Balancing Sound Development & Effective Conservation
Grassland Stewardship
Community Grassland Stewardship Project
Click here for our "Become a Grassland Steward" Brochure (PDF).
Click here for our Community Grasslands Stewardship Project Factsheet (PDF).
Private landowner stewardship is essential to preserving local grassland birds.Project summary: Grasslands, which include open fields, pasture and farmland, are rapidly being lost in Greene County due to development pressures and other factors. These open spaces that define the pastoral beauty of our communities, and provide habitat for at-risk grassland birds, are predominately in private ownership. The Greene Land Trust, through a grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program, has developed the Community Grassland Stewardship Project to educate, engage and support the community and private landowners in conserving their open spaces as grasslands.
Savannah Sparrow Photo: L FedermanProject area: The project will build on the success of establishing the Coxsackie Creek Grassland Preserve (CCGP) and focus on conserving key grassland habitat in the corridor between Catskill and New Baltimore in eastern Greene County in the Greene County Grassland Conservation Focus Area (see map).
With over 300 acres of grassland already preserved at the CCGP, the goal of this project is to expand suitable acres of grassland habitat by supporting the voluntary stewardship of over 500 additional acres by private landowners in this critical grassland area.
Project approach: The Green Land Trust is taking a two-pronged approach to promote and support community-based and landowner grassland habitat conservation and stewardship.
I. Grassland Habitat Stewardship landowner incentive program:
- Become a "Grassland Habitat Steward": after signing a voluntary “Grassland Stewardship Pledge”, eligible landowners will receive various incentives and support from GLT such as property signage, property-specific grasslands Habitat Management Plan, and management assistance.
- Developing “Conserving Greene County Grassland Habitat: A Landowner’s Guide” to provide landowners with grasslands information, recommended management practices and resources
II. Community Education and Involvement:
- Community participation events such as Winter Owl Hikes and a Live Grassland Bird Show and Grassland Hike at the CCGP in the fall;
- Presentations to municipal officials and planning boards about grassland conservation;
- Working with schools and summer youth programs to involve students and families in grassland stewardship education;
- News articles in the local press;
- Interpretive signs about grasslands to be posted at accessible locations near grasslands around the community to educate passersby on the importance of local grasslands;
- Grasslands Stewardship brochure (PDF), factsheets and information on this website.
The Community Grasslands Stewardship Project is a cooperative effort lead by the Greene Land Trust with the collaboration of many partners:
NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program 
NYS DEC Region Four Division of Wildlife
Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District, Habitat Advisory Committee
