Summer/Fall 2008 - New Jersey Conservation Foundation

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A Publication of New Jersey Conservation Foundation | Summer/Fall 2008
NEW JERSEY
CONSERVATION
The Eagle is Banded
This past spring saw a first at our Franklin Parker Preserve in the Pine
Barrens – a baby bald eagle that was born, banded and successfully fledged.
P L E A S E S E E S T O R Y A N D M O R E P H O T O S O N PA G E 4.
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From Our Executive Director
N E W J E R S E Y C O N S E R VAT I O N
Summer/Fall 2008, Volume 6, Issue 3
New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF)
is a private, non-profit organization. We rely on
private philanthropic support and grants from
a variety of public and private sector organizations.
NJCF’s mission is to preserve New Jersey’s land and
natural resources for the benefit of all. As a leading
innovator and catalyst for saving land, NJCF protects
strategic lands through acquisition and stewardship;
promotes strong land use policies; and forges
partnerships to achieve conservation goals. Since
1960, NJCF has worked to protect the state’s
farmland, forests, urban parks, wetlands, water
resources and special places.
Where do you call home? Were you born there and feel a deeprooted connection to the land, community or way of life you’ve
always known? Are you attracted to the things most important to you
– scenic beauty, good schools or family? What is your sense of place?
I’d been thinking about my own home and sense of place when I
came across a superb essay by Janisse Ray, who recently left her
beloved home in Vermont to move back to southern Georgia,
land of her birth. The essay is part of Scenarios, the Orton Family
Foundation’s e-journal, and we are pleased to be able to print a
condensed version. I hope it inspires you to think about your
New Jersey home and the “natural amenities” that are part of it.
For information about becoming a member or
to request a change of address, please contact
us at 1-888-LAND-SAVE (1-888-526-3728),
e-mail us at [email protected]
or visit our website at www.njconservation.org.
New Jersey Conservation is published quarterly
and distributed to NJCF members and those with
an interest in conservation. Copyright © 2008.
All rights reserved.
MICHELE S. BYERS
Executive Director
We invite your comments and suggestions.
Please send them to: New Jersey Conservation
Foundation, Bamboo Brook, 170 Longview Road,
Far Hills, NJ 07931 | PHONE 1-888-LAND-SAVE
(1-888-526-3728) | FAX 908-234-1189
EMAIL [email protected]
NJCF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OFFICERS
L. Keith Reed, President
Kathryn A. Porter, First Vice President
John F. Parker, Second Vice President
Thomas B. Harvey, Treasurer
Robert W. Kent, Secretary
Gordon A. Millspaugh, Jr., Assistant Secretary
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE | Bradley M. Campbell
| Tim Carden | Clement L. Fiori | Veronica
Goldberg | Thomas B. Harvey | Robert W.
Kent, Esq. | Gordon A. Millspaugh, Jr. | John A.
Parker | Virginia K. Pierson | Kathryn A. Porter
| L. Keith Reed
TRUSTEES | Edward F. Babbott | Nancy H. Becker
| Mark W. Biedron | Bradley M. Campbell | Tim
Carden | Holly H. Cummings | Peter DeNeufville
| Clement L. Fiori | Veronica Goldberg | Thomas
B. Harvey | Michael W. Huber | Robert W. Kent
| Wendy Mager | Geraldine F. McManus | Gordon
A. Millspaugh, Jr. | David F. Moore | Maureen
Ogden | John F. Parker | Virginia K. Pierson |
Kathryn A. Porter | L. Keith Reed | Betsy Schnorr
| R. Edwin Selover | Robert N. Wilson
HONORARY TRUSTEES | Hon. Brendan T. Byrne
| Catherine M. Cavanaugh | Hon. Peter
H.B. Frelinghuysen | Hon. Thomas H. Kean
| Emily Ridgway
ADVISORY COUNCIL | Candace McKee Ashmun
| C. Austin Buck | Christopher J. Daggett | William
D. Dana, Jr. | Joan G. Ehrenfeld | John D. Hatch
| Susan L. Hullin | C. Lawrence Keller | Blair
MacInnes | Thomas J. Maher | Scott McVay
| Mary W. Moore | Ingrid W. Reed | Jamie Kyte
Sapoch | Reginald Van Lee
GENERAL COUNSEL | James P. Wyse
Please recycle this newsletter by passing it on to a
friend or donating it to a school, library, business,
or wherever it might be read with interest.
www.njconservation.org
Postcards from Somewhere Else
By Janisse Ray
T
he first two months we were back
in Georgia my primary occupation
was to not be depressed.
Don’t get me wrong. We chose to return to the land
where I was born. But hardly a day goes by that I
don’t compare where I was with where I am now.
Two scales hang from an imaginary balance-yard.
On one side rests the foothills of Vermont, and
on the other hangs my homeland, the coastal plain
flatwoods of rural Georgia. I pile on the weights
and counterweights.
What I use to judge each place are its features and
conveniences, and I’ve learned that someone else’s
amenity is not necessarily mine. For example, real
estate agents lately have taken to including in their
sales pitches the proximity of Wal-Mart. But a
large shopping facility is not an effective selling
point for me.
What is most important to me is this: the
infrastructure that helps me lead a life that is
sustainable. I want my life to make sense and
do as little damage as possible.
To that end, there is no doubt which place tips
the balance in my mind.
Brattleboro, Vermont, had everything our family
wanted. It had organic agriculture, nearby woods,
good neighbors, active learning, bikeable streets,
a downtown to stroll through. When friends
visited from out-of-town, we had a long and fun
itinerary for them – farmers market, food
cooperative, our plot in the community garden.
In our small crossroads town in Georgia, called
Baxley, there’s no farmers market, no food co-op,
no yoga classes, no farm stands, no organic dairies,
no corn mazes. No daily paper, no television station,
no bookstore, no apple orchards. No community
garden. No university, no poetry readings, no art
galleries. At first glance the infrastructure that we
are looking for does not exist here.
And yet, a homeland, if a person is lucky enough
to have one, has a place in a heart that cannot be
denied. It has a history that cannot be ignored,
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Table of Contents
and the longer the history –in my case almost
200 familial years – the greater the magnetic
force until a prodigal son or daughter, like a
homing pigeon, must return.
We in America have become, for the most part,
a place-less people. We live in places, and travel
between them, but they have little further
significance. We have few gut connections to the
landscape. By “gut,” I mean that place where the
psychic, the spiritual, the rational, and the physical
mingle. Most of us do not know the texture and
fertility of our soils. We are ignorant of what
portends with a certain arrangement of clouds, and
even the common names of the birds escape us.
nuthouse, stacked with burlap sacks full of
pecans, is a sight to see.
But what draws me back South is a deep and
powerful knowledge that this is my place, like
none other can ever be. My bones are made of it.
I think a sense of place, for a native, begins before
birth, and is strengthened with stories through
childhood, and also experiences and then the
memories of events. For an adopted resident, this
sense probably starts with stories, then appreciation
of the superficial – scenery – which in turn leads
to closer inspection of the landscape, and directly
into natural history.
My family went to Vermont in an effort to make
our lives more whole. Brattleboro offered a kind
of wholeness.
Vermont has a culture of stone fences, strawberry
suppers, sugar-on-snow, and ice-fishing. But,
beneath its losses, its depleted landscape and
youth-bereft communities, Georgia has a culture
too: watermelons, pilaus, blues music, sorghum
syrup. I am clear that gentrification is not the
answer for making a place livable. People come
to a place for its culture, says the old saw, and
before long they have destroyed that culture.
Canonizing a culture, too, destroys it. The only
way to keep it is to live it.
Oh, Georgia has amenities. Winter is mild,
spring other-worldly, aflood with bloom. The
growing season is long. Family members live
nearby. The historic courthouse is renovated.
We hike with visitors to gaze at 1,000-year-old
cypress and old-growth longleaf pine at the
now-protected Moody Forest. In fall Mr. Hutto’s
How do we improve our communities without
destroying their cultures? How do we make them
more sustainable? How do we listen? We are
going to have to fall in love with our places again.
We are going to have to walk them and study
them. We are going to have to commit ourselves
to them.
