Share in Nature's Harmony

We’re called “The Friends” for a reason.

It begins with a nine-year-old girl who would rather play in the woods than pan over a painted landscape behind an inch of glass. It petitions that you mourn, if only slightly, how the pursuit of an idyllic modern society has too often neglected the very indigenous habitat that made this all possible in the first place. It demands you appreciate the natural forces that sustain you and all other life. It flourishes upon your realization that an appreciation of our environment is not simply limited to “preserving” it. As one of its rightful creations, you maintain the innate power to advance it further. And play your role in the perpetual motion of nature.

Did you know if you don’t cut your grass too close to the water’s edge you can allow other life forms to take shape? And those life forms will give life to other life forms? And that this cycle continues until it comes back to you? That’s what it means to share in nature’s harmony.

Some people call it caring, but it’s much bigger than that. It’s much bigger than us. We’ll never be able to describe perfectly the complexity of its beauty. And that’s exactly why we’re here.

Our Mission

Friends of Reinstein Woods (incorporated as Friends of Reinstein Nature Preserve) is a volunteer-led, nonprofit organization that supports the environmental education programs offered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Reinstein Woods. We provide vital financial and volunteer support for programs aimed at school children, teachers, youth from underserved neighborhoods, and the general public. We also support stewardship projects designed to protect and restore the natural habitats at Reinstein Woods. View our 2022-23 Annual Report that highlights Friends of Reinstein Woods’ accomplishments. View our strategic plan as we develop our future.

The Mission of Friends of Reinstein Woods is to promote knowledge of nature through awareness, appreciation, and stewardship of the unique and diverse environment of Reinstein Woods and its programs.

We are the proud partners of Carbonfund.org that helps reduce our environmental impact and offsets our carbon footprint at Reinstein Woods.

Our Start

In September 1986, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) formally assumed ownership of 244 acres in the town of Cheektowaga from the estate of Dr. Victor Reinstein, establishing the “Dr. Victor Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve.” The property was open to the public on a limited basis until 2001, when DEC began to expand its environmental education programs and developed a volunteer program.

In early 2003, interest in Reinstein Woods’ education programs and the volunteer program had grown to the extent that that DEC could no longer provide adequate funds to support these programs. DEC asked a core group of volunteers, who had organized the first Fall Festivals at Reinstein Woods, to form a non-profit “Friends” group to support the education and volunteer programs. In August 2003, those volunteers filed papers for the incorporation of Friends of Reinstein Nature Preserve, Inc. This group joined the ranks of “Friends” groups supporting three other DEC Environmental Education Centers operating across New York State. The group’s first President was Mary Losi, assisted by Vice President Terrence Boyle. Jeanne Pawlik served as the group’s first Treasurer, and Mark Lazeration as secretary. In 2014, the organization assumed the name Friends of Reinstein Woods. 

The Education Center

At the time, DEC’s “environmental education center” consisted of a garden shed and two port-a-johns in the preserve’s main parking lot. The efforts of the Friends and DEC staff established a base of support that enabled New York State to invest in building an environmental education center and related facilities at the property. The Friends board was quite pleased to begin holding board meetings in the new Reinstein Woods Environmental Education Center when it opened in 2007.

The Friends joined the Western New York Environmental Alliance in 2010. The group is a member of the New York Council of Nonprofits and an affiliate member of the New York State Outdoor Education Association and the Association of Nature Center Administrators.

Our Mission

Friends of Reinstein Woods (incorporated as Friends of Reinstein Nature Preserve, Inc.) is a volunteer-led, nonprofit organization that supports the environmental education programs offered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Reinstein Woods. We provide vital financial and volunteer support for programs aimed at school children, teachers, youth from underserved neighborhoods, and the general public. We also support stewardship projects designed to protect and restore the natural habitats at Reinstein Woods.

The Mission of Friends of Reinstein Woods is to promote knowledge of nature through awareness, appreciation, and stewardship of the unique and diverse environment of Reinstein Woods and its programs.