Make a smart investment

The end of the year is a great time to reflect upon the organizations in your community whose mission reflects your values and the things you care about. A charitable gift to WCT is a wonderful way to invest in the importance of open space and the preservation of wildlife habitat and natural resources on a local level. Below are some ways you can help support our mission.

Donating from your IRA

If you are 70 ½ years of age or older and are taking Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA), there are potentially significant advantages to making a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) directly to WCT (WCT) from your IRA as part of your year-end giving.

You may be able to make a more sizable contribution than you previously planned and create future benefits at the same time. As you know, RMDs are required whether you need the funds or not. Did you know you can transfer up to $100,000 directly to a 501(c)3 such as WCT via a QCD without increasing your total taxable income and the potential of pushing you into a higher tax bracket? Married couples can contribute $100,000 each. Such distributions can also decrease your RMD required in future years and are also not counted toward the deductible contributions maximum. Your IRA custodian can either send a check directly to us or to you for delivery. Contact your tax planner and IRA custodian PDQ (pretty darn quick!), or by December 31, if you think this strategy might make sense for you this year or in the future!

Donating Cash Gifts

Use your credit card and safely make a donation on our website with our secure checkout. You can ensure your entire donation goes to us by covering the credit card processing fee.  You can also mail a check directly to WCT at our office address: 925 Providence Rd., Newtown Square, PA 19073

Donating Stock

The donation of appreciated stock is another way to invest in the mission of WCT, and it may provide certain tax advantages. Don’t forget to notify us of your intention to donate stock, so that we can ensure a smooth transaction.

Gift Matching

Ask your employer if they offer matching contributions, so when you donate to us you can double your impact!  And if your employer can’t make a monetary match, they might be interested in volunteer opportunities and/or a corporate partnership with WCT.

Shopping for WCTSupport us when you shop at Amazon at no cost to you! We are registered with AmazonSmile, so when you select WCT as your favorite charity and head to smile.amazon.com (which has the same products, same prices and same services as the Amazon you know), amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases.

Using a Donor Advised Fund

A donor advised fund is a charitable giving program that allows you to combine tax benefits with the flexibility to support your favorite causes. Please consider recommending Willistown Conservation Trust as an organization to support through your donor advised fund. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit that is powered by the support of donors like you.

While the sun is still below the horizon, the Eastern Meadowlark’s lilting song floats over the field, seeooaa seeadoo, slowly rising in the mist. Soon the Bobolink jubilantly joins the meadowlark sending it’s plink plink Bobolink bubbling up through the dim light. As the sun breaks the horizon, the Grasshopper Sparrow’s soft buzzing tik tik tikeeeez adds to the chorus, hardly distinguishable from the harmonizing insects. It’s another enchanting morning as grassland inhabitants shake off the night to announce a new day.

In the last half-century, the number of fields awakened by these birds has declined dramatically due to changes in farming practices and increased land development. Consequently, grassland birds are experiencing the greatest declines of any habitat group. Fortunately, we live in an area of Chester County where there is hope for these birds. Several species of grassland birds have adopted the hayfields in southern Chester County as their breeding grounds.

To ensure this important grassland habitat remains productive for farmers and the breeding birds that depend on it, Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) launched the Grassland Bird Collaboration (GBC) in 2022. In early 2023, the Cornell Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative awarded a $25,000 grant to WCT in partnership with Natural Lands to support the GBC’s goal of creating a grassland bird conservation area made up of working landscapes and existing preserves in southern Chester County area.

In its inaugural year, the GBC has been working with landowners and farmers to conserve and augment grassland bird populations through conservation land management practices, research, education, and community engagement. The goal is to create a focal area where partners can work together to address issues affecting grassland birds while maximizing conservation and minimizing disruption to agricultural production.

One of the most vital land management practices is leaving the hayfields standing during the breeding season. Mowing before birds complete their nesting cycle removes available habitat and can reduce breeding success if birds have already begun breeding. Implementing a “no-mow” period allows young birds to develop in a safe environment before the nesting grounds are disturbed.

This past summer, WCT’s Bird Conservation Program enrolled ten private properties in southern Chester County area —totaling nearly 1,000 acres—in a delayed mow program in which farmers and landowners agreed to mow after July 1. The field team then monitored the fields throughout the breeding season to determine how focal grassland species—Eastern Meadowlark, Bobolink, and Grasshopper Sparrow—were using the habitat. The findings were encouraging. Almost all of the fields had breeding populations of at least one focal species, and a number of fields had two or more.

The project also included a Motus Wildlife Tracking research component to gain insights into how Bobolinks use the landscape from summer breeding through fall migration. Since 2021, WCT has been placing nanotag transmitters on Bobolinks to track their movements using a multi-national automated radio telemetry network, which is locally managed by the Northeast Motus Collaboration.