In part, the sense of place that most of our
ancestors possessed has become for us an
inventory of conveniences. We don’t know the
date great-crested flycatchers return, but know
where to buy a good hamburger. We don’t
know the phase of the moon, but know where
there’s wireless.
Adapted from “Postcards from Somewhere Else,” from Scenarios,
The Orton Family Foundation’s e-journal (www.orton.org). Printed
by permission of the author and the Foundation. Janisse Ray is
the author of several books, including Pinhook, Wild Card Quilt,
and Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, which won the American
Book Award. A naturalist, environmental activist, and winner
of the 1996 Merriam Frontier Award, she has also published
her work in many magazines, has been a nature commentator
for Georgia Public Radio, and was a keynote speaker for
New Jersey’s 2003 Land Conservation Rally in Trenton.
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Policy Impacts:
The new Highlands
Regional Master Plan
and federal Farm Bill
have been adopted.
Here’s what we see as
their pros and cons.
Haenssler “Wald” Preserved:
A German immigrant
family’s beloved retreat
in the mountains of Warren
County will remain in its
natural state as a haven
for wildlife.
Another Link in the Chain:
The agricultural and
open space greenbelt in
southwestern Hunterdon
County just got greener,
with the addition of
a 182-acre farm in
Delaware Township.
Chaffseed Mystery Solved:
For years, the northeastern
United State’s most
endangered wildflower
resisted restoration efforts.
But, finally, the code to
ensuring its survival has
been cracked.
Mark Your Calendars:
New Jersey Conservation
Foundation is planning
walks, talks and hikes.
Printed on environmentally-friendly
eucalyptus paper with soy-based ink.
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A First at Franklin Parker Preserve: Bald Eagle Chick is Banded
s befitting its status as national symbol, the adult bald eagle looked majestic
and fierce as it circled the treetops at the Franklin Parker Preserve early one spring
morning. But the sound it made was not the shrill cry of a predator, but the fretful
chirping of a worried parent.
A
blood sample to be tested for a range of
contaminants, including heavy metals,
PCBs, dioxin and even the long-banned
pesticide DDT.
“We’re still finding DDT at some levels
because it’s got such a long half-life,”
explained Dr. Miller. She added that almost
all eagle chicks have traces of mercury in
their systems because of the heavy metal’s
presence in the food chain. The bald eagles’
main food sources – fish and turtles –
all contain mercury.
Kathleen Clark, another biologist with
the state Division of Fish and Wildlife,
attached aluminum bands to each of the
eaglet’s legs. A silver band for the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service went on the right leg,
and the state’s green band – numbered
C-61 – went on the left.
The state’s numbers are printed large enough
so that the eagle will be identifiable in the
future, even from a distance. “If the bird is
perched, you should be able to see it through
binoculars, and certainly through a spotting
scope,” said Dr. Miller.
Clockwise: New Jersey Conservation Foundation land steward Ray Steingall holds the eaglet;
state biologist Mick Valent climbs the 50-foot pine tree; the eaglet is returned to its nest.
The cause of the eagle’s concern was a
group of people gathering below a nest
containing its five-week-old chick.
Fortunately, the humans were there to study
the health of the eaglet, not harm it.
chick’s head and gently wrapped its feet with
blue “vet wrap,” a kind of protective sticky
tape. He then slipped the eaglet into a duffel
bag and lowered it to colleagues waiting on
the ground about 50 feet below.
With remarkable agility, state biologist
Mick Valent slipped a climbing strap
around the tall, slender pine tree and
began ascending. As Valent neared the nest,
the adult eagle fled.
Dr. Erica Miller, a veterinarian with Tri-State
Bird Rescue of Newark, Del., weighed and
measured the fuzzy gray chick, pronouncing
it to be a healthy four-pounder, most likely a
male. She checked for emerging wing and tail
feathers and peered into its mouth to evaluate
its mucous membranes. She also drew a
After reaching the large twig nest, Valent
fastened a leather falconry hood over the
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For those observing the veterinary exam
and banding, the best part came next.
Dr. Miller removed the hood and tape to
reveal a bright-eyed chick, with a fiercelooking beak and sharp talons. It made no
attempt to struggle as observers – including
a few enraptured children – gently touched
its downy feathers and snapped photos. (It’s a
misconception that bird parents will abandon
babies that have been handled by humans.)
“They’re generally pretty docile, but you have
to be careful of the talons,” noted Valent
afterward. “And sometimes they try to peck.”
After a brief photo-op, the eaglet was
outfitted with hood and tape once again and
returned to its nest. As the scientists and
spectators retreated from the nest site, the
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DDT had caused the
thinning of eggshells,
resulting in a
plummeting birth rate.
Its head covered by a leather falconry hood, the
eaglet gets its wings measured and aluminum
bands placed around both of its legs.
and tail of a mature bald
eagle; he won’t get those
until age four or five.
adult eagle suddenly reappeared overhead.
“They don’t go far,” said Clark.
“They always keep the nest in sight.”
Little C-61 was the 15th eaglet banded
by the state in 2008, and the first ever at the
Franklin Parker Preserve. He successfully
fledged from the nest in June, but does
not yet have the characteristic white head
Clark said the state
monitored 65 active bald eagle nests in
New Jersey this year, although not all chicks
were banded. Most nests have yielded two
chicks, she added.
During the past 25 years, bald eagles in
New Jersey have made a remarkable
comeback from the brink of extinction.
By 1982, when the state
began banding eaglets,
there was only a single
nesting pair remaining
in New Jersey. As of this
January, the state’s total
eagle count stood at
231, including the 65
nesting pairs. With the
birth of this year’s crop
of eaglets, biologists
hope the population
will keep climbing.
“We’d like to see higher numbers in New
Jersey,” said Dr. Miller. “They’re still not up
to where they were before the big decline.”
Bald eagles are still classified as an endangered
species in New Jersey, although they’ve
been taken off the federal endangered list.
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
co-owns the 9,400-acre Franklin Parker
Preserve, located in Chatsworth, with
the state of New Jersey.
Photos by Hazel England, Michael Hogan,
Mick Valent and Sandy Stuart Perry
‘Recycle’ Your Unwanted Items
o you have a used pickup truck you don’t drive much anymore? A laptop
computer you no longer need in your home or office? A metal detector that
was forgotten after a couple of visits to the beach?
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If you answered yes to any of these questions,
please consider donating your unwanted
items to New Jersey Conservation
Foundation. Your donations would
help us save money by not buying
these items new!
Here are some items that our staff needs:
pickup truck • tractor • hand tools in good
condition • metal detector • geotrimble
GPS unit • push lawnmower • flatbed
trailer • laptop computers up to three
years old • wireless router • flat screen
computer monitor • projector • remote
control for projector • projector screens.
Please call us at 908-234-1225.
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POLICY UPDATE
Controversial Highlands Regional Master Plan Adopted
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The beauty of New Jersey’s Highlands region was on display during a New Jersey Conservation
Foundation-sponsored hike at the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford, Passaic County.
Hikers especially admired the scenic view from the shore of the Butler Reservoir.
early four years after the landmark
Highlands Water Protection and
Planning Act was passed, the New Jersey
Highlands Council adopted a regional
master plan for the 860,000-acre region.
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Developing the master plan was a long
and exhausting process; New Jersey
Conservation Foundation monitored it
and participated in every step.
The plan’s completion, however, did not
bring consensus and was not without
controversy. Three Highlands Council
members voted against it because they
believe it is protective enough, while two
others voted no because they say it does
not sufficiently compensate landowners for
loss of development rights.
The 400-page regional master plan is
extremely complex, with overlapping layers
of policies, goals, objectives and programs.
It is supported by a massive Geographic
Information System (GIS) database that
makes information available at the
individual parcel level.
The next step is encouraging the 88
Highlands municipalities to bring their
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own land use plans into conformance,
with the ultimate goal of protecting a
critical source of clean drinking water for
more than 5.2 million people.
The Highlands is divided into the
Preservation and Planning areas. Adhering
to the regional master plan is mandatory
for towns in the Preservation area and
voluntary for those in the Planning area.
We have joined together with the NJ
Highlands Coalition to recommend
immediate improvements to the master plan.
Here is where we believe the plan falls short:
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The plan will permit new construction
in groundwater deficit areas, which
already comprise two-thirds of
Highlands watersheds.
