Atlantic States Legal Foundation

What an eventful Earth Day and Arbor Day week!  To celebrate, ASLF presented at Pulaski Middle-High School on Tuesday introducing students to green infrastructure and agroforestry. We also brainstormed ideas for our Sea Grant tree planting in the school courtyard. Then on Friday, after Director of Sustainability Kate Spector gave an Arbor Day proclamation, we had a huge volunteer turnout to help us plant over 30 trees on the SUNY-Oswego campus as part of our ongoing GLRI project. How did you celebrate? Of course, let's not forget: every day is Earth day, every day is Arbor Day!

Happy Earth Day from ASLF! Of course, every day is Earth Day. This year we're highlighting responsible foraging. Ramps (wild leek) shown here is a good example of a foraged plant that often experiences overharvesting. Remember to take small quantities, leave some for others, only harvest one leaf per plant (if one leaf has already been harvested don't take any more so it can store enough energy for next year), and if a particular patch has been harvested heavily consider letting it recover instead of taking any more.

Of course, always forage safely and only in areas where there hasn't been pesticide application or other contamination. Enjoy your Earth Day and happy foraging!

Volunteers for the CNY Land Trust are planting 3,500 native trees in Skaneateles on April 18 to help purify Syracuse's drinking water. Learn more at LocalSYR.com.

Have you had a chance to check out our 2025 newsletter? Get caught up on our latest projects in Oswego, Fulton, and Pulaski, and learn about the future of our One Million Gallon (OMG!) green infrastructure projects in Syracuse.https://aslf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ASLF_Newsletter_2025-4-1-1.pdf

We had a great time training with the Onondaga Earth Corps team leaders yesterday, sharing the history of our OMG! program and our long standing work around Onondaga Lake. Wishing the entire team a safe, successful, and impactful season as they continue to care for Syracuse's green infrastructure. Wishing you all an amazing season ahead.

Join us in the Village Of Pulaski, NY next Thursday! We'll be talking about trees (of course) and so much more.

Tree planting at SUNY-Oswego is underway! We'll be continuing over the next few weeks (weather permitting), so feel free to reach out if you'd like to lend a hand. This is part of our Great Lakes Restoration Initiative program. Happy Fall!

Our first Sea Grant workshop in Pulaski last week was super productive. We discussed how trees help mitigate stormwater, the benefits of food forests, and then had a group work session reviewing possible tree planting locations on a big map of the village. Workshop attendees discussed how our plantings could complement upcoming DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) projects. Everyone is also excited about planting an orchard and food forest at Pulaski High School.

Next week!

Five new projects have been selected for funding through NY's Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program, totaling nearly $200K to support local restoration, education, and resilience efforts.

📍 Projects include:
• Sheridan Park Living Shoreline — Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper
• Addressing Common Invasive Species in Western New York Forests with Education for Forest Landowners — Western New York Land Conservancy
• Healthy Headwaters: Empowering Youth to Restore Riparian Habitat in the Upper Black Creek Watershed — Genesee County Parks
• Seeds of Stewardship: Community-Based Native Seed Network for the Northeast Lake Ontario & St. Lawrence River Region — Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County
• A Community-Driven Tree Planting Initiative for Adaptation and Revitalization in Pulaski — Atlantic States Legal Foundation

These efforts support New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda through local partnerships and ecosystem-based management. Stay tuned for updates as these projects get underway!

Learn more: nyseagrant.org/glsmallgrants

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The NY's Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program is coordinated by New York Sea Grant in partnership with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.