CONTACTS: MICHAEL CATANIA, PRESIDENT or
JON WAGAR, VICE PRESIDENT FOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
CONSERVATION RESOURCES INC
PHONE: 908-879-7942
MICHAEL@CONSERVATIONRESOURCESINC.ORG
JON@CONSERVATIONRESOURCESINC.ORG |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Conservation Resources Inc Announces
$65,000 in Grant Awards
to 16 Exemplary Conservation Projects Throughout New Jersey
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CHESTER, NJ, Nov. 2, 2006 - Conservation Resources Inc (CRI) announced its first Small Grant awards to non-profit conservation organizations totaling $65,000. "From urban centers like Newark and Camden, to remote areas in the Pinelands and Warren County, these grants are going to a diverse array of conservation projects that demonstrate how non-profits are helping improve water quality, restore damaged ecosystems, and improve the quality of life in New Jersey," said Michael Catania, President of Conservation Resources Inc. Of the sixteen different funded projects, there are seven land preservation projects, three land stewardship and/or ecological restoration projects, and six other capital conservation projects located throughout the Garden State.
The purpose of CRI’s small grants program is to provide seed money for the initiation of land preservation projects, to help cover certain costs which are not fully reimbursable by other existing grant programs, such as appraisal and survey expenses, and to provide matching funds to support non-profit land stewardship and ecological restoration projects. Funding for these small grants has been provided by the William Penn Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the Victoria Foundation, as well as individual donors.
"The work that is happening on-the-ground by New Jersey's non-profit conservation community is incredible. Conservation Resources Inc's small grants program helps to facilitate this good work by strategically giving a relatively small amount of conservation capital where it is really needed." said Michael Catania, President of Conservation Resources Inc.
For more information and a map showing the sixteen projects that were funded through CRI's Small Grants Program, please click here.
Conservation Resources Inc (CRI) is a statewide non-profit conservation organization. The mission of CRI is to increase the capacity, expertise and technical and financial resources available to private and public conservation organizations in order to maximize the preservation of open space and farmland in the Garden State.
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Bergen Save our Watershed Action Network (SWAN)
River Vale Watershed Protection Projects |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
River Vale Township, Bergen County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network (Bergen SWAN) is working to preserve 26 acres of forested watershed buffer lands on three parcels in the Township of River Vale, NJ. Preservation of these properties will play an important role in connecting and expanding critical open space for Bergen County and the many adjoining municipalities in the Northern and Pascack valleys. These properties form part of the larger system of natural lands that protect waters supply within the Hackensack River watershed and provide critical habitat for wildlife in one of the most densely populated regions of New Jersey.
The $5,000 grant from CRI's Small Grant Program will be used to help cover appraisal and other costs associated with negotiating the permanent preservation of these critical watershed properties. |
D&R Greenway Land Trust
Saint Michael's Project |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
Hopewell Township, Mercer County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
D&R Greenway Land Trust is leading the St. Michael's Project, a magnificent 336.6 acre land preservation project located in Hopewell Township, on the border of Hopewell Borough. The property is a large tract of prime agricultural land with streams and forested areas throughout. Formerly the site of the St. Michael's Orphan Asylum, this property is currently a key area for conservation. D&R Greenway Land Trust has been coordinating funding and acquisition efforts between the State Agricultural Development Committee, the County of Mercer, the Township of Hopewell, the Borough of Hopewell, the NJDEP Green Acres Program, and private donors.
D&R Greenway has incurred significant costs to permanently protect this historic landscape, including but not limited to: survey, appraisals, environmental studies, title, legal costs, demolition and site cleanup in addition to costs related to the creation of site plans.
The $3,000 Small Grant will be used to help cover these costs. |
Flat Rock Brook Nature Association
A Walk in the Woods Exhibit |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
Englewood, Bergen County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project
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Flat Rock Brook Nature Association is creating "A Walk in the Woods", a professionally designed and fabricated exhibit planned for their Nature Center building. A Walk in the Woods will be an indoor environmental education experience that is an extension of their 150 acres of suburban wilderness. The exhibit will offer a comprehensive, multi-media interpretation of the surrounding natural landscape and its place in the community and the wider world. Coordinated, interactive components will explain the significance of a nature preserve in a highly developed suburban area and address key environmental issues such as Flat Rock Brook Center’s role in a regional watershed and management of biodiversity.