This year, 14 birds were tagged in two GBC fields. Local transmitter data showed they regularly move between their breeding grounds and other fields. This collection of data reveals these birds’ reliance on habitat connectivity and the importance of southern Chester County area, which weaves individual properties into a larger grassland landscape. Though this was the GBC’s first official year, members of WCT’s bird team have been working with several landowners on grassland bird conservation for a number of years. In those fields, Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark populations have increased since delayed mow management began. These encouraging trends may indicate that when more baby birds are fledged from a field before mowing occurs, it can increase breeding bird density in succeeding years if delayed mow management continues.

As its first year comes to an end, the GBC’s program area is becoming a bright spot on the grassland bird conservation map, and there is great potential to build on these early successes. Chester County is well positioned to support this conservation effort because local mushroom farms rely on mulch hay—later-season hay that has been left to mature and dry in the fields—to cultivate their tasty crop. Having access to this unique local agricultural market means there is less disruption to farming practices and to the grassland birds that rely on these fields.

For the GBC, working with the farmers and landowners is an opportunity to increase the value of conserved land. Through this work, the land becomes more than open space or a scenic agricultural landscape—it serves as a core conservation area that can help reverse the precipitous decline of grassland birds.

Zoë Warner | Zoë’s research focuses on land use impacts on avian productivity. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019. For her dissertation, Influence of Landscape Spatial Patterns and Land Use Planning on Grassland Bird Habitat Occupancy in Chester County, Pennsylvania, she developed models to predict grassland birds’ habitat preferences in Chester County’s agricultural belt. Since 2020, Zoë has been conducting research into best practices for grassland bird conservation in southern Chester County. Through these research projects, Zoë has established working relationships with landowners and farmers who have expressed interest in managing their land to meet grassland bird conservation goals.

Fresh out of college, my first venture into the ‘real world’ has likely looked different than that of plenty of my classmates. While the typical 9-5 may conjure images of videochats, spreadsheets, and other office drudgery, I spent my summer in the dirt. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rushton Farm has become the place of summer’s sweetest memories, made alongside enchanting scenery and even more fascinating people. I had studied much about food systems to complete my degree, but without on-farm experience, I arrived clueless about the everyday workings of a farm. Only four months later, I cannot say I am anywhere near an expert on that subject, but I am at least sure of one fact: food is magic. The work of producing food, moving my body for hours in all sorts of outdoor conditions, pushed me to reconnect with my humanness in a profound but altogether simple way. It just felt right. Even the smallest occurrences provoked childlike awe, such as my first time picking green beans off the vine and thinking, “woah, this is really a green bean!” This farm, to me, is the most ‘real’ of all the places I could be.

The magic of farming derives not only from the tangible production but the sharing of it all. At Rushton Farm, I made friends of all ages, each drawn to the farm from a distinct background ranging from foraging to film. The wonderful company often made it feel more like summer camp than work. And when the heat of the afternoon made us sluggish, I was at least assured we were suffering together. Beyond the field, I shared the farm with family and friends by regularly doling out fresh veggies or bouquets of flowers. Giving a portion of the work I adored, whether to our members or my loved ones, was perhaps the most human part of it all.

Amid all the wonders of this work, I often thought about how fortunate I am to have had the experience I did. Because Rushton Farm is a beloved CSA with a strong community farm program, my coworkers and I are paid a decent wage that does not fluctuate with yield or profit margins. While our members get to enjoy the freshest organic produce, I considered how countless Americans lack access to such local, nourishing food. My proximity to agriculture exposed just how separated we are from the realities underlying our food systems.

As I depart from Rushton Farm, I am assured that I am on the right path—a life motivated by the magic of food and the people who make it possible. Whatever I do next in my study of food systems, I hope to continue to share all the love and learning I found in these six acres.

Maria DiGiovanni | Maria graduated from Cornell University with a BS in International Agriculture and Rural Development in May 2023. She is devoted to research and advocacy at the intersections of food systems and labor. At Cornell, her senior thesis in partnership with the Cornell Farmworker Program aimed to increase the perspectives of the New York State undocumented workforce in policy discourse regarding proposed federal legislation, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. This fall, Maria is traveling to Italy as a Fulbright Scholar to investigate how young Calabrian farmers maintain sustainable agricultural livelihoods, aiming to imagine policies and pathways that revalorize rural spaces and draw future generations to farming. She looks forward to continuing her studies of rural development in a graduate program.

A new 90-acre nature preserve at Kirkwood Farm

While the price to acquire the land was high, all agreed resoundingly that failure to protect Kirkwood Farm would have come at even higher costs to wildlife and water quality and would have altered permanently the rural and historic qualities of a community imperiled by sprawling development and suburbanization.

