Conservation Interns, Co-Ops Watershed

Meet our Watershed Protection Program co-ops!

Blake Goll / July 1, 2019

Each summer, Willistown Conservation Trust hosts students who are pursuing degrees related to the conservation work we do here. We...

Conservation Nature Watershed

Refill Your Water Bottle

Lauren McGrath / July 1, 2019

Human reliance on commercially bottled water is one of the single largest contributors to plastic pollution. At Willistown Conservation Trust,...

Conservation Land Protection

Return on Environment: The Economic Value of Protected Open Space in Chester County, PA

Blake Goll / May 6, 2019

Protected open spaces provide substantial economic, environmental, and health benefits to surrounding communities, but these benefits are often overlooked or...