CHESTER, NJ November 19, 2009 – Conservation Resources Inc. (CRI) announced its fourth annual Franklin Parker Small Grants awards to non-profit conservation organizations.  The awards totaling $100,000 were distributed to 31 organizations for conservation projects throughout the Garden State. 

“Each year we have been able to increase the number of Franklin Parker Small Grants we give.   This year we received more applications than ever and are excited to continue to contribute to innovative, on-the-ground conservation work being conducted in New Jersey,” said Michael Catania, President of CRI.

The purpose of the Franklin Parker Small Grants Program is to provide seed money for the initiation of 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 stewardship and restoration projects.  Funding for these small grants has been provided by the William Penn Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, the Mary Reinhart Stackhouse Foundation, and several individuals.

Each of the projects supported by the Franklin Parker Small Grants Program in 2009 are featured in the Conservation Exchange, New Jersey’s Marketplace for Conservation Projects.  Additional criteria for being awarded a Franklin Parker Small grant include creativity of the project, financial need, and strategic value.

Isles Inc.
Isles’ Community and School Gardening Project

Isles, Inc. is an environmentally-conscious, community development non-profit organization with a mission to foster more self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities. Isles will be using the $5,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant to expand its existing Community and School Gardening (CSG) Project in Trenton, New Jersey.

Isles has more than 25 years of experience in supporting community gardens. Currently, Isles supports 35 community gardens and nine school gardens. The CSG Project addresses the critical issues of hunger relief and nutrition, urban beautification, and open space preservation throughout the city of Trenton. Isles provides the technical and organizational assistance necessary to transform neglected parcels of urban land into gardens, parks and playgrounds. Once established, community gardens provide essential nutrition to city residents, teach sustainability and self-reliance, beautify blighted neighborhoods, and effectively bridge the disconnect between nature and the urban environment.

In 2009 the Musconetcong Watershed Association (MWA) completed the renovation of the River Resource Center, the organization's long-awaited headquarters on the banks of the Musconetcong River in Asbury, NJ.    The River Resource Center is MWA’s first physical presence in the watershed, and serves as an office from which to conduct outreach to landowners and local governments, as well as education programs for watershed residents.  The building has been designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Certification, and is an educational tool, model, and demonstration site for environmentally sound building practices.  The final package of LEED project documentation was assembled and submitted to the U.S. Green Building Council on August 26, 2009, and it is currently under review. 

MWA was awarded a $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant to help costs associated with LEED commissioning and certification.

Upper Raritan Watershed Association, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space
Expand efforts to eradicate emerging populations of invasive species

The Central Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team was spearheaded in 2008 by the Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA) and the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space (FoHVOS).  The project is New Jersey’s first comprehensive effort toward invasive plant management through a public-private partnership.  The CJISST uses the early detection/rapid response methodology to locate and eradicate populations of emerging invasive plant species. The project area covers 1.3 million acres across 8 counties.

The project has gained significant momentum, raising over $82,000 in public and private funding since inception, and successfully recruiting 41 partners from multiple sectors including government (federal, state, county, and municipal), non-profit, corporate and private.  Key project accomplishments include: searching ~10,400 acres, detecting 978 populations, eradicating 251 populations, providing 22 educational presentations with over 500 total participants and training over 160 partners and volunteers.  The project has also established a Steering Committee to guide its progress moving forward and a CJISST website to provide technical materials including a project map depicting detections and eradications.

The $6,000 Franklin Parker Small Grants from CRI will help URWA and FoHVOS further develop existing partnerships and recruit additional participants to expand the mapping and eradication of emerging invasive plant species across the project area.

$2,000 Small Grant Award
City of Newark
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project

The Greater Newark Conservancy’s Urban Environmental and Ecological Center in downtown Newark serves low-income youth and families from Newark and surrounding urban areas.  The Prudential Outdoor Learning Center component has been built and comprises 1.5 acres of outdoor classroom teaching gardens.  Since opening in 2004 this facility has hosted nearly 15,000 inner-city students for environmental field trips. 

