By Kyler Moran, Preserve Stewardship Manager -
This season, spending time on Legacy’s preserves will look a little different, and we couldn’t be more excited. After careful planning, thoughtful collaboration, and intentionally growing our team, Legacy is reshaping preserve engagement to create more meaningful ways for our supporters to connect with the land and with us.
When I took the helm of the preserve stewardship program in 2021, the world–and Legacy–was still deeply impacted by the pandemic. For everyone’s safety, we only offered a few preserve events around our core opportunities like volunteer workdays.
As the pandemic lessened its grip over time, each season we added a little more into the mix–a goal of mine since I began. In between increasing the number of workdays and folding in guided hikes for the volunteers who attended, we occasionally offered events like vernal pool training or Project Mow when capacity allowed.
The feedback was overwhelming positive, but with a small team, our capacity to expand was limited.
Today though, we are ready for more. Legacy’s commitment to planned growth and a deeply collaborative and inclusive culture is inspiring thoughtful change throughout the organization–and especially on our preserves.
Careful strategic and financial sustainability planning over the last decade has allowed us to intentionally grow capacity, expand programs, and increase staff.
And our commitment to accessibility and inclusion has reignited a strong desire in the preserve team to connect people and diverse communities to the land in ways that promote access, curiosity, learning, and belonging.
So, after years of building preserve engagement back up, and in a nod to the amazing work that came before us, the time is right for our team to offer more ways for supporters to connect with us.
With a larger preserve team, more staff devoted to strengthening volunteer relationships, and a network of dedicated volunteers in place, the shift starts this season.
Adding more preserve staff has expanded on the ground work capacity and their expertise has inspired new events. Increased capacity also enables us to support and train volunteers stepping into leadership roles. We can more deeply engage volunteers and support a larger variety of accessible opportunities–including volunteer-led workdays and events.
Beginning this year, we’re piloting new ways our supporters can stay engaged with us all year round. There will be more preserve events to choose from, and a little more variety to accommodate folks with different interests, abilities, and schedules.
All of the workdays that our volunteers have come to know (and love!) are still happening. And, our regular events like vernal pool training, Bioblitz, Project Mow, and workdays will bookend multiple educational mothing events during the summer!
Moving forward, we plan to offer a balanced mix of stewardship, learning, and exploration opportunities. But depending on capacity and our yearly goals, the combination will vary.
There will always be a need for volunteer supported workdays on our preserves–it’s central to the success of Legacy’s restoration work. But as the amount of workday support we’ll need every year fluctuates, so too will our events that promote curiosity and learning.
It’s only February and our 2026 calendar is shaping up. We’ve spent the winter months crafting opportunities for everyone to join us no matter their interest or expertise.
This spring we have four workdays planned, plus a vernal pool patrol training and three moth nights. We’re also putting the final touches on another BioBlitz and Project Mow for this summer. And if collecting native seed sparks your interest, we are in works to set up an opportunity for seed collection in the fall.
We can’t wait to welcome you back to the preserves in new and exciting ways. Explore our calendar and sign up today!