Dear Friend:
2025 has been a stellar year for FOPOS’s impact on the health of our ecosystem and for our volunteer conservation work. We’ve expanded our educational offerings with new programs, completed and adopted a new strategic plan, moved forward our major restoration projects, and made our Program Coordinator a full-time employee. It’s been a busy year!
PRESERVATION OF 90 ACRES ON HERRONTOWN ROAD
We look forward to a closing on another critical large tract on the Princeton Ridge – 90 acres on the north side of Herrontown Road, adjacent to Herrontown Woods Preserve. Friends of Princeton Open Space is contributing $390,000 of State Green Acres grant funding plus a private gift of $1 million towards the acquisition of this land, which was subject to intense development pressure before a preservation agreement was reached with the Municipality, FOPOS, and other non-profit partners. State grants to the consortium, County grants to the Municipality, our local open space tax and other private funds are all helping secure this important link in the forested tracts on Princeton’s perimeter, which provide important environmental services such as slowing stormwater runoff and habitat for threatened species.
Read on for more programming and event highlights…
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.
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.
FOPOS provides Internships for young people actively pursuing a degree or career in ecology, natural resource management, environmental education, or related fields. Each summer, FOPOS welcomes a roster of budding naturalists to work with our Stewardship Team and interface with volunteer groups and our community. Read more about FOPOS's Internship program. FOPOS is also proud to offer Internships to high school students in partnership with the Outdoor Equity Alliance. Thank you to FOPOS's partners and friends for helping to make these Internships possible.
Please meet the 2023 Land Steward Interns…
Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) in partnership with D&R Greenway Trust, is seeking two Stewardship Interns for summer 2019. The interns will work under the supervision of stewardship staff, assisting in the day-to-day activities of managing open space on preserved properties in Princeton, NJ.
Long-time FOPOS board member and trustee emeritus Helmut Schwab turned 90 on January 5th, and the Board takes this occasion to congratulate and thank him. Helmut has been a thoughtful, innovative and generous supporter of Friends of Princeton Open Space, and a true friend to the cause of environmental protection. Among his many accomplishments over the years are the following:
Conservation Easement on the lands of the Institute for Advanced Study:
When the Institute made known its desire to develop its land along Quaker Road, Helmut showed his tremendous ability to organize and motivate people. He quickly set up a meeting at his home of a group of interested parties, which included people with knowledge in many pertinent fields, and developed strategies for channeling their expertise into coordinated action to protect all of the Institute’s lands apart from the core campus. Later, once FOPOS, the Watershed Institute, D&R Greenway, the town and the state reached the framework of an agreement with the Institute, Helmut tirelessly prodded friends, neighbors and acquaintances to donate money to purchase the development rights. Of course, he and his wife Eva were also generous donors.
FOPOS Trail Linkages Initiative:
Helmut was instrumental in organizing an initiative to link Princeton’s open spaces through a system of trails running between the parks. He devised exploratory trail route assignments for other board members and pressed them to think of ways of linking existing open spaces and to anticipate where trail connections could be made in the future. Helmut then helped put those reports together into a cohesive plan.
The Stony Brook Trail and Footbridge:
Responding to the almost fantastical suggestion (or so it seemed) that a pedestrian bridge could provide the critical link in a Stony Brook trail from Rosedale Road to Route 206/Stockton Street, Helmut took it upon himself to make it real. He harnessed a Princeton University engineering professor who tasked his students with formulating a design, and followed up with a tempest of presentations, phone calls and email lobbying of Princeton Township officials. Helmut also helped to fund work on a trail from Rosedale Road to the bridge, and helped to get the Hun School on board with a spur of the trail coming through their campus.
Advocacy:
Over the years, Helmut has written many letters to the editor on environmental (and other) issues, sometimes on behalf of FOPOS and sometimes on his own behalf. These were often bold and even courageous pieces that prodded the community to think harder, or in a different way, about open space and quality-of-life matters here. By his respectful and well-reasoned approach, Helmut helped move public opinion in a positive direction.
Happy birthday, Helmut, good Friend of Princeton Open Space!
Wendy Mager, FOPOS board president, and Helmut Scwab on the Stony Brook footbridge
Wombat surveillance, Snowy Mountains ‘The Snowies’, Australia
We are excited to welcome Anna Corichi as our new Natural Resources Manager as of December, 2018. Anna is a restoration ecologist and New Jersey native, with experience in the redesign, restoration and management of landscapes that have been negatively impacted by invasive species and other factors. Anna comes to us from the private sector, having worked for an ecologically focused landscape design/build company from its founding in 2014. Anna is skilled in ecological monitoring and surveying for pests such as the emerald ash borer, as well as in managing affected forest areas. She received her B.S. from Oberlin College with majors in Biology and Environmental Studies, and during her studies worked with the National Parks and Wildlife agency in Cairns, Australia studying wombats and other herbivores! Anna is looking forward to working on our 18-acre forest restoration project on the west side of Mountain Lake.
If you are interested in volunteering with Anna and FOPOS, please email info@fopos.org.
Many invasive plants, such as this Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), have a photosynthetic advantage over our native trees and shrubs. While most native plants are dormant, this invasive vine continues to produce and store energy throughout the winter season.
As you enjoy the miles of wooded trails in the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, Friends of Princeton Open Space invites you to their annual Holiday Open House at the Mountain Lakes House to warm up with cider, treats and a holiday themed art activity. Stop in anytime between 1PM and 3PM. This family-friendly event is free and open to everyone.
Sunday, December 16, 1-3PM
57 Mountain Avenue
Princeton, New Jersey
While this event is free, please consider pre-registering to help us plan for attendance. For information about Friends of Princeton Open Space, please visit fopos.org. For questions about this event, please email info@fopos.org.