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The plan will allow 300-foot stream buffers
to be reduced for redevelopment projects.
The 19,000 acre Special Environmental
Zone identified by the Council as
the place in the Preservation Area “where
development shall not occur” falls far short
of the approximately 175,000 acres of
unpreserved critical natural resource lands
recommended for preservation by New
Jersey Conservation Foundation and the
Highlands Coalition in 2002.
On the positive side, a number of hard-won
improvements include:
It will allow too much development,
projecting a “buildout” level that exceeds
the region’s water supplies and wastewater
treatment capacity, as determined by
Council data and analysis.
The plan will allow groundwater
quality to be degraded in areas of
clustered developments.
It will allow 20 percent of the region’s
farmland to be developed as residential
clusters, altering the agricultural character
and permanently reducing land available
for local food production.
No extension of sewers into the
Preservation Area, except as explicitly
provided for in the Highlands law.
Goals, policies and objectives have been
added to address land use in limestone
carbonate rock areas, which occur in
Highlands river valleys. These areas contain
serious development constraints, including
sinkholes, caves and little protection
for groundwater.
Clear guidelines for public health and
safety measures in areas with failing
septic systems.
Highlands nitrate dilution standards,
which protect ground water quality and
determine the density of septic systems
(and thus development), will be used
by the state as its new standard.
The Council is making a serious effort
to address protection of scenic resources,
as mandated by the Highlands Act.
We encourage towns in the Planning area
to “opt in.” The Council is offering financial
incentives – grants of $5,000 and $15,000
to assist with municipalities’ planning
expenses. For more information contact
www.highlands.state.nj.us.
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New Farm Bill Yields Mixed Crop of Gains and Losses
fter two years of debate, Congress passed the Food, Conservation and Energy Act
of 2008, commonly known as the “Farm Bill.” This new act is a mixed bag
for New Jersey farmers, taxpayers and the environment – some gains and some losses.
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We had advocated for reforms, hoping that
sound policy – like increasing funding for
land and natural resource conservation,
organic farming research, and healthy food
for schools – would make it into the bill, while
bad policy – like removing topsoil protections
and giving billions of dollars in subsidies
to large corporate farms – would not.
Here are some gains:
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$4 billion more for conservation
funding, including an additional
$106 million over five years for
permanent farmland preservation.
A two-year extension of the
expanded conservation easement
donation tax deduction.
$100 million over five years to fund
organic farming research and certification.
Tax deductions for farmers who
voluntarily restore endangered or
threatened species habitat.
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More funding for a program supporting
improved environmental practices on farms.
$33 million to promote farmers markets.
$10 billion more for nutrition programs
like food banks and food stamps.
Among the Farm Bill’s disappointments
are the loss of topsoil protection and
building coverage limits on preserved
farms within the Farm and Ranchlands
Protection Program (FRPP), and a lack
of farm subsidy reform.
The benefits of limiting building on preserved
farms include water quality, flood control
and stormwater management. These
protections went by the wayside to allow
unlimited greenhouses or other structures
on preserved farms. The very topsoil that
the federal program was created to protect
after the Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s
is no longer protected.
Instead of limiting structures on preserved
land, the Farm Bill gave each state the job
of setting its own limits. It remains to be
seen how this will happen, given that many
states – including New Jersey – do not restrict
agricultural buildings in their own farmland
preservation programs. Conservationists
must now work at the state level to protect
soils and agricultural viability.
We had also hoped that with support from
statewide and national groups and our
legislators, this was the year for farm subsidy
reform. But we were, unfortunately, unable
to change the subsidy program that continues
to give billions of dollars to growers,
including many large corporate farms that
are getting record high prices for commodities
like corn, soy, wheat, rice and cotton.
With the Farm Bill now law, there is a lot
of work to do. We must ensure that the
funding increases for conservation
programs are not lost through budget cuts
and that the states take care of soils.
This means vigilance and advocacy by
citizens, the conservation and farming
community and our elected officials.
Land Preservation Pipeline Is Running Dry
he last of New Jersey’s farmland preservation funding was allocated at the end of July.
The remaining open space and historic preservation funds will be officially committed
to projects this fall. The preservation pipeline will run dry – unless the Legislature acts
quickly to replenish funding for the Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT).
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It is hard to imagine New Jersey without
funds to buy parks, keep farmland in
agricultural production, protect woodlands
and wetlands, and save historic places. Since
1961, residents of the nation’s most densely
populated state have voted again and
again to make open space a top priority.
Most recent, voters endorsed $200 million in
stopgap preservation funding. This money is
being quickly allocated because of the long
waiting list of projects.
Governor Corzine and our state legislators
must find a long-term, stable source of
funding to replenish the Garden State
Preservation Trust. A poll conducted last
spring showed that a solid majority of New
Jersey voters support preservation funding:
61 percent said they would support an $800
million bond act, 58 percent said they would
support a water user fee to raise $150 million
a year, and 54 percent said they would support
dedicating $175 million in existing annual
sales tax revenues.
Please contact the governor and your
legislators and urge them to renew the
Garden State Preservation Trust.
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In Harmony with Nature: Family’s Beloved ‘Wald’ Preserved
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or a family of German immigrants who revered nature and the outdoors, the forest
and stream in rural Harmony Township were a slice of heaven.
Hermann Haenssler bought property on
what is now known as Scott’s Mountain in
the 1930s, with money loaned by his brother,
Jakob. The Warren County site became a
weekend retreat, a place for the family to enjoy
hiking, picnicking and watching wildlife.
“For European immigrants at the time, that’s
what they always dreamed of – to own their
own land,” explained Ingeborg Bossert of
Fanwood, Jakob Haenssler’s granddaughter.
Her German ancestors, she added, had
outdoor “wanderlust,” an irresistible impulse
to meander through forests and fields, hills
and valleys.
Outdoor lovers can now share the Haenssler
family’s passion. New Jersey Conservation
Foundation has purchased the 60-acre
property from Bossert, who inherited the
land from her mother. The $260,000 bargain
sale purchase was funded with grants from
the state Green Acres Program and Warren
County Municipal and Charitable
Conservancy Trust Fund.
The land, adjacent to the Merrill Creek
Reservoir and Environmental Preserve, will
be used as a nature preserve.
Keeping the property in its natural state, said
Bossert, is a fitting tribute to her grandfather
and great uncle. “When they bought it, it was
to be a retreat, a wildlife preserve,” she said.
“So we haven’t broken the chain here. I feel
very good about this.”
Lisa MacCollum, assistant director of land
acquisition for New Jersey Conservation
Foundation, feels equally good about the
purchase. “It’s been in the same family since
the 1930s and has not been timbered, so the
forest is incredibly intact,” noted MacCollum.
“There are almost no invasive species there,
making it a unique and ecologically diverse
property. The Lopatcong Creek, a pristine
Category 1 stream, flows across almost the
entire front of the property.”
The forest is filled with tall oak, tulip poplar
and hickory trees, as well as plenty of native
spicebush, whose lipid-rich berries are an
important food source for migratory songbirds.
Green Acres Program Administrator John
Flynn said, “It was a pleasure to work with
The pristine Lopatcong Creek flows through the lower portion of the Bossert property.
Inset: The late Hildegard Haenssler walks her pet dachshund through the “wald” in winter.
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Page 10
more to them than anything they owned,”
recalled Bossert. “They treasured that land.”
Hildegard and Helmuth bequeathed the
property to their niece, Louise Bossert, who
in turn left it to her daughter, Ingeborg.
Louise also left a bequest to New Jersey
Conservation Foundation when she passed
away in 1998, which helped convince her
daughter that the land should be
permanently preserved.
Lisa MacCollum, assistant director of land acquisition for New Jersey Conservation Foundation,
walks out of the woods with former property owner Ingeborg Bossert.
New Jersey Conservation Foundation on
their purchase of this pristine forest. This
acquisition enhances our ongoing efforts
to preserve land near the Merrill Creek
Reservoir and link together protected state,
county, and non-profit lands for the
Warren County trail corridor.”
Warren County Freeholder Rick Gardner
is also excited about the addition to the
county’s open space inventory. “Once
again, Warren County is both pleased
and privileged to work in tandem with
our non-profit friends at New Jersey
Conservation Foundation,” he said. “The
Bossert property is ecologically important,
and strategically important with respect to its
location near the Merrill Creek Reservoir.”
