Conservation Education Center
Donate to the Waterman Center
Why Donate
People need nature! Your contributions keep our community connected to the lands that support our mental and physical health!Your donations help us continue our conservation efforts by supporting the upkeep and maintenance of our six nature preserves. Donations also allow us to provide high-quality educational programs for the community.
If your donation has a specific purpose (member dues, Ted the Tortoise) don't forget to indicate it with the drop-down menu or leave a note! You can also make your donation recurring (weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.).
Donations can also be made in-person, through the mail, or over the phone!
For more information on making a donation see below, especially for Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Donations.
Help Waterman Build a New Barn!
With as many trail and conservation projects as the Waterman Center does, it takes a lot of equipment, and you need a place to store it all! Our six nature preserves, which span across both Broome and Tioga counties, demand a central storage location. For us, that means a barn at our main interpretive center in Apalachin.
For close to fifty years, our current barn has served as a conservation superstore for staff and volunteers who need to trim trees, build trails, and take care of our buildings, shelters, and signage. Its wooden walls are lined with shovels, picks, and trimmers. Our collection of donated and refurbished mowers rests on the gravel floor. Unfortunately, our barn is also a damp, aging structure that has begun to fall down. We have exciting plans to upcycle old shipping containers to create an even better structure, but we need the community’s help to make it happen!
Obtaining the containers is relatively simple and cheap, since there is a ready supply of aging units that are beginning to pile up in scrapyards. However, the process of designing and transforming them into a building with storage, workshop, and flexible use spaces to work on new conservation projects will cost more than what we have in our emergency reserves fund (note to readers: If you happen to be a professional engineer and would like to volunteer some time for design development, please get in touch!). When completed, the two metal shipping containers will be joined by a roof, resulting in a lot more space that will stay dry and last for many, many years!
While a fixture of our operations for decades, the current barn’s configuration is cramped with little useful working area. We look forward to designing a space geared toward effective storage of both equipment and materials that also reserves an open “shop” area. With the new barn situated next to the green-roofed Margaret Mee Outdoor Classroom, we will be able to fabricate materials and run workshops out of the new barn, helping to empower our community to live in balance with nature!
As we get closer to our 50th anniversary, look for opportunities to support this and other important conservation projects from the Waterman Center. The first of these is our upcoming “Barn-Raiser” Community Yard Sale on September 6th, 9 am – 3 pm! Several households and Waterman will have tables of items for sale both indoors and outdoors. Contact us to rent a space or to donate items for the sale! Of course, you can also donate directly to support our new barn project and show your enthusiasm for this innovative building project that promotes sustainability and drives a grassroots non-profit organization that connects people to nature!
Help Save Our Hemlocks!
The Waterman Center needs your help protecting our old growth Hemlock forests at the IBM Glen! Hemlocks have already been devastated by the invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) in Pennsylvania and New York. To preserve our ecosystems and safeguard the hemlock species, every 5 years the Waterman Center treats hemlocks at the IBM Glen to protect them from HWA. This effort is critical to save enough of these ecologically important trees. This year our goal is $5,000 to treat approx. 500 trees.
The Waterman Center has been dedicated to saving our hemlocks since HWA was first found at the IBM Glen in 2014. We have successfully treated 450 trees in 2015 and 490 trees in 2020. HWA can reproduce incredibly quickly and will roar back to high levels if conditions permit. We hope to continue our treatments in 2025!
Hemlock trees are the third most common tree in New York State and are considered both a foundation and a climax species. Hemlock forests create unique soil and water conditions forming the basic structure of an ecosystem. Additionally, they are very slow growing and shade-tolerant, taking a long time to reach the canopy and dominate the forest. Large hemlock groves are typically very old and a sign of a mature and productive forest. This makes hemlocks irreplaceable in forest environments. The oldest hemlocks at the glen could be 200-400 years old!
We have officially begun prepping our trees for treatment at the IBM Glen. Trees with a silver tag represent those that have been treated in the past. We will be stapling pink surveying tape to these trees over the next few weeks to mark them for reapplication. As the applicator works his way through the Glen he will remove the tape, this helps prevent missing any trees or double applying. We will update you when application is taking place. Donations toward this treatment are still very much appreciated.
Contact
607-625-2221
Waterman Conservation Education Center
403 Hilton Rd,
Apalachin, NY 13732
The Waterman Conservation Education Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Donations are tax deductible under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 16-10861066.
Qualified Charitable Donations (QCDs) directly from your IRA account are not tax deductible, as they are tax-free, per Internal Revenue Code 408(d)(8)
Donor Advised Funds (DAF) should be made out to Waterman Conservation Center Endowment Fund, Inc.
EIN: 16-1604146