Archive for the ‘Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association’ Category
Coursing Waters, Brenda Jones The most impactful response I have seen to Hurricane Irene comes from Jim Waltman, Executive Director of the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. Since 1949, this farsighted, crusading organization has assiduously and effectively taught us about the power, importance and threatened condition of water in our region. They have taken giant steps at every possible level to safeguard our waterways. Now, due to accelerated climate change, it could be seen as ironic that Jim has to teach us how to protect ourselves from water! I wrote Jim Waltman, immediately upon seeing his “Lessons from Hurricane Irene” in a number of print publications. He graciously gave me permission to share it with NJ WILD readers here and abroad. At the last tally, people are reading of nature in our region in ninety countries. Jim and the Watershed Association are masters at communication, so it is an honor to be able to extend their reach somewhat on this urgent issue. With Jim Waltman’s kind permission. [bolds mine cfe]
Your water. Your environment. Your voice.
Lessons from Hurricane Irene
A message from the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association By: Jim Waltman, Executive Director By any measure, Hurricane Irene was a monster. Like much of New Jersey, our watershed was hammered by rain, wind, power outages and flooding. Damages from flooding occurred in almost every corner of our 265-square-mile watershed, and in all 26 towns within our region of central New Jersey. The boroughs were hit particularly hard, with large portions of Manville, Millstone and Hightstown under literally feet of water. The Millstone River and Stony Brook both reached all-time record high levels in various places, each merging with the Delaware & Raritan Canal for a portion of their journeys, and numerous lakes spilled over their banks. Our hearts go out to the thousands of people who lost property, businesses or, worst of all, loved ones in this storm.
Normal Autumn Waters, Brenda Jones As we near the end of yet another wet week, those of us at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, central New Jersey’s first environmental group, feel an even greater than usual urgency. While Hurricane Irene was a true “outlier,” –an enormous storm that would have caused massive flooding and damage no matter what we did to prevent it–, climate scientists are telling us that our region is most likely going to continue to get wetter and wetter (except of course during periods of prolonged drought, which are also likely to become more severe). This means that, –unless we change our mindset, behaviors and policies–, we may be living our future. However, hope is not lost. Together we can make a difference: First, we need to stop making the problem worse. Ill-conceived developments near streams and within wetlands, not only damage our supply of clean water and destroy important wildlife habitat, they also dramatically increase the risk of flood damage to homes and businesses.
‘Our’ Towpath After an August Deluge cfe Since 1949, the Watershed Association has sought to reverse that tide. In Cranbury, we are working closely with the Township Committee, Planning Board and Environmental Commission to secure a new ordinance to prohibit new development and [prevent] the clearing of native vegetation near streams. We are working with Hopewell Township to secure a new ordinance to protect our forests, which help absorb and slowly release rain and snow, and hold soil in place with deep root systems that stabilize streambanks and reduce erosion. We also need to recommit ourselves to preserving open space along stream corridors and steep slopes as a means of both reducing floodwaters and keeping people out of harm’s way from future Irenes.
Water Fury, Brenda Jones Second, we need to start fixing the mistakes of the past. Developments built before any significant regulation to contain stormwater can be retrofitted to retain runoff and allow it to percolate into our water supply. For example, the redevelopment of the Princeton Junction train station in West Windsor offers the opportunity to fix flooding issues there caused by acres and acres of impervious paved parking.
Peaceful Skies, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association Trail Walk, cfe
In nearby Princeton we are working to investigate what can be done to reduce the flooding of Harry’s Brook. It’s not too late to correct past mistakes. We also need to recognize that it makes sense to move or remove some structures that were built near water bodies and have been repeatedly damaged by flooding. The state’s “Blue Acres” program, a cousin of the more familiar Green Acres Program, provides funding to purchase such flood prone properties. With bold action, we can prevent unmitigated development from contaminating and depleting our surface and ground water, and creating additional flood hazards. We wish those still suffering the aftermath of Hurricane Irene a quick and full recovery. Interviews with Executive Director Jim Waltman are available upon request. gmcnamara@thewatershed.org to arrange an interview.
The Hobbit Tree - Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association Trail Walk cfe The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association is central New Jersey’s first environmental group, protecting clean water and the environment through conservation, advocacy, science and education.
