George S. Hawkins, Executive Director of New Jersey Future, will be the speaker at the Annual meeting of Friends of Princeton Open Space on Sunday, June 4, 2006 at 3:00 PM. The title of his talk is "Preservation and Prosperity: Open Space in the Worlds of Cowboys and Spacemen".

George will step back and look at open space preservation from two frameworks: the drive to support the prosperity of New Jersey, and the changing sense that Americans have about private property and resource use. He bases this talk on lectures from his popular course at Princeton University, and on a platform that New Jersey Future developed for the 2005 gubernatorial campaign. He believes that the role of open space preservation is changing in New Jersey, and across the country. Come and listen, ponder and question.

New Jersey Future, located in Trenton, was founded to achieve smart growth: growth that contributes to New Jersey's economy without taking away its last open spaces. New Jersey Future focuses on five major issues: strengthening the influence of the New Jersey's State Plan to govern the future landscape; reforming property taxes to reduce the incentives for sprawl; implementing laws and practices to strengthen existing neighborhoods; conserving open lands and natural places to protect the environment; and, encouraging more transportation choices to make it easier to get around within the state. New Jersey Future fulfills its mission through original research, policy analysis, public education and advocacy. Additional information can be found on New Jersey Future's website http://www.njfuture.org.

George Hawkins first came to New Jersey to become the Executive Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, a position he held from 1997 to 2004. During his tenure, he developed a program to protect environmental quality through managing the future of the land. This effort includes working directly with municipalities to improve local zoning, working with businesses to improve environmental practices, and working with citizens to improve local knowledge and civic participation. George oversaw an Association that quintupled in size to a staff of 30, over 1,000 volunteers and a combined budget of more than $1.8 million.

Prior to coming to New Jersey, Hawkins was a member of the National Performance Review, a White House Office. He was responsible for regulatory improvements at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and OSHA. He held a series of positions at U.S. EPA's regional office in Boston, including Special Assistant to the Regional Administrator and Senior Assistant Regional Counsel. Before joining government, Mr. Hawkins was an associate lawyer at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray. Hawkins received a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1987 and an A.B. summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1983. He is a member of the bar in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Since 1999, Hawkins has been a Lecturer in the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he teaches environmental law and policy for the Princeton Environmental Institute.

The meeting will be held at the Mountain Lakes House, located in the Mountain Lakes Nature Reserve on Mountain Avenue (just off Route 206) in Princeton Township.

George Hawkins will speak after a very brief business meeting at which new trustees will be elected. Refreshments will be served. The meeting is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested by May 31. RSVP to Friends of Princeton Open Space: 609-921-2772 or P.O. Box 374, Princeton NJ 08542

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