Join the Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) for a volunteer land stewardship session on Saturday, August 9th, from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Volunteers will work under the guidance of the FOPOS stewardship staff to perform ecological restoration work and invasive species removal in the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.

What to expect: Our volunteer sessions start with a short presentation about the scope of work for the day. We will then walk to the project site. Volunteers will learn to identify and remove invasive plants. The stewardship skills learned at these sessions can easily be applied to restoring habitat in your own backyard.

Why this work is important: The current focus is the 25-acre riparian restoration project that buffers Mountain Lake and portions of its feeder streams. Riparian areas play an essential role in protecting water quality by slowing down stormwater and filtering out pollutants before they enter the water system. Water that flows through Mountain Lakes Park ultimately finds its way into the Raritan River, an important drinking water source for central New Jersey. Riparian areas also provide critical habitat for birds, insects, and aquatic life.

Meetup Location: Mountain Lakes House Parking Lot

Directions & Parking: We will meet at the Mountain Lake House parking lot, located within the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve. Here is a link to the parking lot location on Google Maps & Apple Maps. The address of the Preserve is 57 Mountain Avenue, Princeton, NJ 08540; this will bring you to the entrance of the Preserve, not our meet-up location. To get to the Mountain Lakes House parking lot, look for the white gate along Mountain Avenue, marked by a series of black mailboxes along the road. Drive slowly down the long paved driveway. The gravel parking lot will be on your left, approximately 1/2 mile down the driveway.

Event waiver: Please complete this event waiver - fopos.org/waiver. This needs to be completed once per calendar year.

Sign up for this session via Eventbrite.

Looking to register for multiple volunteer sessions this season? Register HERE.