A native of the Northeast who has called the Hudson Valley home for the last few years, WLC Land Steward Benedict Kupstas is enamored with Rock Oak Preserve. “I love the remarkable diversity in ecology and terrain in such a compact preserve,” Benedict explains, “from the damp and frog-filled spur trail to the switchback to the towering oaks and seasonally shifting wetlands.”

He continued, “I also enjoy contemplating the layers — even within the very geology of the place — of different interrelations between our fraught species and the land: the rock-cut for the erstwhile railroad, now rewilding with our modest encouragement.”

Benedict gets to see that slow but steady rewilding as he tends the trails at Rock Oak Preserve as one of our dedicated Land Stewards, ensuring the public areas are safe for visitors as well as its permanent inhabitants like the frogs. He also enjoys “eavesdropping” on the conversations of Rock Oak’s feathered visitors, listening to the birdsongs that can fill the preserve.

We appreciate Benedict’s dedication to Rock Oak Preserve and are pleased to honor him as our Volunteer of the Month.