I can pull weeds at home...

I can pull weeds at home, or in my neighborhood park. Why should I travel a couple of hours to pull weeds on a Nature Conservancy preserve?

Good question!  The activities are similar.  The difference is in what you're protecting in each case.

Many managers of green areas are fighting the threat that invasive plants pose to more desirable vegetation, whether it's garden plots or rare native plants in a natural setting. The desire to combat invasive plants has generated dozens of volunteer projects for controlling weeds in city, county and state parks. If you want to contribute to the welfare of your local green space or don't have much time to travel, we encourage you to get involved close to home.

But Nature Conservancy lands urgently need your help too! Consider this:

• Compared to state- and county-managed lands, areas protected by the Conservancy tend to have many rare species and unusual natural communities that survive nowhere else. 

When we control weeds on our lands, it's a strategic effort to conduct ecological restoration to preserve "the last of the least." 

When you participate in a Nature Conservancy project, you will:

• experience an area that few people have ever seen
• take direct action to help heal the land
• help save something precious that has few, if any, other places of refuge.   

So if you have a day to spend in one of Maryland's rarest and most special natural areas, we hope you will join us!  We can often provide ride matching if you are coming from the DC or Baltimore metropolitan areas.

See you in the field!