photo credit (above): Arjun Agarwal
Call For Land Stewards!
Join the Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) for a volunteer session in the great outdoors! Volunteers will work under the guidance of FOPOS’s Director of Natural Resources and Stewardship to assist with a variety of conservation projects at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.
September 2021 marks the completion of the Forest Restoration Project with 8,000+ native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants installed across the 18-acre site. A big thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped to plant, cage, weed, mulch, and battle invasive species!
Fall Volunteer Dates:
*Please complete and bring this waiver form with you*
Saturday
Oct 30 | 9am-noon
Oct 30 | 1pm-4pm
Saturday
November 6 | 9am-noon
November 6 | 1pm-4pm
Saturday
November 20 | 9am-noon
November 20 | 1pm-4pm
Join our team and dig into our new project: Riparian Restoration Project: Help Restore the Lakeshore. Volunteers will work under the guidance of FOPOS’ stewardship staff to identify and remove target invasive species from the northern bank of Mountain Lake using pruners, loppers, and hand saws. We will also plant natives and install protective deer-exclusion caging. Invasive shrubs, such as Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) and burning bush (Euonymus alatus), will be replaced with native species including viburnums, dogwoods, and oaks.
Native plants support hundreds of insects that fuel the food chain, and provide high quality habitat for a diversity of wildlife. For instance, in the fall and winter months, the berries of native shrubs, such as silky dogwood (Cornus amomum), offer excellent nutrition to migrating and overwintering songbirds in the form of fats, proteins and antioxidants.
Riparian areas play an important role in improving 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 NJ. Riparian areas also provide critical habitat for birds, insects, and aquatic life.
BYO: If you are not yet vaccinated for COVID-19, please bring a mask. Be sure to BYO water bottle and work gloves to the stewardship sessions. For work days we recommend wearing long sleeves, long pants, and work boots/sneakers--this will best protect you from thorns, ticks, and poison ivy. We ask that if you are feeling sick, have traveled, or have potentially been exposed to the COVID-19 virus, to please stay home and join us at another time. PLEASE COMPLETE THIS WAIVER FORM AND BRING WITH YOU.
Meeting Location: We meet at the Mountain Lake House Parking lot, 57 Mountain Ave, Princeton NJ, and then walk over to the project site as a group. Be sure to drive down the long paved driveway entrance to the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, marked by a series of white mail boxes, the gravel parking lot is on your left about a 1/2 mile down the driveway. _______________________
If you are unable to attend and would like to join our volunteer list, please email info@fopos.org with “VOLUNTEER” in the subject line.
Looking to volunteer as a group? Families, students, community / corporate groups, please email info@fopos.org with “VOLUNTEER” in the subject line.
If you have an interest in spending time in the outdoors, enjoying nature, and making a difference in your community, please contact us to get involved in one of the following activities:
Trail Building: Help create and maintain hiking trails for the community to enjoy! Join us on most weekends to clear paths, build boardwalks and stream crossings, and improve access to the Preserve’s 8 miles of hiking trails.
Ecological Restoration: Join our Natural Resource Manager to restore Mountain Lakes’ ecological communities. Help control invasive species, plant beneficial trees and wildflowers, and improve wildlife habitat.
Friends of Princeton Open Space relies on the help of volunteers to complete our ambitious goals. Throughout all four seasons, FOPOS has regular volunteer work days as well as scheduled corporate volunteer days.
Volunteer tasks include, but are not limited to trail clearing and construction, building boardwalks to increase accessibility, removing invasive plant species, and planting native, beneficial plants.
If you are interested in becoming a FOPOS Volunteer, please fill out the form below.
Corporate Volunteer Group Registration
We also ask that you fill out a volunteer waiver form, which can be found here.