Since 1969, your generous support has fueled our success. Read Friends of Princeton Open Space’s annual membership letter to see how your contributions are driving vital conservation efforts, from habitat restoration to mentoring young environmental leaders. Help us make even greater strides in 2025.
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.
We’re thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s photo contest. While it’s never easy to choose, we think these top three are pretty outstanding.
The past twelve months have been filled with new projects and new achievements for Friends of Princeton Open Space that advance our mission to preserve and care for open space, educate the public on environmental issues, and advocate for sound governmental decisions. Here’s some of what we’ve accomplished with your support.
After 3 weeks of photography and submissions, the results are in! We had 41 photos submitted and much deliberation was required. Thank you to everyone who participated. Below are the three winning photos.
Third Place, Lake Foliage by Niels Kistrup
Second Place, Spring Overflow by Jennifer Driscoll
First Place, Bridge Vista by Monika Reimitz
Sunday, December 10 and Sunday, December 17
1PM to 4PM
Mountain Lakes House
57 Mountain Avenue
Princeton
As you enjoy the miles of wooded trails in the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, Friends of Princeton Open Space invites you to stop by Mountain Lakes House to warm up with cider and treats! Stop in anytime between 1PM and 4PM on Sunday, December 10 and Sunday, December 17
Welcome Winter Walk in Princeton Saturday, January 6th
9:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Adults and Families with children ages 5 and up. Fee per person: $5.00
Join this annual tradition with Education Director Jeff Hoagland of the Watershed Center, on a morning walk at the Mountain Lakes Preserve in Princeton to explore the wonders of the natural world in winter. Discover the unique survival strategies of local plants and animals, learn where animals store food and how they survive the season’s relentless chill. Dress warmly, boots are recommended. Presented in partnership with The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.
Friends of Princeton Open Space and REI are encouraging the Princeton Community to OptOutside and enjoy nature this Thanksgiving weekend. Plan a visit to Mountain Lakes Preserve on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday and bring your camera to participate in the 3rd annual FOPOS Give Thanks for Nature Photo Contest.
Take your best shot of all that Mountain Lakes Preserve has to offer, and submit your photo for a chance to win an REI gift card!
Mountain Lakes Preserve is located at 57 Mountain Ave, Princeton, NJ 08203. Contestants can park at the Community Park North parking lot.
Files must be in JPG format. Any aspect ratio is acceptable, but please size the file so that the longest dimension is 1500 pixels and set the quality to “high.”
Filenames MUST include your name brief description of picture:
For example: if your name is Joe Smith and you are submitting a photo of an oak tree, you might name your file:
JoeSmith-Oak tree.jpg
DO NOT send files with your camera's default filename!
In order to ensure anonymous judging, please include no signatures or watermarks that would reveal the name of the photographer on the photo itself.
Entries must be submitted by midnight, Friday December 8th. Please e-mail jpeg files to info@fopos.org, with Photo Contest in the subject line.
The photographer retains full copyright to his or her images. However, participation in the contest requires the contestant to give Friends of Princeton Open Space permission to use the photographs without compensation on the website as well as in news releases which may appear in print or on third party websites for the purpose of publicizing the contest. Friends of Princeton Open Space will always include the photographer's name when using a photograph for any purpose.
New Jersey has tremendous natural and geographical resources. Its abundance of clean water, wildlife, and forests, its network of rivers, and convenient location between two of the largest cities in the U.S. makes New Jersey a natural a center for manufacturing & business. With these attractive assets comes a history of industrialization. With industry comes pollution, through major spills and pollutants left behind in the environment. New Jersey’s natural resources belong to all of us. When they are polluted, damages must be paid.
New Jersey’s history of industrialization has resulted in some of the strongest anti-pollution laws in the country, which hold companies responsible for cleaning up industrial pollution, as well as compensating communities for actions that damaged the environment. Payments assessed against polluters to compensate for injury to and lost use of the environment are known as Natural Resource Damages.
New Jersey’s Natural Resource Damages program requires polluters to pay the state for lost use and restoration of natural resources, such as wildlife, habitat, water, or wetlands, due to pollution. For example, the waterfront park in Newark along the Passaic River and dam removals to restore fish passage along the Raritan River were funded with Natural Resource Damages. These restoration payments are separate from cleanup costs.
Natural Resource Damages are incredibly important for assisting communities that have sustained sudden, unanticipated pollution spills or have suffered ongoing toxic discharges, sometimes for generations. These funds help them recover. But recently, Natural Resource Damages have been raided from the communities that deserve them and redirected to balance the state budget. Many polluted communities are disproportionately urban and low-income. Many impacted communities, such as Newark, Elizabeth, Camden and Linden also have limited outdoor recreational opportunities.
The New Jersey Legislature have placed a proposed constitutional amendment to dedicate moneys from environmental contamination cases to natural resource restoration on the November 7, 2017, ballot. If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment will:
Repair, replace and restore damaged natural resources;
Preserve New Jersey’s natural resources; and
Pay the legal costs for environmental contamination claims.
On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, New Jersey voters will be asked:
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT DEDICATING MONEYS FROM STATE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION CASES
Do you approve amending the Constitution to dedicate all moneys collected by the State relating to natural resource damages in cases of contamination of the environment? The moneys would have to be used to repair, restore, replace, or preserve the State’s natural resources. The moneys may also be used to pay legal or other costs incurred by the State in pursuing its claims.
Interpretative statement:
This amendment would dedicate moneys collected by the state relating to Natural Resource Damages through settlements or awards for legal claims based on environmental contamination. These moneys would be dedicated to repair, replace, or restore damaged natural resources, or to preserve the state’s natural resources. The moneys would be spent in an area as close as possible to the geographical area in which the damage occurred. The moneys could also be used to pay for the state’s legal or other costs in pursuing the claims. Currently, these moneys may be used for any state purpose.