The $3,000 Small Grant will be used as seed money to help design and realize Flat Rock Brook Nature Association's vision. |
Greater Newark Conservancy
Prudential Outdoor Learning Center |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Newark, Essex County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
Greater Newark Conservancy has overcome many major obstacles - fundraising challenges, mitigating a contaminated site, and managing a major construction project -- to substantially complete the Prudential Outdoor Learning Center component of the Urban Environmental and Ecological Center in downtown Newark. This remarkable new facility creates a respite from the many urban challenges found in New Jersey's largest city. It provides critically needed open space, a pocket of habitat for small wildlife and a wonderful venue for environmental education for inner city schoolchildren. Although the doors of the Outdoor Learning Center opened only a little more than two years ago, its plantings have become lush and birds, butterflies, dragon flies, and even a rabbit has taken up residence! This past year the Conservancy hosted over 2,000 Newark schoolchildren to engage in the interactive environmental education programming at the site. Their bookings for the upcoming year are already exceeding that figure. However, the full concept of the Center will not be realized until they can complete the renovation of the Center's Main Building and the adjacent former commercial building to establish the full complement of indoor facilities. With this completed space they will be able to serve a much larger number of constituents.
The Conservancy will be using the $5,000 grant to help cover part of the non-reimbursable design fees for the Outdoor Learning Center. |
Heart of Camden
Waterfront South Restoration Project |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Camden City, Camden County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration |
The Waterfront South TreeKeepers' Nursery and Eve's Community Greenhouse and Gardens (Eve's Garden) Project in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden, NJ needs a "jump-start". A modest amount of funding will assist the Heart of Camden in creating the first community-based, pot-in-pot tree nursery in the city, as well as making the first winter season of greenhouse propagation in Waterfront South a warm and watery reality. The nursery, greenhouse and gardens are all part of the Heart of Camden's Waterfront South Restoration Project. This project is focused on the comprehensive resolution of problems that affect the quality of life (economy, equity and environment) for residents in the community. The environmental component to repairing the historic Waterfront South neighborhood focuses on mitigating and addressing the environmental issues that have contributed to the neighborhood's decline such as air pollution, soil and water contamination and overall urban ecosystem dysfunction. Currently, the primary purpose of this project is air pollution mitigation and the revitalization of contaminated sites through the implementation of the Environmental Mitigation and Landscape Master Plan and local capacity building through urban greening.
The $5,000 Small Grant will be used as “seed” funding to construct a fence and other infrastructure preparation for the urban tree nursery. |
Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance
Frenchtown Greenbelt |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Frenchtown Borough, Hunterdon County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Frenchtown Greenbelt project involves the permanent preservation of 150 acres of significant watershed land in Frenchtown, New Jersey. The Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance (HLTA) has taken the lead on this project from initial contact with the landowners, to leveraging over $4,000,000 in funding to facilitate the acquisition. Given this is a large and complex project, they have engaged multiple partners, including the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Green Acres program, the County, and Frenchtown Borough. Once complete, this project will have a very high profile in the community. The Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance is in the “home stretch” and coordinating the remaining steps needed to closing, including a final survey. Closing is expected to occur in November 2006. Once acquired, the land will be owned and managed by the State Division of Parks and Forestry as an addition to the nearby D&R Canal State Park. The property will be available to the public for passive recreation such as hiking and fishing.
HLTA will use the $5,000 Small Grant to help cover the significant costs have been incurred with the Frenchtown Greenbelt project. |
Musconetcong Watershed Association
River Resource Center |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Asbury, Franklin Township, Warren County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
The Musconetcong Watershed Association’s (MWA) is creating the River Resource Center, a new headquarters as well as a teaching tool for the entire community, located on the Musconetcong River in Asbury. They plan to reuse a 2150 sq. ft. abandoned industrial building, adapting it into a meeting hall with support space for programs such as environmental and outdoor education, municipal outreach, public workshops, stream cleanups, stream bank restoration, well-testing and water quality monitoring. The river resource center will be a beginning point for river-based recreation activities: canoeing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, and nature study. The building is being designed and renovated to achieve the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. A “green” structure will allow MWA to provide a physical example of their mission to protect the watershed by demonstrating that applying environmentally sound building and landscaping principles can be practical, cost-effective, and a realistic approach that can be incorporated into any project.
