FOPOS
FOPOS Seeks Program Coordinator

FOPOS seeks a part-time program coordinator to work directly with FOPOS’s Director of Natural Resources and Stewardship to manage the organization’s year-round volunteer stewardship program and community events series. The selected candidate should be detail-oriented and able to manage emails, databases, program messaging and schedules as well as improve upon existing systems and workflow. Ideally, the program coordinator will be an enthusiastic person supportive of and tapped into land stewardship and preservation within the greater Princeton area. Web design skills, and experience in fundraising or marketing and promoting a business are a plus. This is an administrative job that offers flexibility in location, with the ideal candidate available to participate in regular in-person meetings and work sessions, as well as be present for key events located at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton, NJ.

This is an ongoing position that has the potential to grow with the right candidate, and is suitable for professionals as well as recent graduates with applicable skill sets.

FOPOS Seeks Program Coordinator
annual appeal, land preservation, nature
FOPOS
Recruit A Friend To Be A Friend

Over the past twelve months, Friends of Princeton Open Space has focused on ecological restoration projects and on educating the next generation of conservationists, including those from communities of color. We are happy to report that, with your support, we have chalked up major successes.

Recruit A Friend To Be A Friend
photo contest
FOPOS
Princeton, We Have A Winner!

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s photo contest. While it’s never easy to choose, we think these top three are pretty outstanding.

Princeton, We Have A Winner!
annual appeal, land preservation, nature
FOPOS
A Message from Wendy Mager, FOPOS President

The past twelve months have been filled with new projects and new achievements for Friends of Princeton Open Space that advance our mission to preserve and care for open space, educate the public on environmental issues, and advocate for sound governmental decisions. Here’s some of what we’ve accomplished with your support.

A Message from Wendy Mager, FOPOS President
volunteer, nature
FOPOS
FOPOS Launches Pollinator Project

Thanks to a generous gift of Northeast Monarch and Pollinator Habitat Kits from the Xerces Society, Friends of Princeton Open Space is creating a habitat for local pollinators at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton.

FOPOS Launches Pollinator Project

Friends of Princeton Open Space Annual Meeting

HISTORIAN AND PRESERVATION CONSULTANT CLIFFORD ZINK

TO SPEAK AT FRIENDS OF PRINCETON OPEN SPACE

ANNUAL MEETING ON APRIL 17TH

-- FOPOS Naturalist to Lead Walk Through Mountain Lakes, Tusculum

Following Meeting --

PRINCETON, NJ, March 21, 2016 – Historian and preservation consultant Clifford Zink will be the featured speaker at the 2016 annual meeting of the Friends of Princeton Open Space at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 17th.  His talk, “A Splendid Spot: The Development and Evolution of Princeton’s Mountain Lakes ,“ will focus on the history of the ice company at Mountain Lakes and other events that led to its listing on the state and national Registers of Historic Places.  It will include discussion of some of the fascinating discoveries during the recent dredging of the lakes and rehabilitation of the dams.

The meeting will take place at Mountain Lakes House, 57 Mountain Avenue in Princeton.  Mr. Zink will speak after a brief business meeting at which new trustees will be elected.  Refreshments will be served.  A walk through Mountain Lakes and adjacent Tusculum led by FOPOS naturalist Adam Schellhammer will follow Mr. Zink’s talk.  

The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested by April 11th; RSVP to Friends of Princeton Open Space info@FOPOS.org  or 609-921-2772.

Clifford Zink, a Princeton resident, is a preservation consultant specializing in architectural, industrial, and landscape history. He is the author of six books including histories of the Monmouth and Somerset County Park Systems.

About Friends of Princeton Open Space:    Founded in 1969 to preserve open space in the face of development pressures, Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) is a non-profit organization that has helped to establish over 1,000 acres of parkland and a network of interconnecting trails that nearly circles Princeton. Through the contributions of hundreds of people in the community, FOPOS has helped to raise $4.5 million for the purchase and acquisition of easements on properties that might otherwise have been bulldozed for development.   Mountain Lakes Preserve, Greenway Meadows, Coventry Farm, the Institute for Advanced Studies Lands, the Woodfield Reservation, Tusculum, Turning Basin Park, as well as the Ricciardi and All Saints tracts, are among the properties in Princeton preserved with theassistance of FOPOS.  For additional information see: www.fopos.org

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Contact: FOPOS – 609-921-2772

SUCCESS!! 20 MORE ACRES ON THE RIDGE PRESERVED

SUCCESS!! 20 MORE ACRES ON THE RIDGE PRESERVED

 

                At Princeton Council’s February 8th meeting at 11 p.m., before a room filled with supporters of protecting the Princeton Ridge, Councilwoman Jo Butler added her vote to those of Council members Heather Howard, Jenny Crumiller and Lance Liverman to pass the bond issue needed to close the deal for 20 acres between Mt. Lucas Road and Route 206.  The acreage is contiguous with substantial existing preserved open space, and provides a critical east-west link on the Ridge, which is so important to wildlife habitat, water quality and flood protection as well as carbon sequestration.  