The $2,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help Greater Newark Conservancy remove invasive non-native plants in a particular garden area of the Prudential Outdoor Learning Center.  It will also help them redesign and replant this area with native plants to better attract insects for teaching purposes and to reconfigure an adjacent pathway to better accommodate school groups.

$5,000 Small Grant Award
City of Camden
Project Type: Other Capital Conservation Project

The Environmental Mitigation and Landscape Master Plan (EMLMP) was developed by Heart of Camden to help revitalize the South Camden Community.  The effort involved identifying specific sources of particulate matter in the neighborhood, and using best practices in landscape design to mitigate the effects.  The effort was comprised of three main areas of focus:  1) buffers – creating buffers between residential and industrial users, 2) vacant lots – vegetating denuded vacant lots, and 3) streetscapes – increasing planting cover on walls and roofs, and creating sinks to absorb swirling particulate matter from poorly maintained roadways clogged with diesel-burning trucks and scrap-metal haulers.  The process was overseen by a Scientific Advisory Board headed by NJIT and included members from NJDEP, Tufts, UMDNJ, and USEPA.  This work is being completed in conjunction with the United States Forestry Service.

The $5,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will be used to continue to implement this plan and transform a blighted green space that is the back of many homes and the only separation to challenging industry and diesel truck traffic that is literally right in the residents’ back yards. 

The Kuhl project is part of the Raritan Piedmont Wildlife Habitat Partnership plan (RPWHP) and is a Priority Parcel within the East Amwell Grassland Region focus area. This area is particularly valuable from the perspectives of preserving and/or protecting wildlife habitats, protecting significant environmental resources and preventing the degradation of water quality. The capital funding for the Kuhl project will come from Raritan Township and Hunterdon County with an anticipated closing date of August 1, 2010.

Preservation of this property will protect significant grassland bird habitat as well as a wetland area and a heron rookery near a Hunterdon County golf course along the Route 31/202 corridor. The land will be managed for grassland bird habitat and is located in the Amwell Grasslands, a critical habitat area for state listed endangered and threatened grassland birds species and associated wildlife. It will provide an area for passive recreation as well as a scenic view for the public. Preservation of this property will contribute to the protection of critical watershed lands along a Category 2 stream, the Neshanic River. The site has also been identified by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Non-game Species Program Landscape Project Area as a priority for grassland habitat.

The $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance cover technical costs associated with the purchase of the Kuhl property including legal, survey, phase I, and title work. 

New Jersey Audubon’s (NJAS) S.A.V.E (Support Agricultural Viability and the Environment) birdseed project is offering one innovative solution to agricultural/conservation conflicts through a close collaboration between the conservation and agricultural communities. 

In its first year, the S.A.V.E. birdseed was highly successful and generated a lot of interest from consumers. It sold out quickly and demand exceeded supply.  However, NJAS was unable to expand the production beyond the original group of farmers.  Expanding acreage and bringing in new farmers requires a small capital investment.

Sunflowers require a special attachment that is affixed to a traditional combine harvester for harvest.  Only one of the original farmers on the project possessed this piece of equipment.  It is impossible to expand the farmer base if several thousand dollars must be spent on new equipment. 

NJAS will use the $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant to buy a sunflower harvest attachment and make it available via loan to farmers in the program.  This equipment will allow NJAS to greatly expand the project to meet demand and ultimately increase the amount of habitat the project is creating. 

$2,500 Small Grant
City of Newark
Project Type: Land Stewardship

The Branch Brook Park Alliance (BBPA), in partnership with Essex County, has identified the planting of the Kio Sakaguchi Memorial Grove and the restoration of the Prudential Lions and Lake Edge in the Southern Division of Branch Brook Park as the priority water qualaity improvement project for 2010.  In the Branch Brook Park Waterway Rehabilitation Feasibility Study, two areas were identified for stormwater improvements that fall within this project area.  These stormwater improvements will improve water quality in the waterway, which is part of the Lower Passaic River watershed. 

