The Orleans Conservation Trust protects and restores natural lands—for people and wildlife, the health of our waters, and the character of our community. | | Welcome, Clara and Melissa! | | OCT recently welcomed Clara Parker and Melissa Stellenwerf as our 2025 Land Stewardship Summer Interns. Clara and Melissa will work directly with staff to advance the mission of OCT through a variety of land management activities. Throughout the summer, they will be involved with property inspections and maintenance, long and short-term land management planning, habitat management, property documentation, and volunteer engagement. Learn more about Clara and Melissa here. | | | | |
Our latest newsletter is hot off the presses! Read the Spring/Summer 2025 edition and find past editions in our newsletter archive.
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| | Member-Only Walks at Namequoit Wood | | |
Wednesday, June 11, 4:30-6pm
Tuesday, June 17, 4:30-6pm
In appreciation of the vital, ongoing support of our members, we’re pleased to offer these member-only opportunities to visit Namequoit Wood on guided walks with OCT staff. (A "member" is an OCT supporter who gives $50 per year/individual, $100 per year/family.) Learn more about membership here; click here to become a member or renew.
Learn more about Namequoit Wood here.
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Saturday, June 14, 9-11am
203 South Orleans Road, Orleans
Join OCT for our seventh annual plant sale, which will have a native pollinator plant theme (and some veggies!). Beautify your garden while supporting native wildlife and pollinators. Proceeds will benefit OCT’s land saving work!
Plants are being generously provided by OCT members and Lake Farm Gardens. Please do not arrive prior to 9:00 am.
| | Portanimicut Greenbelt Walk | | |
Wednesday, June 18, 8:30-10am
Walk about 1.5 miles, including a stretch on Portanimicut Road, and visit the Greenbelt Gateway and Window on the Bay Preserves.
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Volunteer Workdays are now scheduled for the first and third Thursday of each month. Can't make Thursday workdays, but still want to participate? Contact Sam O'Neill at sam@orleansconservationtrust.org
We're now using SignUp to organize our upcoming Volunteer Workdays!
Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:
1) Click here to see OCT's SignUp page.
2) Review the events listed and choose the spot(s) you'd like to sign up for.
3) Sign up! It's easy - and you will not need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.
| | Twinings Eco-Restoration and Trail Work | | |
Thursday, June 5, 9:30-11:30am
135 Quanset Road, Orleans
Join us at our Twinings Conservation Area as we continue our meadow restoration project overlooking Twinings Pond. Building on earlier staff efforts to uproot invasives and plant native seed mixes, this workday will focus on the removal of privet and seeding a variety of native grasses and pollinators. We will also remove any vegetation that has begun to encroach along our trail system.
Be sure to bring shoes and clothing appropriate for off-trail travel, water, and any personal items you may need. Be aware of ticks and poison ivy: long sleeves and bug repellant are recommended!
| | Garden Work at the OCT Office | | |
Thursday, June 19, 9:30-11:30am
203 South Orleans Road, Orleans
Come by the OCT office to help us weed our pollinator gardens and complete the Locust edging that surrounds them. The work will mainly include the removal of weeds, so be sure to bring appropriate work gloves. The installation of the Locust edging will include breaking through soil and hammering rebar through the Locust to keep it in place.
| | Orleans Pond Coalition's Celebrate Our Waters | | |
Friday, June 6
Saturday, June 7
Join Orleans Pond Coalition for Celebrate Our Waters: The Summer Edition! Learn more and find the schedule of events here. And look for OCT's table at Depot Square on June 7!
| | Landscaping for Native Pollinators Talk | | |
Friday, June 13, 5-7pm
Master Gardener and OCT Trustee Gary Bowden will explain how to adapt your current yard and gardens into a more habitat-friendly environment that will support our native pollinators year round. He will share insights about how to best garden on the Cape in light of our changing climate conditions. The work underway on Sipson Island to remove invasives and create a native plant habitat will be featured. He has tips on lawn and garden maintenance to create pollinator habitat in all seasons. You will see photos and hear tips on native plants that will help attract and support pollinators, as well as which native plants will do best in shady and sunny yards. Hosted by Pleasant Bay Community Boating; learn more here.
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Upcoming Walks:
- Member-Only Walk at Namequoit Wood (6/11)
- Member-Only Walk at Namequoit Wood (6/17)
- Portanimicut Greenbelt Walk (6/18)
- Putnam Farm Walk (7/15)
- Mill Pond Valley Walk (8/15)
Upcoming Events:
- Orleans Pond Coalition's Celebrate Our Waters (6/7)
- OCT's Annual Plant Sale (6/14)
- OCT's Annual Meeting (8/25)
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At Home with Nature
Nature-friendly practices you can adopt for your yard
| | Native Plant of the Month: Mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia | | |
Mountain laurel, the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, can be found all along the eastern US from Maine south to Florida and as far west as Indiana and Louisiana. In the southern part of its range, this broad-leaved evergreen shrub prefers north-facing slopes and higher elevations. On Cape Cod, it is happiest in humus-y soil in open woodlands and other locations that are shielded from the hottest rays of the afternoon sun. It can handle sunnier spots provided the soil remains somewhat moist and cool.
Typically, the straight species is a multi-stemmed shrub that reaches four to 10 feet in height, but it can also develop into a small single-trunked tree and grow several feet taller. Almost every plant database describing mountain laurel mentions its “gnarly” branches and peeling bark, which can give it a wild and even scruffy appearance before it bursts into bloom in late spring in a stunning transformation. As if touched by a fairy godmother’s wand, mountain laurel becomes a cloud of white to pale pink blossoms that attract bees and butterflies. Some cultivars flower in deeper shades of pink.
The blossoms eventually mature into seedpods that also provide visual interest, and the leathery leaves are attractive year-round. Gardeners should be aware that mountain laurel leaves, flowers and stems are highly poisonous to humans and other mammals, but this attribute also discourages deer from browsing on them.
Every month, Meg Voorhies profiles a different native plant for the Mayflower Point Association in Orleans, where she lives. Thank you, Meg, and Orleans Pond Coalition, for sharing this month's native plant.
| | Learn more about living At Home with Nature on our webpage. | | Orleans Conservation Trust is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 1970. Over its 50-year history, the Trust has preserved more than 660 acres in Orleans. Among the most active land trusts on Cape Cod, OCT stewards a range of ecosystems, from freshwater ponds and wetlands to saltmarshes, wooded upland, and coastal grasslands, managing its lands to protect and enhance wildlife habitat, restore native ecosystems, and provide public recreation and education through a network of trails and informational signage. OCT also educates residents and visitors about important natural values and environmental issues in Orleans and around Cape Cod via guided walks, free lectures, its website, newsletter, and other communications. | | | | |