From Germany to Essex County
Bossert’s grandfather and great uncle were
born in the town of Albershausen, in
southwestern Germany. Hermann and his
wife Rosine are believed to have come to the
United States shortly before World War I;
Jakob and his wife Luise arrived in about
1918. Both couples settled in Essex
County but dreamed of having their own
piece of forest.
Their dream came true with the purchase of
land on both sides of Harmony-Brass Castle
Road. At one point Hermann started to build
a cabin for the family, noted Bossert, but for
reasons lost to history he abandoned the effort.
A few remnants of the cabin still remain.
Hermann and Rosine Haenssler
had three children: Hermann Jr.,
Hildegard and Helmuth.
When the siblings eventually split
up the property, Hermann Jr. took
the more level piece on one side of
the road, while Hildegard and
Helmuth kept the more steeply
sloped 60-acre parcel with the
Lopatcong Creek.
“If I had kids, the property would probably
still be in the family. But I don’t, so this seems
the right thing to do,” commented Ingeborg
Bossert, who obviously also inherited her
family’s love of nature.
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
will preserve the property in its natural
state, opening it to the public for hiking,
picnicking and nature study.
Hermann Jr. ultimately sold his
land, but Hildegard and Helmuth –
neither of whom married – moved
to a nearby house in Harmony
Township. “They wanted to be close
to their ‘wald,’ which is German
for forest,” said Bossert.
Hildegard and Helmuth kept their
beloved “wald” for the rest of their
lives, refusing to sell the property
even when an infusion of cash
would have put an end to their
financial worries. “That land meant
9
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Partnership Preserves 182 Acres in Delaware Township
In addition to a scenic roadside vista,
the former Thompson property in Delaware
Township has forests, fields and streams.
A public-private partnership made the
purchase possible.
Freeholder Ron Sworen. “We are now
actively partnering with outside groups
to purchase contiguous tracts of land.
Working together, we are able to preserve
larger amounts of open space.”
Four partners combined financial resources
to make the purchase possible. New Jersey
Conservation Foundation contributed
$400,000 from a Hunterdon County
grant and $100,000 from private
donations. Hunterdon County made
a direct contribution of $1.432
million and Delaware Township added
$963,000 from a state Green Acres
grant. The New Jersey Water Supply
Authority contributed $1.035 million,
using the dedicated portion of its Source
Water Protection Fund – provided
through rates charged to downstream
users and financed by the New Jersey
Environmental Infrastructure Trust.
ne of the most beautiful views
in Hunterdon County has
been permanently protected through
a public-private partnership.
O
10
New Jersey Conservation Foundation,
working with state, county and local officials,
has purchased 182 acres along both sides of
Route 519 in Delaware Township for $3.9
million. The property, just north of quaint
Rosemont village, contains a mix of forest,
fields and streams, and is surrounded by
more than a thousand acres of preserved
farmland and woods.
Among those who gathered on June 26 to
celebrate the preservation of the Thompson
property were, from left, Henry Patterson,
executive director of the New Jersey Water
Supply Authority; Hunterdon County Freeholder
Ron Sworen; Alix Bacon, New Jersey
Conservation Foundation regional manager;
W. Bryce Thompson, former property owner;
Susan Lockwood, mayor of Delaware Township;
and Hunterdon County Freeholder Matt Holt.
“This is a piece that we have been looking
at for more than 10 years, due to its water
resources, critical location and stunning
views,” said Alix Bacon, regional manager
for New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
“I’m so glad we were able to save it. All of
our partners were a pleasure to work with.”
“The purchase of this property is significant
because it signaled a new beginning in the
way the County of Hunterdon views the
purchase of open space and a closer working
relationship with land stewardship
organizations,” said Hunterdon County
Funding partners and neighbors gathered
on the property in June to celebrate the
acquisition – and emphasize the need
for more state funding to continue open
space preservation.
“The preservation of this property is
important to protect drinking water,” said
Henry Patterson, executive director of the
New Jersey Water Supply Authority. The
property straddles the Wickecheoke and
Lockatong Creek watersheds, containing a
tributary of each creek. Patterson noted that
the Wickecheoke and Lockatong both flow
into the Delaware & Raritan Canal, a water
supply source for more than 1.5 million
central New Jersey residents.
28-1726 NJ Conservation:NJConservatonWinter08
“The Department of Environmental
Protection is pleased to be a funding partner
in the collaborative effort to preserve this
property,” said Green Acres Program
Administrator John Flynn. “With its abundant
wildlife and unspoiled grasslands, this newly
protected land is an ideal setting for those
who enjoy the serenity of the outdoors.”
“We’re very happy to have been able to
cost-share on this great acquisition and new
addition to our open space,” added Delaware
Township Mayor Susan Lockwood.
The property was bought from W. Bryce
Thompson of East Amwell, one of the
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Page 12
state’s most prominent real estate investors.
Thompson said he likes to be able to
keep land “green,” and is pleased that this
particular property will be conserved. “It’s a
very pretty piece,” he noted. “It’s got woods
and fields and streams, a nice combination.”
The property is close to the Wescott Nature
Preserve off Raven Rock-Rosemont Road.
Hunterdon County’s first park, the 80-acre
Wescott Preserve is bisected by the Lockatong
Creek and offers hiking trails, fishing and
nature observation. It was recently expanded
with the additions of the Zega, Henderson
and Peters properties.
NJCF Awarded $5 Million to Preserve Land
ew Jersey Conservation Foundation has been awarded more than $5 million
in federal and state funding to preserve farms throughout the state, and protect
ecologically sensitive land in the Pine Barrens.
N
Farmland Preservation
Federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection
Program funds totaling more than
$4 million, have been allocated to preserve
nearly 2,400 acres of agricultural land. Those
grants will be matched with state, county
and local funds to purchase permanent
conservation easements on farms within
our project areas in Somerset, Hunterdon,
Warren, Gloucester and Salem counties.
The easements will ensure that future land
use is restricted to agriculture.
The farmland targeted for preservation
includes 1,371 acres in the Black River
Greenway in Somerset County, 261 acres in
the Raccoon/Oldman’s Creek Farm Belt in
Gloucester and Salem counties, 389 acres in
the Mannington Meadows Greenway in
Salem County, 239 acres in the Wickecheoke
Creek Greenway in Hunterdon County, and
118 acres in the Musconetcong Valley Farm
Belt in Warren County.
Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program
funds are administered through the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
Pine Barrens Protection
New Jersey Conservation Foundation has
also been chosen to receive nearly $1 million
in state and federal grants to preserve land in
the Pine Barrens.
The New Jersey Pinelands Commission
agreed in May to award New Jersey
Conservation Foundation $206,667 to
preserve four properties totaling 244 acres in
Atlantic and Burlington counties. These
grants were part of an overall $876,666
Pinelands Commission expenditure to
preserve 450 acres in Atlantic, Burlington,
Gloucester and Ocean Counties.
“These properties contain exceptional
Pinelands habitat that connects adjacent
properties that are already preserved and will
form large, contiguous area of undisturbed
land in each of the four counties,” said John
C. Stokes, Executive Director of the
Pinelands Commission. “Preserving these
properties in perpetuity will further
strengthen the Pinelands protection program,
which has successfully safeguarded the
region’s environmentally sensitive areas while
steering growth toward appropriate areas.”
The U.S. Department of Defense will
contribute about $750,000 toward one of
the projects near the New Jersey National
Guard’s Warren Grove Gunnery Range in
the Pine Barrens.
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As recently as the summer of 2007, members
of the Sigler family still cut and baled hay on their
farm in Washington Township, Warren County.
A Legacy Preserved in Warren County
t least four generations of the Sigler family worked on the 62-acre dairy farm
in the rolling hills of Warren County’s Musconetcong River Valley, their home
for the better part of a century. Although none of the current generation has chosen
to continue farming, the land they love will always remain in agriculture.
A
New Jersey Conservation Foundation and
its funding partners purchased the Sigler
farm in May and immediately placed a
permanent agricultural easement on the
land. The deed-restricted property in
Washington Township will be resold to a
farmer, thus preserving the character of
the land in perpetuity.
