Each year, Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) provides internships for young people actively pursuing a degree or career in ecology, natural resource management, environmental education, or related fields. FOPOS’s 2023 Land Steward Interns – Nick Cento, Tina Kulick, and Esteban Mendez – are college students and recent graduates from across the mid-Atlantic region. Working with Anna Corichi, FOPOS’s Director of Natural Resources and Stewardship, they are helping to restore our local forests and native habitats here at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve. The interns have also led engaging nature walks and volunteer stewardship events for the public. Learn more about our intern program online: fopos.org/landsteward-intern.

Read on for more programming and event highlights…

We’re thrilled to have partnered with the Municipality, the Watershed Institute, the Ridgeview Conservancy, Mercer County, the State’s Green Acres Program and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation to preserve a 153-acre mature forest in the northwest corner of town.

In 2020 volunteers helped to plant nearly 3,000 native trees and shrubs within the 18-acre Forest Restoration Project site located at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.

In this difficult time, it’s been wonderful to see how many people have found a place for outdoor activity and mental solace at the Mountain Lakes recreation area.