News, ideas, questions, and observations from Willistown Conservation Trust Staff as we use local conservation to make a broad impact.
COMING SOON: Kestrel Hill Preserve
A new 90-acre nature preserve at Kirkwood Farm While the price to acquire the land was high, all agreed resoundingly...
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Diatoms Illustrate How Land Use Can Alter Stream Health in Ridley Creek
Diatoms are a single celled algae which form the foundation of stream ecosystems; they provide oxygen through photosynthesis, and act...
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Twenty Acres of Woodland Habitat Conserved
In October 2023 longtime resident and Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) supporter Beverly Hattersley generously granted a conservation easement on her...
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Kirkwood Steps Up!
Willistown Conservation Trust’s (WCT) Kirkwood Preserve boasts a rich tapestry of wide-open meadows, a meandering creek, wooded slopes, and riparian...
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Watershed Co-ops Independent Projects
As we look back on the summer, we are so proud of the independent projects that Sarah and Sally have...
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Lose the Lawn
Earlier this year, the Trust received the exciting news that we had received a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of...
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PolyGone Systems | Eliminating Plastic from our Waterways at Ashbridge Preserve
By Daelin Brown, PolyGone SystemsThere are somewhere between 83 and 358 trillion plastic particles floating around the world in our...
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How to Make Your Own Native Terrarium
By Sarah Barker Terrariums are a fun and easy way to engage with the environment. It only takes one afternoon...
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Let’s Go Plastic Free — In Community
By Pam Kosty Most of us know: plastic, especially single-use plastic, is a big problem in our world today. And...
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Meet WCT’s 2023 Seasonal Interns
Internships are an integral part of Willistown Conservation Trust’s (WCT) work. Each year, hardworking students join our team and bring...
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The Tale of Charlie Woodscomb: a True Beaver Pioneer
By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sarah Barker Deep in the sleepy haze of a deciduous forest dawn, between bowing black...
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Northern Snakehead: A Voracious Predatory Invasive
By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sally Ehlers The northern snakehead (Channa argus) is a type of fish that is originally...
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Willistown Conservation Trust and Natural Lands Receive $25,000 from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to Reverse the Decline of Grassland Birds in Chester County
The land trusts will promote land management practices that benefit the Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Grasshopper Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark captured...
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The Tiny Invader: New Zealand Mudsnails in Pennsylvania
By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sally Ehlers Have you ever heard of the New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)? These tiny...
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Biofilms: Underdog Ecosystem Engineers
By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sarah Barker Biofilms are all around us! Often thought of as pests in any environment...
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A Microcosm of Macroinvertebrates
By Watershed Conservation Research and Data Specialist Anna Willig Aquatic macroinvertebrates — animals without a backbone that are visible to...
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Taking the Temperature of Local Streams
By Watershed Conservation Research and Data Specialist Anna Willig One of the most basic, yet most critical, aspects of stream...
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Welcome to Creek Week 2023!
By Watershed Protection Program Director Lauren McGrath Welcome to Willistown Conservation Trust’s 2023 Creek Week! We are so excited to...
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Willistown Conservation Trust to Establish a Public Preserve on Recently Sold Kirkwood Farm Property
A conservation outcome for Kirkwood Farm has been guaranteed, thanks to Willistown Conservation Trust who — with support from conservation...
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An Intro to Easement Monitoring
By Stewardship Director Andrew Kirkpatrick Every fall, the Stewardship Team heads out to monitor all of our conservation easements. In...
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