Five new drainage inlets will capture extensive road runoff that currently flows directly into the waterway.  A new bioretention basin downstream at the outfall of the five inlets will filter and slow water before it enters the lake, create habitat, and divert water from the sewer system.  Storm runoff from the roadway will be redirected to daylight and a boulder-stabilized outfall/vegetated swale under the pathway. Eventually, the entire lake edge will be replanted as an ecologically productive riparian buffer, similar to what was done at the southernmost lake edge.

BBPA anticipates capital funding for this project through an existing donor. However, for this project to be ready for implementation next spring, design work must begin as soon as possible.

The $2,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help cover this design work.

Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association
Stream restoration plan for the Adams Branch

Adams Branch, a first order tributary to the federal Wild & Scenic Babcock Creek, is a degraded stream that adversely affects water quality in both the Pinelands and the Great Egg Harbor National Wild & Scenic River System.  The Adams Branch was degraded by ditching and dredging that occurred in 1978.  Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association (GEHWA) has conducted 4 years of characterization and assessment studies in partnership with Richard Stockton College, NJDEP, Atlantic County, and the Great Egg Harbor River Council.  GEHWA would now like to create and then implement a stream restoration plan for the Adams Branch. 

In order to restore the Adams Branch, GEHWA intends to work with the Great Egg Harbor River Council, Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, the Pinelands Commission, NJDEP, NOAA, the American Littoral Society, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, Amy Greene Environmental, and local citizens to restore Adams Branch. 

The $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help GEHWA cover costs associated with creation of a restoration plan.

Passaic River Coalition
Preservation of the Belcher Creek Property

$4,000 Small Grant
West Milford Township, Passaic County
Project Type: Land Preservation

Passaic River Coalition is working to preserve the Standford Tract, also known as the Belcher Creek Property, a 220-acre property located adjacent to Bearfort Mountain State Park in the Highlands of New Jersey.   It is identified as a high conservation priority by the New Jersey Highlands Council. 

The $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help the Passaic River Coalition cover technical costs associated with the purchase of the Standford Tract including legal, survey, phase I, and title work.

Rahway River Association
Stream bank stabilization project along the Rahway River

$3,500 Small Grant
Millburn Township, Union County
Project Type: Land Stewardship

The Rahway River Association (RRA) has a mission to preserve open space, protect natural resources, and improve water quality in the Rahway River.  RRA is working with Millburn Township to restore a stream bank on the east branch of the Rahway River.  The restoration will create a riparian buffer of native plants and reduce erosion, thereby reducing sedimentation in the river and improving water quality.  Project partners include the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Township of Millburn. 

The $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will provide the last portion of funding needed to complete this important project.

Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Citizen-based monitoring effort to help scientists track the health and status of Delaware Bay’s horseshoe crab and shorebird populations

The Delaware Bay is home to the largest concentration of horseshoe crabs in the world.  As a result, each year the Bay is also host to the second largest population of migrating shorebirds in North America, and eco-tourists from around the globe flock to its shores to witness this ancient phenomenon.  However, scientific studies indicate horseshoe crabs and shorebirds are in trouble with some species of birds steadily declining from over 100,000 in the 1980s to less than 15,000 in 2007.  Declines have been linked to the lower number of horseshoe crab eggs on the beaches.
The horseshoe crab census and shorebird studies of the Delaware Bay are innovative programs that partner scientists with grass-roots citizens to help track the populations and health of these species. 

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network recognizes that citizen-based monitoring is a key ingredient to ensure that data is collected and used for management strategies.  Recruiting private citizens to be trained monitors builds a stewardship ethic. 

The $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help fund training of a core group of citizens to work with these scientists, the University of Delaware, and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network to conduct horseshoe crab spawning surveys in May and June of 2010 as well as to team up with shorebird experts from New Jersey to count, weigh, and measure the shorebirds arriving on the bay to feed on crab eggs.

