Mountain Lakes is now a Monarch Waystation

The Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve is now a certified Monarch Waystation, sponsored by Monarch Watch.  Monarch Watch is a non-profit organization started by the University of Kansas, Department of Entomology.  On their website you can view a map of certified Monarch Waystations, report a tagged monarch butterfly, and read up on monarch conservation. 

These butterflies are endangered due to lack of habitat and pesticide usage.  Monarchs only lay eggs on milkweed plants, as it is the only plants the caterpillars can eat.  Tusculum Meadow and the J. Seward Johnson, Sr. Trail, bordering Coventry Farm, starting on Great Road, are both fantastic monarch habitats and contain lots of milkweed and nectar providing plants.  Mountain Lakes is proud to be a certified stop for monarchs on their incredible migration south to Mexico for the winter. 

For more information on monarch butteflies and how to help their conservation efforts, visit Monarch Watch and The Xerces Society. 

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Friends of Princeton Open Space Receives Franklin Parker Grant

Friends of Princeton Open Space (“FOPOS”) is pleased to announce that it has recently received its third Franklin Parker Excellence Grant, through a grant program administered by New Jersey Conservation Foundation.  Previous grants were used for projects in the 400-acre Mountain Lakes Open Space Area that surrounds FOPOS’s headquarters at Mountain Lakes House, and included installing native plants, constructing deer exclosures to protect native trees, shrubs and plants, and removing invasive species.

This year’s grant will be used to purchase resources to teach children from local schools and summer camps the importance and wonder of the natural world.  The children will be able to use equipment such as microscopes, insect nets and water quality testing kits to study plants and animals in our parks, and will also be given supplies for activities to do at home.

Since receiving the grant in June, FOPOS has already hosted 36 children from the Princeton YMCA Outdoor Living Skills camp.  FOPOS Natural Resources Manager Jeff Geist, along with summer interns Anna Korn and Katrina O’Donnell, gave the children a guided hike, pointed out edible wild berries, identified trees and wildlife, and taught basic outdoor first-aid.  FOPOS hopes to partner with many other school and camp groups to continue its environmental education work with the new equipment.

Top 10 DO NOT PLANT LIST

These plants are readily available at many nurseries, but they are invasive and can rapidly take over a natural area.  Native plants are easier to care for, require no fertilizer, and create habitats for wildlife.  There are many places to purchase native plants, such as D&R Greenway's Native Plant Nursery.  http://www.drgreenway.org/NativeNursery.html