And so it was that Willistown Conservation Trust put forth plans and galvanized support to acquire 90 acres of Kirkwood Farm, create a new nature preserve, and open the land for the public to experience and enjoy for the first time in centuries.

Owned and operated by Willistown Conservation Trust, the new nature preserve, Kestrel Hill – named after the Kestrels often seen soaring over the bucolic countryside – will be secluded, idyllic, and peaceful, featuring rolling hills, sweeping vistas, mature woodlands, and two streams that form tributaries of Ridley Creek.

Willistown Conservation Trust plans to convert existing farmlands to native habitat, expand riparian buffer areas in wetlands and along stream banks, open hiking trails for equestrians and pedestrians, and provide public access and parking. Once complete, Kestrel Hill will be a sanctuary for wildlife and for all who come to visit and experience the wonders of our natural world.

We look forward to welcoming you to Kestrel Hill at a future date to be announced. Until then, keep an eye out for updates and visit our website to take a ‘sneak peek’ and learn more.

Diatoms are a single celled algae which form the foundation of stream ecosystems; they provide oxygen through photosynthesis, and act as food for other aquatic life. Diatoms are picky about where they live, with small shifts in water chemistry completely changing the species of diatoms found on a single rock. Stream conditions can change extremely quickly; a bad storm can wash away the entire diatom community, allowing new species to dominate. Changes on the landscape like development or influence from a wastewater treatment plant can also restructure diatom communities. The ability of diatom community structure to change is a wonderful tool scientists can use to investigate the health of a body of water.

This summer, I collaborated with the Diatom Herbarium at the Academy of Natural Sciences, which hosts globally renowned diatom experts and is home to one of the oldest historical collections of diatom samples, including samples taken from Ridley Creek as long ago as 1909. With expert guidance, I collected diatom samples from five different sites along Ridley Creek (Map 1). I then worked to identify and count the most abundant species. Samples were collected from West Branch Ridley Creek (WBRC1), Main Stem Ridley Creek (RC1), a small wastewater influenced tributary that feeds into Ridley Creek at Ashbridge Preserve (RCWW1), Ashbridge Preserve (RCAB1), and Okehocking Preserve (RCOK1).

Analyzing diatom species allows us to build a baseline for what a healthy stream looks like in this geographic area. This provides a helpful benchmark that we can use in conjunction with long-term environmental data, like the water chemistry data WCT has been collecting since 2018, to study the changing health of Ridley Creek. During analysis, I counted nearly 1,400 diatom cells and found over 60 different species. Most were common freshwater diatom species, but there were a few rare species found as well. Four out of the five sites had very similar species present (Fig. 1), with the wastewater tributary showcasing a much different community structure (Fig. 2).

The four most common diatom species from West Branch Ridley Creek, Main Stem Ridley Creek, Ashbridge Preserve, and Okehocking Preserve indicate the presence of elevated nutrients in the stream. However, the most abundant species from the wastewater samples are more of a mixed bag, with some species preferring more nutrients and other species thriving in low-nutrient conditions.

There is no simple explanation for these results, but one hypothesis is that the stream conditions at the wastewater tributary are less stable, leading to rapid changes in habitat for diatoms, causing populations to fluctuate. In contrast, the other four sites are more likely to have a relatively stable environment, allowing species that share similar optimal habitats to establish robust populations.

Diatom diversity in general, is correlated with conductivity, which is a broad water quality measurement that reflects the presence of ions, including pollutants like salts and nutrients, in the water. The different ions that are measured by conductivity matter when it comes to where certain species will thrive. Conductivity was measured at each sampling site at the time of sampling, and the wastewater tributary was found to have the highest conductivity of all sites by a significant margin. Such a difference in conductivity between the wastewater tributary and the other sites along Ridley Creek, suggests that despite being close geographically, the difference in habitat supports a completely different community
of diatoms.

The wastewater tributary is an example of how development can negatively impact water quality, resulting from the presence of a wastewater treatment plant. With this data, we can begin investigating why diatom communities change, start to understand what a healthy diatom community looks like in Ridley Creek, and work to continue the decades-long effort by the community to protect and restore these precious stream habitats.

Sarah Barker | Sarah is a senior at Drexel University where she is majoring in Biology with a concentration on evolution, ecology, and genomics. Before joining the Watershed Program, she spent six months working for a water quality start-up called Tern Water as a water chemistry research/lab assistant and another six months working at Polysciences as a quality control chemist. As a Watershed Protection Program Co-op, her responsibilities included assisting in sample collection, equipment maintenance, data collection and entry, running laboratory analyses, and aiding in educational outreach.