Dear Friends:
We want you to know that once again, despite the problems caused by the COVID virus, we’ve been able to make the last year an incredibly productive one. Here are some of the things FOPOS has achieved:
We succeeded, with other non-profits and the town of Princeton, in reaching agreement with the owner to preserve the largest remaining undeveloped tract of land in Princeton. FOPOS will be contributing $445,000 In Green Acres grants, $2.5 million in County funding it secured on behalf of the preservation partners, and private funds it helped raise, towards the $8.8 million purchase price of this magnificent 153-acre old-growth forest.
We completed the planting of 8,000 native trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials in our 18-acre forest restoration project area at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve. In addition to support from the State Green Acres program and multiple private entities, FOPOS was able to tap our loyal volunteers for over 3,000 hours of work.
We obtained a grant and contributed funding for a series of events at Mountain Lakes Preserve designed to attract members of Princeton’s communities of color. Led by two women who grew up in Princeton’s Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, the events had high attendance and got great reviews from participants (who came from all age groups).
We completed cleanup and repairs to trails damaged by Tropical Storm Isaias, and have started to address the problems created by Ida. Volunteers will assist with repairs to the long wooden bridge at Mountain Lakes, and also with the severe damage to the Stony Brook Trail.
We partnered with the town to obtain a New Jersey Historic Trust grant of almost $400,000 to repair the crumbling historic stone bridge over which horse drawn carts once hauled ice blocks from Mountain Lake to customers throughout the community.
We trained summer interns in ecological management techniques, organized an exhibition of photos from our annual photography contest at Small World/Witherspoon, and hosted a second popular Oktoberfest event at Mountain Lakes House.
We continued successful relationships with entities like Princeton University, REI, Munich Reinsurance America, Princeton Public Library, Sustainable Princeton, the Garden Club of Princeton, Princeton University Press and more to help us achieve our goals.
We started work to restore ecological health and beauty to the areas along the shores of Mountain Lake and the feeder and outlet streams in Mountain Lakes Preserve, by hand-removing invasive species and planting species native to this ecosystem.
All of these things are achieved with the support of our loyal supporters. We hope you’ll agree that these accomplishments deserve your support. And don’t forget to ask a friend to be a Friend!
Warm regards,
Wendy L. Mager
FOPOS President