MWA will use the $5,000 Small Grant for design and engineering costs associated with creating their River Resource Center. |
Natural Lands Trust
A Visitors Center for the Peek Preserve |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
Millville, Cumberland County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
In 1992, the Natural Lands Trust of Media, PA established the Peek Preserve on the banks of the federally-designated “Wild & Scenic” Maurice River with an initial purchase of 201 acres. Subsequent expansions have increased the Preserve’s size to 262 acres. Currently, the field office and visitors center is in the old Caretaker’s Residence which also serves as a part-time visitor center. NLT must replace the existing structure because it is in poor structural condition (the supporting framework has extensive termite damage) and because the layout of this former residence does not accommodate their current and planned uses. The most cost effective alternative has been determined to be construction of a visitors center. The proposed project will demolish the existing structure and replace it with an innovative passive and active solar design field office with an attached publicly-accessible observation deck. The planned facility will provide storage for NLT’s fleet of 6 canoes and 12 kayaks, which are currently being used for environmental education trips on the Maurice River and other nearby waterways. A small conference room with a view of the river and a connected observation deck will facilitate small indoor and larger outdoor meetings and wildlife observation experiences.
The $3,000 Small Grant will be used to help cover engineering and design fees for the new Visitors Center for the Peek Preserve. |
New Jersey Audubon Society
Creating Economic Incentives for Native Grassland Restoration |
$1,200 Small Grant Award
Alpha Borough, Warren County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration |
With the reduction in grassland habitat and the wildlife it supports, New Jersey is at a critical point in encouraging landowners to become directly involved in ecological restoration practices. New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) is the non-profit conservation organization that has been leading the effort in the creation of one such habitat - native grasslands. In order to make long-term establishment of native grasslands sustainable, it must be economically viable. Although native grasslands are not a typical hay crop in NJ, they do have economic value. This includes its use as a viable hay crop as well as its suitability as a cover crop for soil erosion control. NJAS requested funding to promote the benefits of native grasslands through the purchase of bales of native grass hay to use as "demonstration" hay. By purchasing and offering demonstration hay to local farmers, NJAS hopes to demonstrate the economic viability of native grasses to the farming community.
The $1,200 Small Grant will be used to purchase demonstration hay and demonstrate the economic viability of Native Grassland agriculture. |
New Jersey Audubon Society
Native Seed Storage Unit |
$2,000 Small Grant Award
Cape May Court House, Cape May County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
Government and nonprofit organizations are addressing the severe loss of native grassland habitat in two ways; through aggressive land preservation efforts; and through good land stewardship by restoring native grassland habitat. This project is aimed at increasing the capacity for restoring native grasslands throughout the state. New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) is seeking funding to construct a warm-season grassland seed storage facility at the Cape May Plant Material Center (CMPMC), a facility owned and operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Cape May. The CMPMC has one seed storage unit that is used to store and maintain seeds used for various research and ecological restoration projects. This unit supports native grassland restoration projects on approximately 650 acres per year throughout New Jersey. Unfortunately, the CMPMC facility has become excessively crowded with seed material and the potential of improper seed storage has increased. Without appropriate storage prior to use, seed germination rates decline significantly while being stored. As a result, there is a need to construct an additional seed storage unit at CMPMC. The new storage unit would support an additional 400 acres of grassland restoration per year.
New Jersey Audubon Society will be using the $2,000 Small Grant to help cover the cost of construction of new seed storage facility for native grassland restoration. |
Passaic River Coalition
Gerhard Farm |
$3,500 Small Grant Award
Bernards Township, Somerset County
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project |
Passaic River Coalition (PRC)was recently relocated from their offices and found offices at Gerhard Farm Bernards Township along a headwaters stream of the Passaic River. They are going to be co-owners of Gerhard Farm with Bernards Township and expect to close on the property late this Fall. PRC will convert the stable and barn at Gerhard Farm so they can be used for educational purposes. They hope to establish an Advanced Environmental Education Center for college and graduate students. As part of this program, a library will also be established in the main house and in some of the out buildings. The students will have opportunities to undertake research on site or at any of the 24 properties currently owned by the PRC.
