Make a Difference   Join The Nature Conservancy today, and help the Eastern New York Chapter keep our lands and waters safe for future generations. Resources Make Plans It's time to make a trip.  Get all your travel details here. Get Out on the Land With seven different trails, ranging from pine barrens to ice caves, there's sure to be something you'll enjoy. Call of the Wild Sam's Point is home to many rare or endangered creatures.  Find out more about them! Come Together Without our partners, Sam's Point just wouldn't be the same.  Check out how, together, we make things happen. Blue Gold Sam's Point was once home to a thriving community of huckleberry pickers.  Find out more about this vanished culture and watch a short film about the community. Virtual Visit Curious about Sam's Point?  Stuck at home for now? Take a virtual visit from your home computer by visiting our slideshow and find out what Sam's Point has to offer!

Read on for information about upcoming programs at Sam’s Point Preserve.

Please come prepared with a lunch or snacks, plenty of water, comfortable footwear and warm clothing for hikes over three hours. Meet at the Sam’s Point Conservation Center unless otherwise stated.

Please register for all programs. Call (845) 647-7989 ext.101 or e-mail hwagner@tnc.org.

Winter 2009

KIDS UNPLUGGED NATURE SERIES CONTINUES:
In an ongoing effort to kids get outdoors and in touch with nature, Sam’s Point Preserve is offering three Saturday programs this winter. We encourage parents to sign their child up for the entire series. Suitable for kids 7 and up.

Please have your child dress appropriately for the outdoors. Group size is limited to 20, so sign up early!

Session 1: Kids Get Fired Up!
Saturday, January 17
3:00 – 5:00pm    
Why and how does fire occur? What conditions in our forests help wildfires to ignite? Does fire help or hurt forest ecology? These and other fire-related questions will be answered in this fascinating program. Learn about the fire triangle, create a matchstick forest and make your own fuel recipe.

Parents - all kids will be well supervised by adults!

Session 2: Kids Go Wild!
Saturday, January 31
10:00 – 11:00am         
What makes an animal "exotic"? It depends on where you live! Three-toed box turtles are commonplace in Missouri - but exotic to people living in Australia. You won't find a Virginia opossum in Africa but we see them in our yards in North America. Meet live animals from around the world with Jan Berlin, director of the Everything Animals Resource Center, Inc., a non-profit humane education and animal welfare organization. Their live animal presentations and educational materials focus on the importance of respect, kindness, tolerance, compassion and personal responsibility.

Session 3: Kids Rock!
Saturday, February 14
9:00 – 11:00am
Children between the ages of 6 and 13 are invited to immerse themselves in the geology of Sam’s Point with educator, Linda Richards. Participants will hike to Sam’s Point and beyond with rocks as the focus. What kind of rocks are on the ridge? Where did they come from? What’s “deep time”? How can you “read rocks” to learn their stories? Activities include hiking, rock exploration, rock tests, rock sculpture and maybe even a little rock and roll – through songwriting! 

Ms. Richards is a New York State board certified teacher, with twenty plus years experience in classroom and outdoor education, a former director of education for the environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., and a musician. She has delighted audiences throughout the Hudson Valley for the past decade with her unique presentations. Ms. Richards’ combined experiences as performer and teacher make her a rare package whose programs delight and educate youth and adult audiences! www.lindarichardsadventures 

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:
Firewise Bonfire
Saturday, January 17
5:00 – 7:00pm
Following the “Kids Get Fired Up” program, join the Sam’s Point staff for a winter warm up around a toasty bonfire. If weather permits we may take short moonlight walk, so bring along a flashlight just in case. Comfort food, marshmallows and drinks will be provided. However, you are welcome to contribute your own dish. Brush for this bonfire was collected from Cragsmoor homes to help reduce residents’ vulnerability to wildfire.

Cragsmoor has received Firewise Community/USA status for a third year and continues to be the only recognized Firewise community in New York State. For more information on how your community can become Firewise, go to www.firewise.org.

Eastern Cougars
Sunday, February 22
2:00pm
The search for the eastern cougar is fraught with controversy. Thousands of sightings from Maine to Georgia and west to the Mississippi River over the previous generation have produced only a dozen or so confirmations. The Eastern Cougar Foundation (ECF) has solicited these reports for ten years, including running trailcam surveys sanctioned by state and federal wildlife agencies, without producing a single piece of confirmed evidence. Fresh from conducting a year-long study at Minnewaska State Park Preserve, ECF president Christopher Spatz will explain why sightings don't produce evidence, and why the ECF is now advocating for reintroduction of this magnificent predator to its former eastern range
 

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Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Heidi Wagner (snowshoe); Photo © The Nature Conservancy (hiking); Photo © The Nature Conservancy (Sam's Point).