Great Swamp Watershed Association
Conservation Management Area Stewardship

The Great Swamp Watershed Association’s Conservation Management Area (CMA) includes 50 acres of riparian and stream corridor upstream from Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.  The site contains vernal pools, threatened and endangered plants and animals, and valuable forested wetlands. 

Stewardship efforts to date include deer exclosure fencing of 23 acres, boardwalk construction to facilitate public access, and stream bank revegetation.   Aggressive invasive species removal has been underway for 8 years.  Native species plantings of over 2,000 shrubs and 4,500 live stakes have also been accomplished entirely with volunteer efforts. Ongoing goals include improving biodiversity degraded by past land use practices and deer overabundance, continued stream bank improvements, vernal pool enhancements and expansion of deer exclosure fencing in upland areas, as well as additional boardwalk construction and habitat improvements.

This program benefits from over 1600 hours of volunteer habitat management labor annually.  This volunteer labor force enables an ambitious restoration program that would otherwise not occur.  GSWA is successful in securing the labor and materials through corporate donations; however, staff time to manage this restoration program is specifically excluded.  The site has benefited from two previous WHIP grants and GSNWR Watershed Natural Resource Restoration Assistance Project funding. These funds have been fully utilized. 

GSWA will be using the $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant to continue the model restoration and stewardship efforts at the Conservation Management Area. 

$3,000 Small Grant
Municipalities in Morris County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration

Since the 1960’s, New Jersey counties and municipalities have been focused on preserving open space.  With the emphasis on acquisition, too often municipalities throughout New Jersey are unable to properly manage acquired open space within their communities. Most municipal and county governments lack the time, expertise, and priority to manage preserved lands.  In most cases goals have not been set for what the intended conservation and/or community development purposes are for particular parcels. Many local governments and organizations have expressed an imperative need for open space stewardship. North Jersey RC&D will implement a Stewardship of Open Space program to address this need.

North Jersey RC&D will use the $3,000 from the Franklin Parker Small Grants Program to develop and test the program with three to four municipalities in Morris County.

$4,000 Small Grant
Middlesex and Monmouth Counties
Project Type: Land Acquisition

For nearly a decade Baykeeper has been the lead New Jersey organization in purchasing and preserving land designated as “priority acquisition sites” by the EPA administered bi-site harbor Estuary Program.  Through this process they have added properties to Cheesequake State Park, enlarged Hudson County’s Laurel Hill Park, helped acquire land targeted for preservation by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s Open Space Master Plan, acquired parcels along the stream corridors of Monmouth County’s Raritan Bay and most recently added critical habitat to the Dismal Swamp Complex in Middlesex County.

Baykeeper is working on several new land preservation projects.  The $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help cover costs associated with land preservation projects including appraisals and legal services. 

Saddler’s Woods Conservation Association (SWCA) is dedicated to preserving and restoring a 15-acre old growth forest in Haddon Township, Camden County.  SWCA is managed by six volunteer directors and has over 100 members. Their core initiatives are restoration, education, research, and land acquisition.

Saddler’s Woods surrounds the headwater spring of the main branch of the Newton Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River and contains a unique stand of old growth trees with many trees between 100 and 400 years old.

Their habitat restoration objectives are to: remove debris, control stream erosion, enhance trails, eradicate invasive plants, and plant native vegetation. The restoration project will provide hands-on learning opportunities through volunteer stewardship days. SWCA regularly logs over 1,000 volunteer hours for restoration each year.

The $2,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help Saddler’s Woods Conservation Association continue with its restoration efforts. 

 Unexpected Wildlife Refuge purchased the D’Alessandro Farm in 2008.  There are several uninhabitable buildings on the property that need to be demolished.  Unexpected Wildlife Refuge will be razing these buildings and then planting native grasses and wildflowers.  Unexpected Wildlife Refuge has estimated that demolition will cost approximately $25,000.  A portion of this expense will be covered by the NJDEP Green Acres Program.
The $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will assist Unexpected Wildlife Refuge demolish structures and restore the D’Alessandro property. 

