For a country girl presently immersed (sometimes drowning) in New York City, the city parks are islands of refuge. I love walking in them and suddenly noticing that I can't see any buildings, that the roar of traffic is gently submerged beneath the rustling of leaves in the wind. Ahhhh. A valuable moment, worth protecting.

So when I was assigned by a university course to find, within a couple of weeks, a semester-long project tackling an environmental issue I care about, the parks came easily to my mind, especially because I sometimes worry (rightly or wrongly) that some parks are in danger of being -- at best -- abandoned to the rats, or -- at worst -- bulldozed in favor of luxury condos. How can I help the parks? I thought a good place to start would be to find a group that's already helping the parks. So, okay -- who's already helping the parks?

Evidently, a lot of people.

As I looked for a way to get involved, the main challenge of my search was not a lack of opportunity. Rather the opposite, really. It turned out that there are so many groups working with NYC parks -- and public areas, and street trees, and playgrounds, and community gardens -- that sifting through them all is pleasantly overwhelming.

Of course there's the Parks Department, or rather the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, with its ubiquitous sycamore-leaf logo and the Herculean task of managing all of New York City's green parts. And to supplement the Parks Department, some parks are tended by dedicated private conservation groups, like the Central Park Conservancy or the Prospect Park Alliance: privately funded groups established in the late twentieth century in response to diminishing conditions in those parks -- an interesting case of private money propping up public amenities.

But I discovered many more groups trying to fill in any remaining gaps. Some, like the Hester Street Collaborative, focus on under-served communities and public spaces rather than specifically on parks. And then there are various alliances between private and public organizations that seek to serve the entire city in some way. For example, MillionTreesNYC, part of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC, is a collaboration between the Parks Department, Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project, and several other organizations. They aim to plant a million trees in NYC over the next eight or so years, and just passed 250,000.

All of these groups (and there are also several more out there) depend on volunteers, so obviously there are options for getting involved. Where to dig in?

Finally, I was guided by connections between my university and the Natural Resources Group -- a division of the Parks Department -- and I'm beginning an internship with them soon. I'll be working on reforestation, and hopefully I'll also have a chance to work with the MillionTreesNYC Stewardship Corps, a volunteer group that plants and cares for the city's newest trees.

I intend to help ensure that, in the future, the wind in New York City will have even more leaves to rustle.