SFFI presents TELE at Strategies for Landowner Engagement Workshop in Ossining, NY

February 4, 2015

On Saturday January 31st, members of the Hudson to Housatonic (H2H) Conservation Initiative met at Teatown Lake Reservation in Ossining, New York to learn about potential outreach activities for usage with NY and CT landowners.  SFFI was present at the meeting to provide an introduction to targeted marketing, the National Woodland Owner Survey, and attitudinal segmentation. We will be providing the H2H group with a full 2-day TELE workshop at the end of February.

The H2H initiative is a new inter-state collaboration of more than two-dozen local and regional conservation organizations and municipal partners across southwestern Connecticut and Westchester and southeastern Putnam counties of New York. Participating organizations and agencies will collaborate with landowners in 13 focal areas straddling town or state lines that have been identified as pivotal in the battle to protect imperiled streams, drinking water reservoirs, and plant and wildlife habitat.

The January 31st meeting included presentations from a number of natural resource professionals who have tested or are currently testing different strategies for landowner engagement. Topics included engaging landowners to protect tributaries and streams, how to organize a woods forum, engaging landowners through bird habitat assessments, and other outreach strategies.  

H2H is funded by a two-year US Forest Service grant, and is led by Highstead Foundation, Westchester Land Trust, Mianus River Gorge and Housatonic Valley Association. The TELE workshop will be the last of three workshops provided for members of the H2H partnership.