                The large Council chamber was filled with environmental and open space advocates, from young Sonja Michaluk, who came with her dad and explained about the importance of vernal pools on the site to wildlife and the impact of development on water quality (she’s been doing testing on the Ridge for three years); to folks in their sixties, seventies and eighties who recalled past critical decisions to preserve land and how much it meant to them; to members of the Citizens Finance Advisory Committee; to two former mayors.  The Director of Statewide Land Acquisition for New Jersey Conservation Foundation and the Executive Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association also came and spoke in support.  Not one person spoke against the proposed acquisition.  

                We are very grateful to all citizens and FOPOS members who came to the meeting and/or contacted Council members.  We also thank the many donors who enabled us to put $100,000 of private funds into this transaction, along with a $150,000 State Green Acres grant and a $500,000 grant from the Mercer County Open Space fund.  We thank the Council members who voted in support, and look forward to working with all Council members to address issues of how our Open Space Tax trust fund is used.

                This was a great win for Princeton! 

Author Scott McVay to Recount Tales of Encounters with Renowned Naturalists

Author Scott McVay to Recount Tales of Encounters with Renowned Naturalists

In his new book, Surprise Encounters with Artists and Scientists, Whales and Other Living Things, Princeton author Scott McVay offers 100+ vignettes of his encounters with some of the 20th century's greatest artistic and scientific minds. On Sunday, March 6, he will discuss selected stories from the book at the Mountain Lakes House in Princeton. The free event begins at 2PM and is hosted by the Friends of Princeton Open Space.

For this event, McVay has chosen to focus on stories of naturalists who, he says, have broadened and deepened our knowledge of the natural world and the fascinating creatures that inhabit it. In telling tales of his provocative encounters with biologist E.O. Wilson, birder Pete Dunne, and ornithologist Ted Parker, McVay says that he "seeks to suggest a larger context for the important ongoing work of the Friends of Princeton Open Space." He'll also tell tales of natural wonders such as the fidelity of bottlenose dolphins and a parrot that knows--and uses conversationally--more than 2,000 English words.

Drawing on his experience as the founding executive director of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, as well as the 16th president of the Chautauqua Institution, McVay's stories also convey the challenge of placing funds strategically in education, the arts, critical issues, and the welfare of animals.

 

The Mountain Lakes House is located at 57 Mountain Avenue in Princeton. A reception and book signing will follow the reading.
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ABOUT FRIENDS OF PRINCETON OPEN SPACE (FOPOS): Founded in 1969, FOPOS is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization devoted to the following: In Princeton: Acquiring Open Space for Preservation, Protecting Natural Resources, Maintaining And Extending Trails And Providing Environmental Education. In The Princeton Region: Working With Other Groups To Support Efforts To Preserve And Protect Open Space And The Environment.

 

 

Announcement: 1st Annual Photo Contest Winners

Friends of Princeton Open Space would like to send out a big thank you to everyone who participated in our 1st annual Give Thanks to Nature Photo Contest and made it a great success.  We received some truly incredible photos from some long time friends and 1st time visitors, and the talents of our contestants were on full display!

Selecting the winners was no easy task for us, but in the end we decided on 3 standouts.  3rd place goes to Ira Gottlieb (Geese on the Dam).  2nd place goes to Linda Park (Mountain Lakes Sunset).  And 1st place goes to Frank Sauer (Thanksgiving Morning at Mountain Lakes).  The winning photos can be seen below.

Once again we would like to thank all of our contestants for their submissions, and we hope that all of you will compete for next year's prize.  And a special thank you to REI Princeton for donating the amazing gifts!

Click here to see all of the contest entries

Come Join Us On January 16 For A Winter Walk!

Welcome Winter Walk at Mountain Lakes Preserve

 

 Saturday, January 16, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Adults and Families (children 5yo+)

Join this family-friendly morning walk at the Mountain Lakes Preserve in Princeton, exploring the wonders of the natural world in winter. The Friends of Princeton Open Space welcome Jeff Hoagland, Education Director and Naturalist at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association to lead this revealing annual walk. Discover the unique survival strategies of local plants and animals from milkweed to red oak and meadow vole to robin. Learn where animals store food and how they survive the season’s relentless chill. If weather permits, we will play the ‘Hibernation Game’. Dress warmly, boots are recommended, and bring your sense of wonder.  Please register in advance at 609-737-7592 or bnc@thewatershed.org. This program is cosponsored by the Washington Crossing Audubon Society.