“We’re very pleased to have preserved this
beauty of a farm, which was in jeopardy of
being developed for housing,” said Ingrid
Vandegaer, Highlands regional manager
for New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
“It’s surrounded by more than 400 acres of
preserved farmland, so it would have been
a shame to see it fall to sprawl.”
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
purchased the property from the four
daughters of the late Russell Jr. and Anna
Sigler, who had operated the dairy farm for
many years after buying it from Russell’s
parents during the 1940s.
Doris Sigler Hoagland, executrix of
her mother’s estate, said she and her
sisters weren’t interested in following in
their parents’ and grandparents’ footsteps
by farming for a living, although all
have fond memories of working on the
dairy farm as youngsters. “We used to get up
12
early in the morning and milk the cows
before we went to school,” recalled
Hoagland, noting that her parents kept
a herd of some 60 Holstein cows. “In the
afternoon after school, we’d do more
work. We all had our chores.”
Hoagland added that she and
her sisters were 4-H members
and raised their own calves,
usually other dairy breeds.
“That’s one of the best
memories we have,” she said.
After the sisters grew up
and married, the three who
remained in New Jersey
often brought their own
children – the fourth
generation – to help out
at the farm.
After Anna Sigler died,
Hoagland knew she
had to sell the land,
although she “wasn’t keen
on” the thought of having
houses sprout out of the
family’s pastures and fields.
A housing development
has already been built on
an adjoining property.
That might have been the fate of the
Sigler farm had New Jersey Conservation
Foundation not approached Hoagland
about buying the farm. The parties settled
on a price of $1.28 million, and we were
able to raise the money through grants
from the State Agriculture Development
Committee (SADC), the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), Warren
County, Washington Township and the
private non-profit Victoria Foundation.
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Page 14
“It was a great partnership between all
these levels of government and a private
foundation,” commented Vandegaer, noting
that some of the SADC funds came from
a federal grant. She added that the Sigler
purchase represents the first time Victoria
Foundation funds have been used for
farmland preservation.
project.“We’re pleased to be able to support
New Jersey’s farmland preservation efforts
with funds provided through USDA’s Farm
and Ranch Lands Protection Program,” she
said. “The Sigler farm contains highly
productive soils that will now be protected
from conversion to any non-agricultural use
through the preservation deed.”
“The Sigler farm is a strategic farm to
preserve,” said David Dempski, mayor of
Washington Township. “It fills in the ‘donut’
that allows for contiguous farming on prime
soils. Washington Township is grateful to our
funding partners, with special thanks to
NJCF whose leadership made it possible.”
Hoagland said she feels good about
preserving the farm, and thinks her parents
would have agreed with the decision. “There’s
no doubt in my mind that they would,” she
said. “It’s better to see farms than houses.”
Janice Reid, assistant state conservationist
for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
NRCS, was also enthusiastic about the
“They were very dedicated farmers,” recalled
Hoagland. “Mom was right there alongside
Dad. That was their entire living, there
on the farm.”
Peace and love! New Jersey Conservation
Foundation supporters revisited the ‘60s in
May at “Barnstock,” our fund-raising barn dance.
Party-goers Fran and Jon Perlman look groovy
in their hippie duds.
Welcome New Trustees
T
of the Federal Bar of New Jersey and president
of the board of the Arts Council of Princeton.
Wendy, an attorney from Princeton,
graduated from Michigan State University
summa cum laude, and received her law
degree from University of Michigan, magna
cum laude. A partner since 1983 at Smith,
Stratton, Wise, Heher & Brennan, she has
been president for many years of the Friends
of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS), and
received the Donald B. Jones Conservation
Award (along with FOPOS) for work on the
Institute of Advanced Study conservation
easement, acquisition of Mountain Lakes
Preserve and the doubling of Woodfield
Reservation. She is a trustee of the Association
Nancy, also from Princeton, founded Nancy
Becker Associates, an independent public
affairs consulting firm that represented New
Jersey Conservation Foundation for many
years. Now retired, she currently serves on the
boards of Capital Health System, Greenwood
House, the Center for Jewish Life at Princeton
University and the Christine Todd Whitman
Excellence in Public Service Series. For eight
years, she served as the vice-chair of the New
Jersey Turnpike Authority and was a longtime
member of the board of the American
Repertory Ballet, where she served as chair
from 2002-2004. She also served on the New
Jersey Economic Development Authority,
the New Jersey Advisory Committee of
Channel 13/WNET, the New Jersey Council
on Advertising, the Center for Non-Profit
wo new trustees, Wendy L. Mager and
Nancy Becker, and R. Edwin Selover,
a former trustee, were elected to the Board
of Trustees at the April annual meeting.
Corporations, Women in Philanthropy and
the Trust Company of Princeton. Nancy was
recognized by the Legislature in 2003 during
their recognition of outstanding women in
New Jersey. She holds a B.A. degree from
Michigan University and a master’s degree in
English literature from Manhattan College.
Ed, a resident of Morristown, has served as
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
at PSEG since December 2006. He joined
PSEG as an attorney in 1972 and currently
heads the law department and corporate
public affairs. He is a director/trustee for New
Jersey Future and is on the advisory board of
the Mid-Atlantic Legal Foundation. He served
on the New Jersey Conservation Foundation
board for nine years previously. He graduated
from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. and
received his Doctor of Law degree from the
University of Minnesota’s School of Law.
13
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THE ECOLOGY COLLEGE:
By Emile D. DeVito, Ph.D.,
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
Manager of Science & Stewardship
Chaffseed’s Last Stand:
Mystery of Rare Wildflower Solved in the Pine Barrens!
ne of the rarest plants in the
northeastern United States may
finally have a chance to avoid extinction!
O
After decades of research into American
Chaffseed (Schwalbea americana), the mystery
of coaxing its seeds to germinate and survive
to become adult plants has been solved.
Dr. Jay Kelly cracked the code while
studying for his Ph.D. in Ecology at
Rutgers University, and working for the
Division of Parks and Forestry Natural
Heritage program. Genuine recovery may
be decades away, but now there is hope!
from other plants. Soon the population
exploded with many flowers and many new
individuals! Exactly how and why did the fire
help? What was the mechanism of the success?
Cod and Cape Hatteras. By 1990, Schwalbea
was gone from everywhere except New Jersey,
and 18 of the 19 patches here had vanished.
The “last stand” in Brendan Byrne State Forest
has been closely studied for many years. Plant
experts knew that Chaffseed is hemi-(partially)
parasitic; its roots obtain nutrients from
nearby plants until it is large enough to survive
on its own. However, researchers found that
new seedlings were very rare in nature, and
That’s where Dr. Kelly came to the rescue.
He conducted a detailed study of every
individual plant growing in the habitat,
as well as soil and water conditions. It turns
out that Chaffseed is much pickier than
was previously thought. Careful computer
mapping and clever statistical analysis
pointed to the dainty Maryland Golden Aster
as one of the key “hosts” required by a
germinating Schwalbea seed.
Dr. Kelly planted Schwalbea seeds
near rooted Maryland Golden Asters
in a greenhouse trial, and they
grew like weeds! “Holy Rare
Wildflower, Batman!” he
exclaimed. “Now we can
grow hundreds of Chaffseed
plants in greenhouses and
restore populations in the
Pine Barrens.” And that is
exactly what he’s doing.
Each spring, a few stalks of this
herbaceous species – a perennial
in the snapdragon family –
emerge from tuberous roots.
Flowers bloom at the
beginning of summer.
In the last hundred years, however, forest
fire agencies have suppressed wildfires.
This is good for public safety, but it has caused
the habitat of fire-loving plant, insect, reptile
and bird species to virtually disappear.
Historically, the Pine Barrens contained
most of the Chaffseed found in the Northeast.
Populations were recorded in 19 discrete
habitat patches called “stations” in New Jersey,
and in about 16 other stations between Cape
14
Working for the New Jersey
Conservation Foundation
and the Pinelands Preservation
Alliance, Dr. Kelly mapped
the plants, soils, and water table
at numerous meadows within
New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s
Franklin Parker Preserve in Chatsworth.
Our land managers keep restoration sites
properly mowed and/or burned, and
we are scattering the seeds of the Maryland
Golden Aster.
