2 1960 Morris andSomersetcounties. tional “jetport”intheGreatSwampof Port Authorityplanfor10,000-acreinterna- Grassroots oppositionmobilizesagainst 1961 housewife-turned-activist HelenFenske. is officiallyestablished,ledby North AmericanWildlifeFoundation The GreatSwampCommittee ofthe Secretary oftheInterior StewartL.Udallinattendance. National WildlifeRefugeisdedicated withU.S. Preservation effortsucceeds;theGreat Swamp

1961 a nationalwildliferefugeintheGreatSwamp. Washington toconvincefederalofficialssupport Helen Fenske andotherconservationistsgoto 1964 Conservation Foundation. become theNorthJersey extends itsvisionto The GreatSwampCommittee 1965

1965 is laterturnedovertothetown.It’sfirsttime Preserve inMendhamTownship, which first purchase,the77-acreDismalHarmony North JerseyConservation Foundation makesits 1966 Swamp; itbecomesLordStirlingCounty Park. the PassaicRiverinwesternsectionofGreat We helpSomersetCounty acquire749acresalong 1960 Acres program. the stateGreen partners with a nonprofit to becomeoneofthecounty’ssignatureparks. Over morethanfourdecades,itwouldgrow an arearichinRevolutionaryWar history. along theWhippanyRiverinMorrisCounty, develop ideaforPatriots’Path,agreenbelt Rotary Club,andtheJuniorLeagueofMorristown County Parks,HughStearnsoftheMorristown Helen Fenske, RussellMyersofMorris Footprints Our firstnewsletter, 1966

, debuts. 1967 s 1968 Mr. andMrs.GurdonWattles. Township thatweregiventousby along theRockawayCreek inReadington property owners,donating36acres accept donationsoflandfromprivate Lands Trust, an agency createdto newly-established NewJerseyNatural We makefirstopenspacegiftto 1969 Executive Director. Helen Fenske as David Moorereplaces 3 4 5 1970s

Landmark property tax assessment decision won by us; State Division of Tax Appeals rules that assess- ments must be lowered to An 84-acre parcel in Chester Township, given to reflect reduction in market After years of helping preserve land in Monmouth County, us by Corinne and Percy Chubb, was transferred value of properties with North Jersey we help found the Monmouth Conservation Foundation. conservation easements. We begin weekly column, “The to the township, forming Chubb Park. Later, 42 Conservation Foundation Edward and Joanne Mullen donate Walnford Mills, an 18th We preserve the 60-acre McBride State We’re In,” commenting on adjoining acres in Chester Borough were turned becomes New Jersey century house and gristmill on 41 acres in Upper Freehold celery farm in heavily developed environmental topics in New Jersey. over to that municipality, enlarging the park. Conservation Foundation Township, Monmouth County, to us. We transfer the Bergen County. It is later turned The column is still published today, This creates our first conservation easement, to reflect growing property to the Monmouth Conservation Foundation, which over to the town of Allendale running without a gap for 40 years. and one of the first in Morris County. statewide focus. later ensures its preservation as a county historic park. as the Celery Farm Natural Area. 1970 1972 1974 1979 1979 1979

We unveil new environmental curriculum, The first one-mile section of 1975 We propose “Rails for Trails” 1974 1974 1979 1976 The New Jersey Legislature 1970 “Education for Survival,” at a national educators’ Patriots’ Path opens in Mendham program to turn abandoned approves the Pinelands convention in San Francisco. At the time, few Township; a master plan for railway corridors into hiking Protection Act, one year schools incorporated environmental education the 27-mile greenbelt park is and biking paths. after signs into their curricula. Thousands of books were finished the following year. bill creating the million-acre distributed nationwide. We build Newark’s first “instant” park on a Pinelands National Reserve. vacant half-acre lot across from City Hall. It is We were among the leading designed by our trustee Robert Zion, a noted advocates for the Act, landscape architect. Despite its temporary and had spent design, the park is still there today. three years fundraising for Pinelands preservation.

We acquire the 165-acre Cross Estate in Bernardsville By year’s end, and transfer it to Morristown National Historical we hold nearly Park. Basketball star Bill Bradley, just beginning 2,000 acres in Pine Barrens. his run for U.S. Senate, speaks at the dedication. 6 7 1980s