Native plant rain gardens are an effective tool for achieving sound watershed stewardship.  In addition to adding a colorful, softening visual break to edges of hardscapes or a welcome departure from conventional, chemically-dependent  suburban lawns, they dramatically slow sheet flow, improve retention and recharge, reduce flooding, curtail erosion, and provide habitat for insects, birds, and animals.  Bergen SWAN will be partnering with R&S Landscaping and Pascack Valley Sustainability Group to launch a year-long, four-part plan to heighten local interest in water-conserving rain gardens and rain barrels.   Their plan includes developing an easy-to-follow, illustrated, step-by-step rain garden construction manual that explains calculating dimensions and evaluating sites, garden layouts, quantities and types of soil amendments and native plants, and where to find local suppliers.

As part of their project, Bergen SWAN will conduct a rain garden competition by soliciting applications from private and/or public property owners who would win full funding for the materials, technical assistance and labor to create a rain garden.  Judges will select two winning applications, by evaluating the project’s potential positive impact on a visible stormwater control problem, likelihood to serve as a model,  and proximity to a stream, river, or reservoir .  Bergen SWAN will also conduct a rain garden building workshop, incorporating instructions and plans developed in our rain garden manual, featuring hands-on activity via construction of the competition-winning rain gardens projects.    Finally, Bergen SWAN will facilitate a rain barrel building workshop based on an affordable, easy to construct kit assembled by R&S Landscaping. 

The $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will assist Bergen SWAN with implementation of their rain garden and rain barrel workshops as well as provide some funding for the rain garden incentive contest. 

Although small in acreage (0.64 acres), the PSEG land preservation project represents two integral links in the Camden GreenWay. One is a strip of utility right-of-way that divides the heavily wooded former “St. George’s” parcel from Pine Street to the Cooper River, adjacent to New Camden Park. The other is a small property on the opposite bank of Cooper River, on Admiral Wilson Boulevard, between the Hess service station property and Gateway Park (the latter owned by the Delaware River Port Authority). The Camden GreenWay traverses all of these properties, and completing the continuous linkages is essential to completing the GreenWay. The project is currently under negotiation between PSE&G and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, with title to be assigned to the City of Camden at closing. Due diligence costs are expected to be incurred in the next few months, at which time grant funds will be needed.

The $3,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will assist Camden Greenways Inc. by helping pay for technical costs associated with the purchase of the PSEG tract including legal, survey, phase I, and title work.  

Building on its 2009 success with the Early Street Community Garden, Grow it Green Morristown will create an agricultural teaching garden on land adjacent to the Lafayette Learning Center, which serves as the Morristown School District Headquarters. 

The Urban Farm will showcase the transformation of an underutilized property into a highly productive green space, located in the heart of one of Morris County’s most economically challenged areas.  Likewise, the Urban Farm will serve as a model for creating “victory gardens” across the community.  Grow It Green Morristown hopes to work with people from across Morris County to share in the experience of learning the art and science of growing food, while building a new community dynamic.  Produce from the Urban Farm will be donated to the Morris School District for use in their kitchens, as well as to area food banks.   

The $5,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help fund construction of the Urban Farm at Lafayette in Morristown. 

Upper Freehold Township, the Monmouth County Farmland Program, and MCF have been aggressive in preserving farms in this community and have collectively preserved over 7,000 farmland acres.  Continued preservation of farms in Upper Freehold Township will guarantee a viable and rich farming community for generations.  The 23-acre Keris Christmas Tree Farm is a key parcel, as it is contiguous to several preserved farms.  MCF and their partners have been able to raise all of the funding to acquire the development rights on the Keris Farm, however they are incurring substantial technical costs. 

The $2,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help MCF to defray the technical costs associated with this acquisition and allow them to continue to preserve additional properties in Monmouth County.

The Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) initiated a partnership with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to create an informal statewide committee of experts to focus on plant conservation, called the Partnerships for Plant Conservation.  PPA co-chairs these meetings with the DEP's Natural Land Management Program.  Members on the committee include representatives from DEP's Division of Parks & Forestry, Fish & Wildlife, and the Natural Heritage Program as well as PPA, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, botanists and consultants.  The committee recently established a process facilitating cooperation between NGO's and the DEP on habitat management and plant restoration projects, an issue of uncertainty and controversy in the past.   The Partnership for Plant Conservation determined that in situ management of rare plant populations is the most important form of assistance that can be provided for rare plant species on state lands.

The $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help PPA develop and implement specific monitoring and management plans for four rare plant sites in the Pinelands as part of the Partnership for Plant Conservation.

The Franklin Parker Trail, named in honor of Schiff's first President, is located on Schiff Nature Preserve and the McVickers Preserve.   This project, which will run several miles, will feature two trailheads and parking areas, as well as 3 rustic stream crossings and boardwalk areas through a scenic wetlands complex.   Schiff will also be implementing the recommendations of the Central Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team on Schiff Nature Preserve and the McVickers Brook Preserve.

Schiff has already received a $25,000 National Trails grant from NJDEP, but additional funds are needed to complete the trail.  The $4,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help Schiff complete the Franklin Parker Trail and implement the Central New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team recommendations on approximately 460 acres. 

Tewksbury Land Trust
Devlin Property Acquisition

The Tewksbury Land Trust, in partnership with Upper Raritan Watershed Association and Lamington Conservancy, is purchasing a 6-acre parcel of land to add it to the Fox Hill Preserve.  Preservation of this property will enhance water quality protection efforts, as it is adjacent to many streams.  Currently, this critical open space is vulnerable to development since it is an approved building lot. 

The parcel will greatly enhance the Upper Raritan Watershed Association’s Fox Hill Preserve, and build upon current preservation efforts to create a significant greenbelt of preserved natural lands in the Cold Brook Watershed.  The site provides a variety of suitable outdoor recreation uses and activities including hiking, biking, and nature study.  Tewksbury Land Trust anticipates closing on the property by November 2009. 
The Franklin Parker Small Grant will help cover technical costs associated with acquisition and preservation of the Devlin Tract. 

Edison Wetlands Association
Expanded Trails for the Dismal Swamp Conservation Area

$3,500 Small Grant
Dismal Swamp, Middlesex County
Project Type: Capital Conservation Project

As the largest natural area remaining in densely populated northern Middlesex County, the Dismal Swamp boasts incredible habitat and a unique range of biodiversity, with nearly 200 species.  Unfortunately, there is no easy way for the public to access this natural oasis. 

EWA received a significant amount of federal funding for design and construction of a trail network, however that only covers the direct project costs and not the tremendous amount of EWA resources and staff time that will go into giving tours for bidders, contractors and elected officials, reviewing and discussing trail designs and construction, hosting public meetings for input, and giving presentations for officials.   

The $3,500 Franklin Parker Small Grant will provide critical funding to Edison Wetlands Association to help ensure a new trail network in the Dismal Swamp is a success.

$2,000 Small Grant
Hunterdon County
Project Type: Ecological Restoration

The proposed plan for Bull’s Island aims to restore approximately 5 acres of upland and palustrine forested and scrub/shrub habitat by controlling non-native invasive Japanese knotweed and planting native trees and shrubs. The plan for Fireman’s Eddy aims to restore an old 75-acre field within the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, currently dominated by old field vegetation and scrub/shrub habitat, to native warm-season grasses. This site is appropriately located to provide important resting, foraging, and nesting habitat for migratory grassland dependent birds.  The Natural Heritage Database revealed four possible records of rare plant species that may be found within the proposed project area.  PSI surveys on both sites will provide project partners with plant data needed to protect existing native species prior to implementing the proposed removal and restoration plans.   