Bl
ain
eJ
.R
oth
a
use
r
For years, botanists have
known that Chaffseed had
evolved a dependence
on catastrophic wildfires.
Historically, such fires
thinned the ranks of trees and
shrubs in the New Jersey Pine
Barrens and other sandy
ecosystems. This created the
open, sunny areas favored
by Schwalbea.
o
ot
Ph
seemingly impossible to keep alive in the
laboratory. Seeds could be germinated easily,
but none would survive, even when grown
with suspected hosts from their natural habitat.
Finally, state researchers applied fire to the
Chaffseed population, to reduce competition
by
In 2006, 12 greenhouse Chaffseeds grown
from seeds collected from the “last stand”
were re-introduced to a historic habitat with
all the correct conditions. Ten survived, and
this June seven flowered and were visited by
28-1726 NJ Conservation:NJConservatonWinter08
pollinating bumblebees! We are “expecting”
mature seeds to be windborne soon!
This fall, more than 100 healthy, greenhousenurtured Chaffseeds will be planted in
managed habitats near the Wading River.
We’ll fence them from marauding deer as they
become established. If the pilot project is any
indication, Schwalbea flowers will bloom in
profusion in 2010, attracting even more
bumblebees and developing seedpods.
9/3/08
4:27 PM
Page 16
We’ll keep the Chaffseed safety net firmly in
place, so that if something catastrophic happens
to the “last stand,” Schwalbea won’t disappear.
Perhaps in a few years, we will see evidence that
these sub-populations are reproducing and
establishing new individual plants on their
own. When that day rolls around, this
story about “gardening” a rare wildflower
will become something truly special:
the re-establishment of a self-sustaining
population of an endangered plant!
And when that day arrives, we’ll be singing
like Louis Armstrong:
“I see pines of green, and Chaffseeds too,
I see ‘em bloom, for me and for you,
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world,
Yes I think to myself, what a wonderful world!”
Goldman Sachs Volunteers Plant at Apshawa Preserve
rading business suits for outdoor gear, about 20 employees of Goldman, Sachs & Co.
traveled to rural West Milford in Passaic County on a foggy June morning instead
of reporting to offices in Jersey City and Manhattan.
T
The water level in the reservoir had been
lowered last fall due to a dam reconstruction
project, leaving several feet of bare soil
vulnerable to invasive species that could harm
the preserve’s ecological balance. Iris and
hibiscus – a variety known as marsh mallow –
were chosen because they are indigenous to
New Jersey and spread quickly.
Despite somewhat slippery conditions near the
water’s edge, the Goldman Sachs employees
proved to be fast, enthusiastic workers who
clearly enjoyed helping the environment while
trying something different from their usual
work. In addition to planting, they picked up
litter along the shoreline.
Volunteers said that because they spend most
of their days indoors, they welcomed the
opportunity to work outside and enjoy nature.
Volunteers from the Goldman Sachs Community TeamWorks program improve the bare shoreline of the
Butler Reservoir in West Milford, Passaic County, with perennial flowering iris and hibiscus plants in June.
After hiking for half an hour over the Apshawa
Preserve’s rugged terrain, they reached the edge
of the Butler Reservoir. Their mission: to plant
3,000 flowering perennial iris and hibiscus
plants along the shoreline.
The Goldman Sachs employees came
to Apshawa through the company’s
Community TeamWorks program, which
encourages workers to volunteer for a day
with a non-profit organization. New Jersey
Conservation Foundation manages the
576-acre Apshawa Preserve surrounding
the reservoir in partnership with
Passaic County.
“I spend my entire day sitting in our office, so
this is an opportunity to come outside,” said
Jack Pan, a resident of Clifton who works in
one of Goldman, Sachs’ New York City
buildings. “This is all about nature, which I
hardly ever see.”
Julie Billings, a Westfield resident who works in
Manhattan, was also relishing the change of
pace. “I’d like to do this every day,” she said as
she expertly tamped down the soil around a
hibiscus. “Can I get paid to do this?” she joked.
15
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Calendar of Events
oin New Jersey Conservation Foundation for our informative
Walks & Talks and new Step Into Nature hikes. Advance registration
is required for some programs. For updated information, check our
website at www.jnconservation.org, or contact Meghan McMahon
at 908-234-1225 or [email protected].
J
Saturday, September 13
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, October 4
9 a.m. – Noon
Saturday, October 25
10:15 a.m. – Noon
ORGANIC GARDENING
WITH MARK CANRIGHT
7TH ANNUAL GREAT SWAMP WALK
COLD BROOK WATERSHED –
LANCE TRAIL DEDICATION & HIKE
Organic farmer Mark Canright will
delight you with his dry sense of humor
during this presentation at the Bamboo
Brook Outdoor Education Center,
170 Longview Road, Chester Township,
while giving valuable tips on how to grow
organic produce. There will be activities for
children, including planting seeds to take
home and grow. Registration is required.
Sunday, September 21
Noon – 3 p.m.
FOREST HABITAT HIKE
Take a leisurely stroll through the
unique Burden Hill Forest in Quinton
Township, Salem County. This 14,000-acre
forest is one of a kind, with both northern
and southern pants, some found nowhere
else in New Jersey. Three-hour hike.
Join New Jersey Conservation Foundation
and the Great Swamp Watershed
Association to explore the association’s
Conservation Area. Upstream from the
Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge, this 50-acre
forested wetland contains vernal pools,
streams, and woodland with wildflowers
and wildlife aplenty.
Saturday, October 18
9 a.m. – Noon
FALL FOLIAGE HIKE
Enjoy fall’s beautiful colors at the Apshawa
Preserve in West Milford, Passaic County.
Hike along rocky outcrops overlooking
thousands of acres of preserved forest.
Along the way we will pass tumbling
brooks, a pond and artifacts of the
site’s history as a source of drinking
water. Rigorous three-hour-plus
morning hike.
Saturday, October 18
7 am – 2:30 p.m.
HUDSON FARM CHARITY HIKE FOR BYRAM
ANDOVER, NJ
Naturalist Karl Anderson talks about native
flora and fauna during a spring hike at our new
100-acre preserve in South Harrison Township,
Gloucester County. The property contains one
of the last untouched native hardwood forests
in the Oldmans Creek Watershed.
16
Two-year-old Eric Poplawski
of Elizabeth was the proud
creator of a decorated pot
of colorful flowers at our
annual Kids Day at the
Bamboo Brook Outdoor
Education Center in
Chester Township in May.
Enjoy a guided nature hike on this beautiful
3,000 acre farm in northwest New Jersey.
A collaborative event involving numerous
environmental nonprofits, the Hudson Farm
Foundation makes annual disbursements
to community organizations. The hike
is about 3.5 miles long and a donation
will be made to local charities for each hiker
that participates.
Contact [email protected] for details.
Join us in opening and dedicating trails on
the Lance property in Tewksbury Township,
Hunterdon County, acquired by the
Tewksbury Land Trust in a multi-agency
effort to protect the headwaters of the Cold
Brook. The trails have long been available to
equestrians, but the trail network will now be
expanded and opened to the public. A brief
dedication ceremony will be followed by
a walk along cornfields and into the woods,
continuing onto the Upper Raritan
Watershed Association’s Fox Hill Preserve.
Bring a bag lunch and join us for a picnic
afterward. Moderate one-hour morning hike,
followed by picnic. Rain date: October 26.
Saturday, October 25
9 – 10 a.m.
EVERT TRAIL HIKE
See the foliage changes where the inner coastal
plain meets the outer coastal plain of the Pine
Barrens in the hardwood forests of Pemberton
Township, Burlington County. One-hour
morning hike through boggy terrain.
Sunday, November 9
11 a.m. – start of first hike
ANNUAL DONALD JONES MEMORIAL HIKE
Celebrate the life and preservation work of
the late Donald B. Jones in the Wickecheoke
Creek Preserve at this hike beginning
at the historic Prallsville Mill in Stockton,
Hunterdon County. Three separate hikes
of varying length and difficulty will be
offered between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., followed
by tea and treats at the Mill.