Grover’s Mill Pond in West Windsor Township, Mercer County, site of Orson

The 180-acre Van Doren Wells’ fictional 1938 “War of the Worlds” Assisting the city of farm in Tewksbury Township Martian invasion, is acquired by us, and Camden with plans for a is sold to Hunterdon County as later passed to the township along with greenway along the a park, along with easements funds to maintain the dam. Cooper River, we begin forming a green belt seeking land and ease- surrounding historic Oldwick. ment donations from We purchased the farm private, corporate and four years earlier to prevent nonprofit landowners. a housing development We agree to help residents of northeastern from being built. Morris County save a forested ridge We launch project to restore the state-owned NJ Freshwater Wetlands but neglected Pine Barrens community of Protection Act becomes law, known as Pyramid Mountain. The land, Whitesbog, home to Elizabeth White, who three years after we and which contains evidence of occupation began cultivating native wild blueberries We save land near the Forked River our partners launch by prehistoric people, eventually there in 1912. We help establish Whitesbog Mountains of Ocean County that later campaign to protect the becomes Pyramid Mountain Natural Preservation Trust. becomes Wells Mills County Park. state’s freshwater wetlands. Historical Area. 1981 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1987 1981 1981 We purchase 234 acres in 1985 1985 Campaign launched to protect habitat We acquire a Camden row house on We found the Pinelands We begin new project in cooperation with 1987

Roxbury Township, Morris 1984 Delaware Twp, Hunterdon County, to protect along the Delaware Bay where migratory the block where poet Walt Whitman 1989 Preservation Alliance 1989 County, which eventually an eight-mile stretch of the Wickecheoke shorebirds stop each spring to replenish once lived, and later transfer it to serve as watchdog become Morris Canal Park. Creek. We save an 89-acre farm, their energy by feasting on horseshoe to the state as part of Walt Whitman in the Pine Barrens. It contains sections of defunct one of the first to be preserved The State Planning Act crab eggs. We accept donation of Historical Complex. canal bed and towpath. a stretch of Bayshore beach in through the State Farmland is passed, affirming Cape May County, later turned over Preservation Program. that New Jersey needs sound and integrated to state Natural Lands Trust . statewide planning to conserve its natural Gov. Brendan Byrne and State Senator resources, revitalize Raymond Zane peruse our poster its urban centers and highlighting the persistent loss of farmland protect the quality of in New Jersey. The New Jersey Agriculture its environment. Retention and Development Act and As a result of lobbying by us and our partners, a bond issue providing $50 million for a Green Acres bond referendum is amended farmland preservation are subsequently to allow nonprofits to apply for funding passed by voters. directly for the first time. 8 have helpedsavesome50,000acres. 30 years,ispublished.Atthispoint, we For Land’sSake Basking Ridge. AT&T headquartersin anniversary dinneratthe special guestsatour30th Gov. BrendanByrneare Gov. JimFlorioandformer Actor ChristopherReeve, 1990 1990 , ahistoryofourfirst

1991

1992 to beactivelymanaged. one ofthefirstourproperties now knownastheEvert Preserve, Dorothy Evert. Thepropertyis conservationists Brooksand County asamemorialtothelate our propertiesinBurlington We buildanaturetrailononeof Effective Tax Policy. Ground: PreservingNewJerseyFarmland through for theDelawareBayWatershed, Greenways totheArthurKill,ChartingaCourse beyond. Thespecialreportsthatfolloware: land usepolicyinkeyregionsduringthe’90s and Jersey Highlands:Treasures atRisk, Foundation publications,startingwith Four influentialNewJerseyConservation

1992 donated byus. by thefirstproperty its nucleusisformed County isestablished; Wildlife RefugeinSussex Walkill RiverNational and helped shape Gaining The New

wintering grounds inCentral andSouthAmerica. birds, fromtheirnesting areasinNewJerseytotheir protect habitatalongthemigratory routes ofsong- published, teachingyoungstersabout theneedto The “SongbirdConnection” educationalcurriculumis 1993

1994 Jones isaformerpresidentofourboard. ists fromHunterdonCounty. Donald named tohonordedicatedpreservation- in theWickecheokeCreek Preserveis The DonaldandBeverleyJonesFootpath

1994 by Vera andElmerPettit. easement onthedairyfarmowned funding tobuyanagricultural farmland. SalemCounty usedthe make agranttocountypreserve We becomethefirstnonprofitto 1995 1990

1995 by anonprofitgroupinNewJerseytodate. Mountains ofOceanCounty, thelargestacquisition We save3,000acresintheForked River 1996 National ParkService. NJ Trail Conference and of effortsbyus,theNY- Trail opens,asaresult mile-long Highlands First partofthe150- female landscapearchitects. Hutcheson, oneofAmerica’sfirst once hometoMarthaBrookes Township, apropertythatwas Education Center inChester Bamboo BrookOutdoor Foundation officesmovetothe New JerseyConservation planning forthe15thannualRally. in landconservation.We’re now workshops forpeopleinvolved Trust Rallyofferseducational First annualNewJerseyLand

1997 into abaseballstadium. from beingdeveloped Frederick LawOlmsted, Newark, designedby Riverbank Parkin with partnerstosave We successfullyrally 1997 1998 million acres. ambitious initiativetopreserveone passes, launchingNewJersey’s Garden StatePreservationTrust Act s 1999 third executivedirector. years; MicheleByersbecomesour David Mooreretiresafter30 9 10 11 2000s

The circa 1795 Prall House in Stockton, We become the first nonprofit to bring Hunterdon County, is preserved, federal farmland preservation funding becoming a regional office for New to New Jersey when we preserve an Jersey Conservation Foundation and 85-acre vegetable farm in Pilesgrove Township, the Delaware River Mill Society. Salem County. We also launch the Tri-County Agricultural Retention Partnership (TARP) to support farmers in Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties.

