Volunteer

The Staff and Board of Trustees at The Nature Conservancy in Pennsylvania and Delaware congratulates Gary Benzon for being our 2024 Delaware Volunteer of the Year. We are honored that Gary generously gives him time and energy helping to keep our natural lands thriving for the benefit of the wildlife that call these lands home. His efforts have also benefited the many visitors at the McCabe Preserve who come to revel in its beauty along the Broadkill River.

“Growing up on a southern New Jersey barrier island in the 1960s, I spent many days as a teenager prowling the back bays and tidal marshes by boat and witnessed the ravages of unchecked coastal development,” Gary Benzon explains. “The total lack of ospreys and eagles at the time due to eggshell thinning [from DDT] did not go unnoticed. A career in the biological sciences was a forgone conclusion.”

Today, Gary lives in Sussex County after retiring from a career as an entomologist. He has volunteered his time on numerous projects including many hours helping to maintain the 39-acre reforestation area at the McCabe Preserve, formerly used as farm fields until 2019. “It impressed upon me that informed management here will have benefits over a hands-off approach which would likely result in a monotonous stand of loblolly pine and invasive multiflora rose.”

Gary has also given his time monitoring the bluebird boxes dotting the edges of the fields, recording statistics on the birds’ breeding success. “In my relatively short tenure as a volunteer for TNC, it is rather early to see a significant impact of my efforts,” he notes. “However, it is important to be patient and adjust one’s sense of time when involved in projects that could be a generation or more to full fruition.”

It was Gary’s father who cultivated a love of nature in him, “Since I was five years old, taking me on many early morning trips to the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge,” he recalls. Gary says he loves visiting our local TNC preserves, adding, “I look for TNC sites everywhere I travel and usually find them.”

“Outside of Delaware I can think of two stand-out properties,” Gary explains. “The first is the Volgenau Virginia Coast Reserve, an astounding collection of barrier islands stretching for most of fifty miles that were spared massive development, or in the case of Parramore Island, from becoming a bombing range. I love paddling my sea kayak through miles of bays and tidal marshes to land on and explore the ones that are open to the public (outside of nesting season, of course). TNC, cooperating with local communities and other partners, has done incredible work in this preserve.”

“My second favorite site is the Follensby Pond tract in the Adirondack Mountains of New York,” he continues. “Having spent many summers nearby, I had the opportunity to follow the acquisition, scientific evaluation, and final plans for this pristine 14,600-acre parcel. The results will be the establishment of a freshwater research reserve involving TNC and a large consortium of agencies and institutions, restored indigenous relationships, and an easement to allow public access to a large area bordering the Raquette River. What an amazing outcome.”

Here in Delaware, Gary says he enjoys the Edward H. McCabe Preserve, “with its variety of habitats from riparian, to old field, to semi-mature forest. It has been particularly interesting to watch rapid succession occurring in the old field areas with the help of native tree plantings and prescribed burns.”

When asked why he chose to volunteer for The Nature Conservancy, Gary says, “Having had a life-long interest in conservation and a career in the biological sciences, it was an easy choice to make for my retirement years. Though there are many worthy organizations, I chose TNC due to the focus on preserving critical habitat while working cooperatively with diverse stakeholders to try to maximize the benefit to all.”

Thank you, Gary!