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Garden State Greenways: Connect to Protect
Connecting people with the outdoors, protecting water and wildlife
By Laura Szwak, Director of Statewide Greenways
N
ew Jersey Conservation
Foundation, in partnership with
the state Green Acres program and Rutgers
University, has created a statewide vision
for land preservation: Garden State
Greenways, a system of interconnected
natural lands. One goal of Garden State
Greenways is to have a natural area
within a 10-minute walk or bike ride
from every home.
This Garden State Greenways
map, focused on northern
Somerset County, illustrates
how land preservation can
create a network of connected
green corridors.Find out
about greenways in your
community by visiting
www.gardenstategreenways.org
The vision includes “hubs” and “connectors.”
I
I
Hubs are large patches of natural areas.
They include wetlands, forests, fertile soils,
grasslands, beaches and diverse plant and
animal habitat provide residents with clean
water, clean air, a healthy food supply, scenic
areas and recreation.
Connectors link the hubs. Garden State
Greenways connect people to the outdoors
physically, by inviting exploration; and
intellectually, by showing people how nature
is working to keep our state healthy and safe.
Connectors also provide natural habitat
corridors for plants and animals.
I
I
Connect with
Garden State Greenways
First, visit the website
www.gardenstategreenways.org,
where you can…
I
I
Use the interactive map to check out
preserved lands and important natural
lands in your own community.
I
Discover existing preserved farms and
parks in your town or region.
Second, connect with us.
I
Find out about nearby hiking trails.
The map includes long-distance trails
as well as abandoned rail corridors.
I
Encourage your local planning boards,
environmental commissions, and open space
committees to use Garden State Greenways
to learn how a proposed development
may impact a natural area. Garden State
Greenways can also help prioritize open
space acquisitions.
I
Give us your feedback about the website
and the Garden State Greenways program.
Share your stories on how the Garden
State Greenways may have helped you
with a project or taught you something
new about New Jersey’s rich natural heritage.
We will put these stories on the website.
Call on us for assistance. Staff is
available to give tailored demonstrations
for your group.
Download and print your county maps.
Connect with New Jersey’s great outdoors by visiting www.gardenstategreenways.org.
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Page 19
NJCF Thanks
Members & Donors |
New Members
Mr. Christopher D. Allen
Mr. Jose Almeida
Ms. Sandra A. Amos
Ms. Clara Susan Anderson
Dr. and Mrs. George Andreassi
Mr. Kevin J. Avery
Ms. Penelope Ayers
Mr. Christopher Baksa
Mr. Christopher Ball
Ms. Judy Ballinger
Ms. Joyce Banister
Mr. Scott Barnes
Mr. Gerald N. Beer
Ms. Clover C. Bergmann
Mr. and Mrs. James P. Biondi
Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Grosvenor Blair
Mr. Marc Brahaney and Ms. Janet Lasley
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Braverman
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Brogan
Mr. Roy Brown
Mr. and Mrs. John H. Bunnell
Ms. Katherine Buttolph
Governor Brendan T. Byrne
Mr. Daniel J. Chisholm and Mr. Mark Jordan
Ms. Ellen J. Coburn
Ms. Perdita B. Connolly
Ms. Laura Cosentino
Ms. Ruth Cranmer
Mr. and Mrs. Karl Darby
Ms. Kristen Degewaars
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gordon Dickinson
Mr. Russell Dimenna
Mr. and Mrs. Raoul P. Du Brul
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Fales
Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Ferri
Mr. and Mrs. William G. Fischer
Ms. Bonnie Fluck
Ms. Catherine Folio
Ms. Carol Fraley
Mr. Robert Friedman
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Fuller
Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Gano, Sr.
Ms. Elizabeth A. Gensel
Ms. Emily J. Golinski
Mrs. Doris J Gormley
Mr. Robert Grize
Ms. Antonia M. Grumbach
Mr. and Mrs. Gary K. Gusoff
Mr. Bruce C. Hansen
Mr. Daniel A Harris and Mrs. Jane Buitars
Mr. Peter D. Haugk
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Heckler
Mr. Albert Hendrickson
Ms. Karen Hertzog and Mr. Chris Stoddard
Ms. Pat Hilton
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hinshaw
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Huey
18
January 2008 through June 2008
Mr. Charles M. Hug
Mr. and Mrs. Dana Hughes
Mr. and Mrs. Michael F. Hurley
Mr. Hugh M.. Hyde, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. James Hyman
Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Ingling, Sr.
Ms. Alice A. Jarvis
Mr. Edward G. Johnson, D.M.D.
Mr. Theodore E. Jones
Ms. Andrea Kanoc
Ms. Joy Kauffman
Mr. Gary Kazin
Ms. Shirley W. Keeney
Ms. Cheryl Ann Kennedy
Ms. Judith Khullar
Ms. Carolyn Kleppe-Collins
Dr. Jonathan Koren, D.M.D.
Ms. Terri Lanuto
Ms. Linda Fair Lenox and Mr. Matt Bouldin
Mr. and Mr. Robert Lieberman
Mr. Gerard T. Linger, III
Mr. and Mrs. Roger R. Locandro
Ms. Amanda Lundberg
Ms. Donna Madison
Ms. Cordelia Manning
Mr. and Mrs. Michael K. Mathews
Mr. Michael K. McClure
Ms. Dorothy L. McGiffin
Ms. Cynthia Mergentime
Ms. Nancy L. Merritt
Italo Minutello
Mr. Craig F. Mitchell
Mr. Thomas C. Morrison
Mr. and Mrs. Gus Mount
Mr. Walter Nerlick, Jr.
Ms. Tari Pantaleo
Ms. Pamela Pennella
Ms. Karin E. Peterson
Ms. Donna Pfeffer
Ms. Courtney Phillips
Ms. Sharon A. Polwin
Ms. Elizabeth G. Posillico
Mr. Marshall N. Rajs
Mr. Howard F. Reed, Jr.
Ms. Dorothy F. Reynolds
Ms. Patricia Richards
Mrs. Joan Richards
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Robbi
Mr. Phillip Rochelle
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Roth
Mr. David Saidnawey
Ms. Randi M. Scher
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin R. Sjonell
Mr. and Mrs. Craig Smith
Mr. Hugh J.W. Snyder
Mr. and Mrs. Alan Spotnizt
Mr. James F. Stevens
Mr. and Mrs. Eric Straube
Ms. Mary M. Tassini
Mr. and Mrs. Carl L. Tatsch
Mr. Edward J. Tenthoff
Ms. E. Ellanora Thomasma
Mrs. Gordon B. Turner
Mr. and Mrs. William Voorhis, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester A. Wagner, III
Mr. Robert L. Wallace
Mr. and Mrs. Doug Wengel
Ms. Marilyn F. Wickel
Mr. and Mrs. George Woods
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph J. Yousey
Ms. Tina Zanca
Mr. Louis R. Zembeno
Conservation and
Greenway Members
(Gifts of $1,000 and above)
Mr. Christopher D. Allen
Ms. Penelope Ayers
Mrs. Peter B. Benchley
Mr. and Mrs. George T. Boyer
Mr. John R. Bulger
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon P. Cameron
Mr. and Mrs. William D. Dana, Jr.
Ms. Rachel J. Finkle and Mr. Sven Helmer
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence S. Fox
Mr. John Douglas Hankin
and Ms. Samantha Rothman
Mr. and Mrs. Gates H. Hawn
Mr. and Mrs. Bayard Henry
Mr. Frederick H. Jarvis
Ms. Betty W. Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Kent
Ms. Sybil B. Kramer
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel W. Lambert, III
Ms. Wendy Mager and Mr. Eric Monberg
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon A. Millspaugh, Jr.
Mr. Nelson Obus and Ms. Eve Coulson
Mrs. Millicent L. Palmer
Mr. Henry Papit
Ms. Mary R. Parker
Ms. Margaret Parker and Mr. Lloyd Fales
Ms. Leslie J. Sauer and Mr. Gill Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce E. Schundler
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Scully
Mr. and Mrs. Clifford W. Starrett
Ms. Patricia S. Stover
Ms. Jacqueline Strigl
Mr. Robert J. Vogel and Ms. Carrie A. Kitze
Mr. Michael J. White
Corporate Donors
Amy S. Greene/Environmental
Consultants, Inc.
Apgar Associates
Applegate Farms
Back to Nature
Banisch Associates, Inc.