In partnership with Green Acres and We add 68 acres to , we launch Garden Passaic County’s A joint effort between us and the State Greenways, an online planning Apshawa Preserve and The largest freshwater wetlands restora- NJDEP’s Green Acres program pre- tool dedicated to the idea that every become a partner in tion project in the northeast begins at the We help Ocean County preserve serves over 450 acres in the Burden New Jersey resident should have easy managing the rugged, Franklin Parker Preserve. A year earlier, the historic Cedar Bridge Tavern Hill Forest of Salem and Cumberland access to parks, trails and protected mountainous 576-acre we received more than $5.4 million from in Barnegat Township, where the counties – the Delaware Bayshore lands. It builds upon a greenways property surrounding the federal government to preserve and last battle of the Revolutionary region’s only large, intact forest. project begun 15 years earlier. Butler Reservoir. restore the wetlands. War was fought. 2000 2004 2004 2005 2006 2006 2007

The 9,400-acre DeMarco cranberry farm in the Pine Barrens of Research scientists discover 30 rare, endangered On the heels of the Highlands Water Protection and 2001 2003 2006 2006 2006

Burlington County is preserved and later named for our trustee and and threatened plants at the Franklin Parker Planning Act of 2004, we help form and fund a new independent 2009 former president Franklin Parker, the first chairman Preserve. More discoveries follow in the coming watchdog group, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. of the state Pinelands Commission. It is the largest years, including rare insects and frogs. property ever acquired by a New Jersey nonprofit. In a first-time partnership between a New Jersey nonprofit and the U.S. military, we preserve 107 acres next to the Air Force’s Warren Grove Gunnery Range in Ocean County. Our 40th anniversary is celebrated at Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion in Princeton. By now, we As part of our continuing effort to have helped save more create a recreational link between than 100,000 acres the Delaware Riverfront and throughout New Jersey. Cooper River Park, we open an office with full-time staff in the city of Camden. 12 2010 13

PRESIDENTS OF THE NJCF BOARD OF TRUSTEES L. Keith Reed 2007 to present Gordon A. Millspaugh Jr. Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen read a reso- 2004 to 2007 lution into the Congressional Record on June 22, Samuel W. Lambert III 2000 to 2004 2010 congratulating New Jersey Conservation Langdon Palmer Foundation for its 50 years of land preservation 1998 to 2000 C. Lawrence Keller success. His father, former Congressman Peter 1995 to 1998 H.B. Frelinghuysen, was instrumental in the William D. Dana, Jr. 1992 to 1995 fight to save the Great Swamp in the 1960s, I. Lloyd Gang and in the founding of this organization. 1989 to 1992 Antoinette C. Bentley 1986 to 1989 We will celebrate 50 years of preserving natural areas and Morton Scharmann 1983 to 1986 farmland throughout New Jersey on Saturday, October Donald B. Jones 30, at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown. 1980 to 1983 Gordon A. Millspaugh Jr. 1977 to 1980 Six former New Jersey governors will be honored for their Dr. Edward F. Babbott 1974 to 1977 environmental legacies: Brendan T. Byrne, Thomas H. Dr. David J. Reisner* 1971 to 1974 Kean, James J. Florio, , James Charles R. DeBevoise* E. McGreevey, and Jon S. Corzine. 1968 to 1971 Franklin E. Parker III* 1965 to 1968 We will also honor former Congressman Peter H.B. Worrall F. Mountain Jr.** 1964 to 1965 Frelinghuysen, who played a pivotal role in establishing Josephine J. Lloyd*** the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the New 1961 to 1964 Grace C. Hand*** Jersey Conservation Foundation. 1961 to 1964 Dr. Robert W. Krebs*** 1961 to 1964 For more information about the 50th anniversary Fanny H. Moore**** celebration, contact Elizabeth Bennett at 908-322-1100 1960 to 1961 Josephine J. Lloyd**** or [email protected]. 1960 to 1961 Walter Wescott**** 1960 to 1961

* North Jersey Conservation Foundation ** Great Swamp Conservation Foundation *** Great Swamp Committee The 50th anniversary celebration was officially kicked off at a reception A New Jersey-shaped cake with 50 candles was presented at the annual (Co-Chairpersons) in June at the Far Hills home of trustee and event co-chair Ronnie New Jersey Land Conservation Rally at Montclair State University in **** Upper Passaic Valley Goldberg. From left are former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, former First Lady March. Here’s wishing for 50 more years of land preservation! Conservation Committee (Co-Chairpersons) Lucinda Florio, Ronnie Goldberg, former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, trustee and co-chair Wendy Mager and Executive Director Michele Byers.