This article was featured in the 2022 Winter Newsletter by Rob Williams – SLELO PRISM. 

A recent assessment regarding connectivity, conducted by our PRISM, and our host organization The Nature Conservancy, resulted in metrics that suggest all the land and water area that our partnership directly manages may result in the landscape protection of just over 5 million acres.

In the context of prevention, what we do in the core forest of Tug Hill, such as preventing the establishment of a forest pest, along with forest restoration, helps to protect the entire 750,000-acre forest. What we do in the Oswego River and the Erie Canal with aquatic invasive species spread prevention serves to protect the Finger Lakes, the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, Oneida Lake, and nearly all connected waterways.

In addition, our eDNA and watercraft inspection work in the St. Lawrence River, Thousand Islands, and coastal waters serve to protect Lake Ontario and beyond. Our work has a far greater impact than just within our own regional footprint. By protecting and promoting native species we are creating more resilient landscapes. Resilient to changes in climate, stress caused by non-native species, and by human encroachment.

If we combine the work of all eight New York PRISMs, and state partners, we multiply our collective impact even more so.  What’s needed is a means by which to express our collective work in a meaningful way. For now, it’s safe to say  “together we are making a difference”.