The $3,500 Small Grant will be used to help cover the cost of turning the Gerhard Farm into a new office and education center. |
Rancocas Conservancy
Friendship Creek Preserve |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Tabernacle Township, Burlington County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Friendship Creek Preserve project will permanently protect 226 acres along the headwaters of Friendship Creek - a tributary to the Rancocas Creek. The Friendship Creek Preserve project will mark the Rancocas Conservancy’s first preserve in the southwestern portion of the watershed and their largest preserve to-date.The property is dominated by a mix of hardwood swamps and Atlantic white cedar forests with disperse upland ridges of pitch pine forest. This property provides great opportunities for nature trails and wildlife study. The Rancocas Conservancy was founded in 1989 as a land trust and watershed association. The Conservancy defined its focus as the watershed of the Rancocas Creek, located in south-central New Jersey.
Rancocas Conservancy will use the $5,000 Small Grant for costs associated with acquisition of the Friendship Creek Preserve. |
Ridge and Valley Conservancy
Stony Brook and Mountainwood Springs Land Preservation Projects |
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Warren County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Ridge and Valley Conservancy is in the process of preserving two important properties in northwestern New Jersey; the Mountainwood Spring Property and the Stony Brook Property. The Mountainwood Spring Property is in the core of Ridge and Valley Conservancy’s Limestone Forest Project. It is a pristine woodland that has escaped logging for over a half century. It hosts a variety of rare plants associated with the limestone forest and is a prime example of an intact mesic calcareous forest. The property is the direct recharge area for Mountainwood Spring, the second most prolific spring in the Ridge and Valley region. The Stony Brook Property involves the acquisition in fee simple of a 96 acre parcel along the headwaters of Stony Brook in Blairstown Township, Warren County. Headwater areas are particularly important in the watershed, as they provide clean, cool, ground-water discharge to the larger stream systems. Permanent preservation of these two properties will insure high water quality.
The Ridge and Valley Conservancy will be using the $5,000 Small Grant to help cover costs associated with the acquisition of these two properties. |
Tewksbury Land Trust
Cold Brook Watershed Project |
$4,500 Small Grant Award
Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Tewksbury Land Trust recently purchased the 37-acre Cold Brook Watershed Property, located in the Highlands Preservation Area of Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County. It is about 40% active agricultural land and 60% mature forest with some steep slopes. A headwater stream of the Cold Brook, a trout production stream, flows between the agricultural fields. The property is part of a forest complex that provides habitat for several threatened and endangered species. TLT has incurred significant legal and other costs associated with the acquisition of the Cold Brook Watershed Property.
Tewksbury Land Trust will use the $4,500 Small Grant to cover legal and other costs associated with the acquisition of the Cold Brook Watershed Property. |
Unexpected Wildlife Refuge
Codario Farm Preservation Project |
$6,800 Small Grant Award
Buena Borough and Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County
Project Type: Land Acquisition |
The Unexpected Wildlife Refuge is a 44-year old non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Pinelands habitat for the protection of indigenous flora and fauna. The Refuge supports upland forests and wetlands and includes over a mile of Main Lake Branch, a tributary of the Great Egg Harbor River. Acquisition and preservation of the Codario Farm expanded the Unexpected Wildlife Refuge by 127 acres. Approximately half of the Codario Farm is farm fields and the rest oak and pine uplands and wooded wetlands. The farm shares a property line with the Refuge that extends for over 4,000 feet.
The $6,800 Small Grant Award will be used by Unexpected Wildlife Refuge to help cover appraisal and other costs associated with the acquisition of the Codario Farm. |
Weequahic Park Association
Weequahic Lake Restoration |
$3,000 Small Grant Award
City of Newark, Essex County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration |
Weequahic Lake is the keystone feature in Weequahic Park, one of the first urban parks in New Jersey. Unfortunately, the lake has fallen into a state of advanced disrepair over the past several years. To address the problems of the lake, the Weequahic Park Association (WPA) has developed a comprehensive plan for restoration and revitalization called the Weequahic Lake Restoration Project. This plan is broken down into phases, some of which have already been completed. So far, WPA has spent several million dollars in government and foundation grant funding to implement the first phases of the project. The WPA is going to be preparation a non-native invasive plant control plan. Creating the plan is the next step to implementing of the Weequahic Lake Restoration Project and an essential component for the continuation of this important urban restoration protect.
The Weequahic Park Association will be using the $3,000 Small Grant Award to help pay the costs of a non-native invasive plant species control plan, a critical step in their ongoing lake restoration initiative. |
