Our Mission
Friends of Marshlands, Inc., a nonprofit volunteer organization, was formed to provide support to Marshlands Conservancy, a wildlife sanctuary and nature preserve owned and operated by the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation. We are dedicated to promoting the protection, preservation, and enhancement of the Conservancy for present and future generations.
We advocate for a management process that preserves the wildlife habitat, historic character, water and air quality, and restorative nature of the land. Membership and volunteer donations fund educational programs, purchase equipment, maintain the Nature Center and grounds, and encourage the support of Marshlands Conservancy by county officials.
Yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
Symbol of the Friends
The Symbol of Friends of Marshlands is the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
In 1978, when Friends of Marshlands was formed, we chose the yellow-crowned night heron as our symbol and mascot. Marshlands Conservancy was the only known site in mainland New York State where a pair of yellow-crowned night herons nested in the trees above the salt marsh.
For 5 years, this breeding pair raised offspring at this site, feeding them crabs, other small crustaceans, and fish from the salt marsh and nearby shoreline. However, the parents were unable to keep their nestlings safe from predation with the arrival of a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) in 1983, which nested in a pine tree at the Conservancy.
Since then, Yellow-crowned Night Herons have been seen visiting the Conservancy as they migrate to places as distant as the islands of the Caribbean and Panama. We are hopeful that one day a pair could actually breed in the Conservancy once again, serving as a visible symbol of the commitment by Friends of Marshlands to preserving our habitat.
What We Do
Friends of Marshlands activities, supported by donor funds, are used in a variety of ways that support the programs, research, and facilities at Marshlands Conservancy.
Our recent activities include sponsoring the following projects:
Physical Improvements
• Mowing the meadow every spring
• Constructing a new storage shed to house maintenance equipment
• Planting hundreds of native understory shrubs, ferns and sedges in the forest
• Restoring the Meadow utilizing goats to help eradicate invasive plants
Nature Center
• Building and installing new 3-D map of Marshlands
• Buying portable shelters for the camp program
• Providing funding for education and development opportunities for our curator and naturalist
Board of Directors
President: Clare Francis
Treasurer: Jean Taplett
Secretary: David Styler
Board Members
Tom Burke
Chris Graseck
Sarah O’Keefe
Aaron Levine
Curator
Michael Gambino
Naturalist
Kristen Pareti
Yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea)
Friends of Marshlands History
Friends of Marshlands was founded in 1978 to help support the fledgling Marshlands Conservancy, which had opened in 1972. We are just part of a very long story about the people who have lived on its site that begins in prehistoric times, moves through pre-colonial, colonial, and early American periods, and continues with changes in ownership and alterations to the land throughout the last two centuries before Marshlands was accorded the status of a Westchester County Park.
In 1966, the Zilph Palmer Devereux Estate donated 120 acres of its property to Westchester County. The remaining 23 adjacent acres of the former estate were donated in 1967 to the Methodist Church, which eventually sold the property to a developer in 1980. Beginning at that time, Friends of Marshlands spent 13 years working with local, county, state, and federal organizations to stop a planned housing development from encroaching on the Marshlands.
These efforts were successful, and in 1992, the 23 acres of the former estate were acquired from the property developer by New York State and Westchester County.
A year later, in 1993, the Boston Post Road Historic District, of which the Jay Mansion and Marshlands are major units, was designated a National Historic Landmark. A 2013 public–private stewardship agreement gave stewardship of the state and county owned land and buildings, including preservation, restoration, and interpretation, to the Jay Heritage Center, which owns the Jay Mansion, carriage house, and one-and-a-half acres of surrounding land.
In 1977, the Parsons family whose property lies immediately east of the park, donated a further 27 acres to the county, bringing Marshlands to its present size of 147 acres.
Friends of Marshlands has procured scholarly papers on the archeology, natural history and ethnohistory of Marshlands to further add to your understanding and appreciation of this unique setting. We encourage you to browse our Studies section before or after, or even during, your visit.