Binder Machinery Company
Borden Perlman Insurance
Casendino & Company
Cornerstone Financial Group
Ronald A. Curini Appraisal Company, Inc.
Doggett Corporation
Eastern Mountain Sports
Fusco’s Rental World
Norman J. Goldberg, Inc.
Goldman Sachs & Company
Gould Environmental, Inc.
J.M. Huber Corporation
McKinsey & Company, Inc.
Newton Land Surveyor
The Russ Poles Group @ NT Callaway
Printech
Pzena Investment Management, LLC
Tom Rodriguez Associates
Rosemont Foundation
Selective Insurance Group, Inc.
Shop Rite of Hunterdon County
Foundation Donors
The Edward T. Cone Foundation
EarthShare of New Jersey
Gordon and Llura Gund Foundation
Hyde and Watson Foundation
The Margetts Foundation
Sumner Gerard Foundation
The Thomas Fund at PACF
The William Penn Foundation
Matching Gift Donors
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc.
Eisai Corporate Matching Gifts Program
ExxonMobil Foundation
IBM International Foundation
Insurance Services Office, Inc.
New York Times Company Foundation
Nissan North America, Inc.
Pfizer Foundation
Prudential Foundation Matching Gifts
The Teagle Foundation Inc.
TimeInc.
Organization Donors
Basking Ridge Garden Club
Bernardsville Garden Club
Chester Garden Club
Collegiate School
Condurso’s Garden Center
& Farm Market, Inc.
Deer Lake Club, Inc.
Garden Club of Cranford
Garden Club of Long Beach Island
Garden Club of Long Valley
Garden Club of Morristown
Garden Club of Princeton
Garden Club of the Oranges
Garden Club of Westfield
28-1726 NJ Conservation:NJConservatonWinter08
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4:27 PM
Page 20
Staff
Michele S. Byers – Executive Director
Interstate Hiking Club
Lawrence Township Conservation
Foundation, Inc.
Master Gardeners of Union County
Medicine Waters Conservancy
National Garden Clubs, Inc.
The Nature Conservancy
Rake and Hoe Garden Club, Inc.,
of Westfield, NJ
Ramsey Area Garden Club
Rocky Brook Garden Club
Save The Environment of
Moorestown/S.T.E.M.
Short Hills Garden Club
Short Hills Home Garden Club
Shrewsbury Garden Club
Sorbello & Wheeler Farms
Stony Brook Garden Club
Thompson Lexus
Woman’s Club of Westfield, Inc.
Tributes
In honor of:
Cynthia and Peter Kellogg
Ms. Penelope Ayers
Edward F. Babbott
Ms. Margaret Babbott
Sarah Ralston & William Kaminski
Larry Katz and Barbara Tarbell
James Garland
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Kent
Memorials
In Memory of:
William J. Gano, Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. James P. Biondi
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Brogan
Casendino & Company
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gordon Dickinson
Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Ferri
Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Gano, Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. Gary K. Gusoff
Mr. Edward G. Johnson, D.M.D.
Italo Minutello
Ms. Sharon A. Polwin
Mr. Hugh J.W. Snyder
Franklin E. Parker, III
Collegiate School
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Fales
Mr. and Mrs. C. Lawrence Keller
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Kent
Mr. Thomas C. Morrison
Ms. Courtney Phillips
Dr. and Mrs. Grant Van Siclen Parr
Russell Adams – Associate Land Steward
Kraig Adams – Associate Land Steward
Erica Arles – Administrative Assistant,
Land & Stewardship
Alix Bacon – Regional Manager,
Western Piedmont
Carol Banhart – Sr. Coordinator,
Development & Outreach
Louis Cantafio, Ph.D. – Sr. Land Steward
Aria (Beth) Davisson – Project Manager,
Black River Greenway
Emile D. DeVito, Ph.D. – Manager, Science
& Stewardship
Janet Eisenhauer – Regional Manager,
Delaware Bayshore
Wilma E. Frey – Sr. Policy Manager
Amy Hansen – Policy Analyst
Maria Hauser – Executive Assistant/
Personnel Manager
Pat Huizing– Director of Development & Outreach
Steve Jack – Associate Land Steward
NJCF Welcomes New Staff Members
Chris Jage – Assistant Director, South Jersey
Wanda Knapik – Manager of Corporate &
Foundation Relations
Peter Kroll, Ph.D. – Project Manager,
Camden Greenway
Three new staff members recently joined
New Jersey Conservation Foundation:
Pat Huizing, Director of Development &
Outreach; Wanda Knapik, Manager of
Foundation and Corporate Relations, and
Sieglinde (Siegi) Mueller, Easement Steward.
A nonprofit professional with more than
18 years’ experience, Pat previously served as
executive director of Preservation New Jersey,
publicity director for the Princeton YWCA,
communications director for the Stony
Brook-Millstone Watershed Association and
executive director of the Mount Dora Center
for the Arts in central Florida. She has served
on numerous nonprofit boards, and is currently
president of the Wildlife Center, Inc. in Mercer
County. She holds Certificates in Nonprofit
Management from The College of New Jersey,
and Volunteer Management from Rutgers
University, and graduated from the State
University of New York’s Fashion Institute of
Technology. She resides in Point Pleasant, Pa.
Wanda, who manages all aspects of corporate
and foundation giving, brings over 20 years of
corporate experience to her role. She held
sales, business development, technology,
and consulting positions at Dun & Bradstreet
in Short Hills and PSEG in Newark. Wanda
serves on the board of Communityearth,
a leader in sustainability education in
New Jersey, and is an avid hiker and nature
photographer with a passion for the outdoors.
She holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Seton
Hall University and a B.S in Computer
and Information Science from New Jersey
Institute of Technology. Wanda resides in
Bernardsville, Somerset County.
Siegi is responsible for the annual monitoring
of our conservation easement properties.
She is a recent graduate of Skidmore College
in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with a B.A. in
Environmental Studies and a minor in
Geosciences. Siegi gained experience in
land stewardship through internships with
the Brandywine Conservancy and Saratoga
PLAN (Preserving Land and Nature).
She has recently relocated to Morristown,
Morris County, from Wilmington, Del.
Lisa MacCollum – Assistant Director, Acquisition
Meghan McMahon – Events Coordinator
Alison E. Mitchell – Director of Policy
Tim Morris – Director of Stewardship
Sieglinde Mueller – Easement Steward
Marie K. Newell – Project Coordinator, Acquisition
Tanya Nolte – GIS Manager
Sandra Stuart Perry – Communications Manager
Susan Quitzau – Office Manager
Lauren Ramos – Development &
Outreach Coordinator
Francis Rapa – Project Manager,
Delaware Bay Watershed
Karen Richards, CPA – Director of Finance
& Administration
Greg Romano – Assistant Director &
Director of Statewide Land Acquisition
Raymond Steingall – Land Steward
Susan Schmidt– Administrative
Assistant/Receptionist
Laura Szwak – Statewide Greenways Director
Ingrid B. Vandegaer – Regional Manager,
Highlands
Visit us today!
www.njconservation.org
19
28-1726 NJ Conservation:NJConservatonWinter08
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Page 1
Fourth Graders Take Shine to ‘Silver Stream Trail’
he Jackson Pathfinders hiking group and local Boy Scouts all worked tirelessly last year
to repair bridges, install trail blazes and manicure the grounds of our 79-acre
Metedeconk Preserve in Jackson Township, Ocean County. The trail was all ready for
hikers to explore and enjoy, but it was missing a name.
T
After learning that the fourth grade social
studies curriculum focuses on New Jersey’s
history, geography and natural resources,
the Pathfinders and New Jersey Conservation
Foundation decided to hold a contest to let the
students choose a name for the wooded trail.
Each of the 24 fourth grade classes in the
Jackson Township public school system
was encouraged to submit two names.
The winner is… “Silver Stream Trail,”
submitted by Maria Gonzales’s class at the
Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School.
As a reward, the class was treated to an ice
cream party and T-shirts. Students were
later invited to hike the trail when a sign
built by the Pathfinders was unveiled.
Visit New Jersey Conservation Foundation online at:
www.njconservation.org
N E W J E R S E Y C O N S E R VAT I O N F O U N D AT I O N
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