Formation | 1960 |
---|---|
Type | Nonprofit |
22-6065456 | |
Legal status | 501(c)(3) |
Headquarters | Far Hills, New Jersey |
Region | New Jersey |
Trustee President | Louise Currey Wilson |
Co-Executive Director | Tom Gilbert |
Co-Executive Director | Alison E. Mitchell |
Co-Executive Director | John S. Watson, Jr. |
Website | https://www.njconservation.org |
Formerly called | Great Swamp Committee |
The New Jersey Conservation Foundation is a private non-profit organization that works to preserve land and natural resources in the state of New Jersey. Since its founding in 1960, the Foundation has protected 125,000 acres of open space, farmland, and parks. [1]
The foundation was established in 1960 as the Great Swamp Committee. The goal of the committee was to prevent the building of a large airport in the Great Swamp. [2] [3]
As of May 2023 [update] New Jersey Conservation Foundation managed 16 preserves throughout New Jersey: [4]
Harding Township is a township in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located in the Passaic Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The township was formed as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 1, 1922, from portions of Passaic Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on May 9, 1922. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,871, an increase of 33 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 3,838, which in turn reflected an increase of 658 (+20.7%) from the 3,180 counted in the 2000 census.
Hillsborough Township is a township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located in the Raritan Valley region, the township is a suburban and exurban bedroom community of New York City within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 43,276, an increase of 4,973 (+13.0%) from the 2010 census count of 38,303, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,669 (+4.6%) from the 36,634 counted in the 2000 census.
The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between 400 and 500 feet high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lenape name for them, Wach Unks. In the 18th century, the Euro-American settlers also called them the Blue Mountains or Blue Hills. The Watchung Mountains are known for their numerous scenic vistas overlooking the skylines of New York City and Newark, New Jersey, as well as their isolated ecosystems containing rare plants, endangered wildlife, rich minerals, and globally imperiled trap rock glade communities. The ridges traditionally contained the westward spread of urbanization, forming a significant geologic barrier beyond the piedmont west of the Hudson River; the town of Newark, for example, once included lands from the Hudson to the base of the mountains. Later treaties moved the boundary to the top of the mountain, to include the springs.
The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City about 20 miles (32 km) to near Nyack, New York, and are visible at Haverstraw, New York. They rise nearly vertically from near the edge of the river, and are about 300 feet (90 m) high at Weehawken, increasing gradually to 540 feet (160 m) high near their northern terminus. North of Fort Lee, the Palisades are part of Palisades Interstate Park and are a National Natural Landmark.
Hudson Highlands State Park is a non-contiguous state park in the U.S. state of New York, located on the east side of the Hudson River. The park runs from Peekskill in Westchester County, through Putnam County, to Beacon in Dutchess County, in the eastern section of the Hudson Highlands.
The New York – New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC) is a volunteer-based federation of approximately 10,000 individual members and about 100 member organizations. The conference coordinates the maintenance of 2,000 miles of foot trails around the New York metropolitan area, from the Delaware Water Gap, north to beyond the Catskill Mountains, including the Appalachian Trail through New York and New Jersey. It also works to protect open space and publishes books and trail maps. The organization's headquarters are at 600 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, New Jersey.
Sterling Forest State Park is a 21,938-acre (88.78 km2) state park located in the Ramapo Mountains in Orange County, New York. Established in 1998, it is among the larger additions to the New York state park system in the last 50 years.
Wonder Lake State Park is a 1,145-acre (4.6 km2) Putnam County state park located in Patterson, New York.
The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located in Morris County, New Jersey. Established in 1960, it is among what has grown to be more than 550 refuges in the United States National Wildlife Refuge System.
Juniper Valley Park is a 55.247-acre (223,580 m2) public park located within Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States. The park is bordered by Juniper Boulevard North on the north, Juniper Boulevard South on the south, Lutheran Avenue on the west, and Dry Harbor Road on the east; it is split into two parts by 80th Street.
New York State Forests are public lands administered by the Division of Lands and Forests of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). New York State Forests are designated as reforestation, multiple use, and unique areas; and state nature and historic preserves, with approximately 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) classified as reforestation areas and approximately 9,000 acres (36 km2) classified as multiple use lands. Land within the Adirondack Park or the Catskill Park is not included as part of the State Forest system.
Teatown Lake Reservation is a nonprofit nature preserve and environmental education center in Westchester County, New York, U.S., located in the towns of Ossining, Yorktown, Cortlandt, and New Castle. The reservation includes an 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) nature preserve and education center, visited annually by around 25,000 people.
Noon Hill and Shattuck Reservation are adjacent open space preserves located in Medfield, Massachusetts. They are managed by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations. The 200-mile (320 km) Bay Circuit Trail passes through both properties. The Town of Medfield owns conservation land adjacent to the properties.
The Woodlawn Preserve is a patch of the Albany Pine Bush in the Woodlawn neighborhood of the city of Schenectady, New York. It is the only remaining example of this rare ecosystem in that area, a combination of swamp, wetlands, water bodies, and dune vegetation, and one of the most biologically diverse parcels in Schenectady County.
Ethel Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge was the youngest child of William Avery Rockefeller Jr. and Almira Geraldine (Goodsell) Rockefeller. Giralda Farms was the name given to the New Jersey country estate where the family lived. She was a great patron of the arts and parts of her collection became the object of a lawsuit following her death.
Kissena Creek is a buried stream located in the neighborhoods of Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, and Kew Gardens Hills in the New York City borough of Queens. Kissena Creek originates in a now-filled swamp within Kew Gardens Hills and Pomonok in central Queens, flowing east to Hillcrest. The creek then travels mostly north and west, largely flowing beneath Kissena Park Golf Course, Kissena Park, Kissena Corridor Park, and Queens Botanical Garden, before merging with the Flushing River in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.
The Big Sur Land Trust is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Monterey, California, that has played an instrumental role in preserving land in California's Big Sur and Central Coast regions. The trust was the first to conceive of and use the "conservation buyer" method in 1989 by partnering with government and developers to offer tax benefits as an inducement to sell land at below-market rates. Since 1978, with the support of donors, funders and partners, it has conserved over 40,000 acres through conservation easements, acquisition and transfer of land to state, county and city agencies. It has placed conservation easements on 7,000 acres and has retained ownership of over 4,000 acres.
The New Jersey Highlands Coalition is a New Jersey 501c3 non-profit organization that aims to protect the water and the ecological and cultural resources of the New Jersey Highlands, an 860,000 acre rural and agricultural area in the northern and western parts of the state.