Trees can't speak . . . But if they could, they'd want you to know that we have only eight weeks to save Buttonhook Forest!

Thanks to this community's generosity, we raised $50,000 back in January during Phase 2 to save Buttonhook Forest — 20.3 rare acres of woodlands, wildlife habitat, and a sacred Native American ceremonial site. Your support kept the land out of developers' hands and helped bring the pending litigation to a close. Now we're in Phase 3: moving toward acquisition. We're almost there . . . but there is . . .

An unexpected complication. During due diligence, experts discovered potential environmental hazards on the site that require additional testing and a remediation plan before we can move forward with the purchase.

We need your help. Covering this environmental assessment and the legal fees is essential to moving the acquisition forward safely and responsibly to protect Buttonhook Forest.

Please help us raise the $30,000 needed for immediate environmental testing and legal fees. We are so close to protecting and preserving Buttonhook Forest - but we can't move forward with the purchase of this land unless this testing is done and a remediation plan is put in place.

Even a forest needs a lawyer. (And environmental consultants!)

Every gift brings us closer to protecting this land — and keeping the water healthy for everyone downstream, including Bronx residents who rely on the reservoir watershed this forest feeds for their drinking water. Clean water is a right, not a privilege. And transferring contaminated land to our Native American partners would be neither ethical nor just.

Please chip in today, and share this link with friends, family, and colleagues. For Buttonhook Forest's 1,000+ trees. For the bobcats, bats, coyotes, foxes, turtles, hawks, owls, songbirds, frogs, and all of the countless wild ones who call this forest their home.

Speak now for the voiceless inhabitants of Buttonhook Forest. They're all counting on you to step up in this moment and take action.

With gratitude,

Friends of Buttonhook Forest, Inc

Victoria Alzapiedi, President

Tracey Bilski, Vice-President/Treasurer

Lynn Trotta, Secretary

Stacy Morgan, Director

Maxine Margo Rubin, Director

www.savebuttonhook.org