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Association, Inc. will use the Plant Stewardship Index (PSI),  a standardized assessment tool that calculates a numerical index reflecting the quality of native plant communities, to monitor vegetation at these areas.  The PSI will identify rare and endangered plants prior to initiating proposed invasive species removal and native restoration plans by the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, Delaware River Greenway Partnership, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The $2,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will match existing funding to conduct baseline vegetation surveys to ensure that restoration efforts at Bull’s Island and Fireman’s Eddy Natural Area are as effective as possible.

This project will create a holistic management plan based on the habitat needs of rare and threatened species present at the exceptionally diverse Plum Brook Preserve.  The 160.9-acre Preserve, consisting of the Jones and Howery properties, hosts a high concentration of rare plants and animals across taxa.  The habitats include upland cedar glades, mature mesic forest, a Category One stream, wetland and upland meadows, and adjacent scrub-shrub habitats.

To guide stewardship of this newly-acquired preserve, D&R Greenway will be seeking to develop a thorough understanding of the habitat dynamics which successfully maintain an abundance of rare species.  By locating, GPS mapping, and investigating the landscape context of these species, they will develop an adaptive management plan for the Preserve and target priorities accordingly.

Preliminary surveys have established the presence of numerous species listed by the NJ Natural Heritage Program.  In partnership with Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Plant Stewardship Indices were compiled for ten plots and transects at Plum Brook Preserve.  Exceptionally high PSI values were determined and six state-listed plant species were discovered.

The $2,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will assist D&R Greenway Land Trust with creation of a comprehensive stewardship plan for the Plum Brook Preserve. 

Rancocas Conservancy
Preservation of Masso-Christaldi Property

$3,000 Small Grant
Medford Township, Burlington County
Project Type: Land Acquisition

This Masso-Christaldi tract was identified by the Pinelands Commission in the Medford Evesham sub-regional plan as a critical connector between the Rancocas Conservancy’s Wurst Preserve, Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge and other protected lands in the area.  It is dominated by a hardwood/cedar swamp along the Little Cedar Run. The property is rich in endemic Pine Barrens species and the forested wetlands on the property provide a migratory corridor for state endangered species. 

The $3,000 Franklin Parker Small Grant will help cover technical costs associated with acquisition and preservation of this property. 

Friends of Holmdel Open Space (FOHOS) is dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, protection, and stewardship of open land in Holmdel, New Jersey.  In 2009, FOHOS volunteers began the restoration of the Lady Slipper Preserve.  FOHOS organized volunteer labor plus contributed machinery with operators from a local contractor to clear the 11-acre site of building and construction debris, invasive plants, an asphalt driveway and dumped rubbish.

FOHOS will install a split-rail fence to prevent unauthorized access and construct wood-chip walking trails throughout the wooded portion of the property.  FOHOS will also retain a surveyor to erect permanent monuments on the property’s irregular borders. This will assure that the intended trail system does not encroach on private property and will serve the added function of informing the public about the property’s limits.

The $1,000 Franklin Parker Small grant with assist Friends of Holmdel Open Space with their continued stewardship efforts at the Lady Slipper Preserve.

The Rahway River Association (RRA), with a mission of preserving open space, protecting natural resources and improving water quality of the Rahway River watershed, will be using funding from the Franklin Parker Small Grant to help naturalize land along the riparian corridor of the main stem of the Rahway River surrounding the RRA Headquarters at 337 East Milton Ave. The RRA Headquarters and this project are strategically located within the Rahway River Greenway Plan ratified as part of the City of Rahway’s Master Plan in 2005.

Special emphasis will be made to restore plant species that have become extirpated in the Rahway River Watershed.  The design to be developed is intended to create a series of compact of microhabitats that will have discreet trails for passive recreational use and educational purposes.

The Franklin Parker Small Grant will fund design of this riparian restoration project.  Additional funding will need to be secured by Rahway River Association to implement the restoration design and signage and educational literature.