by Emily Manley

The place is a kind of legend around these parts: the birthplace of The Nature Conservancy — a 60-acre start to an organization that, over the course of just 54 years, has transformed into a global conservation leader with 119 million acres of land protected and more than a million dedicated supporters. 

A 40 minute drive by car, Mianus River Gorge is one of the closest preserves to New York City, yet by some slight of the hand, I’d never managed to get there, in all my four and a half years of working for the Conservancy. It’s always given me a twinge of embarrassment to admit that.

But last week that changed. With a little bit of luck, I ended up back at the birthplace of the world’s largest conservation organization, thinking about people, place and history, deep inside a grove of ancient hemlocks.

Escape from New York

The trip there, an hour-long drive on congested parkways, past sprawling Co-op City in the Bronx, angry commuters and snarled traffic hardly feels like an escape from civilization. But as you exit the highway in Bedford, the scenery shifts abruptly. Green, rolling pastures and white-fenced horse farms replace the tollbooths and high rises. The sigh of relief from the land is practically audible.

A packed dirt road runs along the river and through a tunnel of overhanging hardwoods to the preserve’s entrance. As you enter the trail, flanked by an informational kiosk and a pile of walking sticks left by thoughtful hikers, the air becomes cool and damp; the smell of moss and leaves is heavy. The forest, thick with hemlocks, quickly envelops you and except for the occasional passing airplane or the shrill "chip-chip-chip" of nearby chipmunks, the forest speaks utter silence. It’s not hard to understand why people would fight for this place.

The movement began in 1953 when a core group of neighbors learned that a 60-acre parcel in the heart of Mianus River Gorge was targeted for development.

Desperate to keep the old-growth forest intact, the neighbors pooled resources to buy the land. They sought assistance from the newly-established Nature Conservancy and together they raised the funds to secure the property and ensure its preservation. Today, through the efforts of local communities, the Conservancy and the nonprofit that manages much of the land, Mianus River Gorge Preserve has expanded to more than 700 acres of old-growth hemlocks and wild, free river.

That afternoon, as I perched by the rocky streambed, bluebirds swooping overhead and flecks of mica, feldspar and pink quartz beneath my boots, I was overwhelmed by the power of nature to calm, restore, renew. And unbelievably thankful to the scrappy bunch of dedicated pioneers that had the spark and the foresight to fight for what they believed in.

A Natural Symbol

I began my trip wondering what half a century would mean for a place like this — and whether the Conservancy of 2009, with global priorities and a wider scope, would still take on a project like Mianus Gorge. I left with the conviction that it doesn’t really matter. 

Because fifty years later, the story of Mianus symbolizes the best of what the Conservancy has become today — people oriented, driven by science, collaborative, committed — and echoes a similar tale rooted in America's conservation tradition: the creation of our National Parks System.

As Ken Burns' new documentary explains, the National Parks are actually a story about people: rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; native and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved.

While this preserve may never rise to the level of a National Park (though it is a National Natural History Landmark), the place remains a testament to the impact that just a few dedicated people can make.  And while the Conservancy has grown older, larger and broader, the roots of the organization remain firmly planted — side by side with ancient hemlocks — in the rich, deep soil of Mianus River Gorge.

Emily Manley is a marketing specialist based in New York City.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Erika Nortemann/TNC (Mianus River Preserve); Photo © Erika Nortemann/TNC (fern).