See new information re “Living Our Future” from Jim Waltman of Stony Brook Millstone Watershed below…
Floodwaters, Brenda Jones If the Weather Channel promulgates that calumny one more time, I may do what a most respected male friend admitted today - yell at the television. HURRICANE IRENE AND OTHERS ARE NOT TO BE BLAMED UPON SO-CALLED MOTHER NATURE. RATHER, UPON EMISSIONS, CO2, BURNING FOSSIL FUELS, AND OTHER EUPHEMISMS FOR HUMAN GREED. On CNN, of all places, just before Irene’s debut in our neighborhood, I heard a geologist (don’t ask me why they chose that field to discuss the ways of water and wind) answer, simply, almost abruptly, “Well, of course, hurricanes are intensified because of the increasing temperature of the waters due to climate change.” This is not NEWS to NJ WILD readers. You’ve ‘heard’ me over and over again linking melting glaciers to increased seawater quantities and depths; decreased sea temperatures and therefore altered currents; increased water vapor; increased intensities of weather, and the worst of this at the poles. All of this fuels wild weather. OK, it’s a royal pain cleaning up after Irene. All I can say is, get used to it. And start investing in sustainability and green technology, (which could also help heal the economy), while you’re at it. I kept a semi-journal, first by lamplight, then by lanternlight. I did not go out in the storm with my trusty camera. When I can bring myself to relive those lengthening hours, I may share them with NJ WILD. Memories are, frankly, turgid. Waters the color of cafe au lait surged across our Canal Road, scouring the woods as they roared halfway up our steep driveway. Power was out for nearly 24 hours; no television for days; no internet until nearly the week anniversary of Irene. Some memories are deeply tragic. I mourn the loss of that devoted EMT young man, on Rosedale Road’s bridge right below D&R Greenway Land Trust, where I work. My heart and prayers are with his family every time I drive that road, and whenever I see his smiling face in any of our newspapers or on-line services. These recurrent, exacerbated and exacerbating storms are no light matter. Do not fall for the ploys of any media, least of all the Weather Channel, so eager to lay blame for storm damage at the feet of “Mother Nature.” Heed not the similar ploys of politicians. Let’s be very clear about the increasingly severe results of ceaseless emissions, of using the verb “believe” in connection with catastrophic climate change, with science itself. FROM MY FRIEND JIM WALTMAN OF THE STONY BROOK MILLSTONE WATERSHED ASSOCIATION - HE’S BEEN PREACHING ALONG THESE LINES FAR LONGER, AND MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN I. HEED JIM: [bolds mine... cfe]
‘The Hobbit Tree’ at Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Preserve –trail recently walked with Sophie Glovier and Bentley Drezner–
by photographer/fellow hiker that day: Mike Klein
MEET AUTHOR of BOOK CELEBRATING TRAILS ON PRESERVED LANDS IN OUR REGION When Stuart Country Day School holds its Book Fair, November 10, Princetonians may stop by, BETWEEN ONE AND THREE p.m., to chat with author Sophie Glovier about her best-selling new compact guide to 16 trails on preserved land in our region. Designed to fit comfortably in cargo pants pockets, without shortening our stride, Sophie’s brilliant guide is now in its third printing since its April launch. Photographer Bentley Drezner has immortalized alluring scenes of each of the 16 trails, in clever scenes that may be removed from the book to send to distant friends to convince them of the beauty of New Jersey.
The book’s thrust is to encourage everyone to get OUT there in the beauty in our own back yards, not only for health and fitness, but to appreciate and therefore preserve what’s left of nature in our beleaguered state.
Hikers of All Ages on Hobbit Tree Trail with Sophie, Bentley and 2 Allisons - Naturalists by photographer Mike Klien Here’s your chance to buy this treasure for ideal gifts for neighbors, friends and family who have everything. It costs a mere $20. While at the Stuart Book Fair, feel free to ask Sophie pertinent questions such as favorite treks, best for children, and the like. Guide-Michelin-like icons alert you to trails suitable for strollers, for pets, time of hike, and so forth. Profits are split among three local non-profits: D&R Greenway Land Trust (where I work - no secret); Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association; and Friends of Princeton Open Space.
Left to Right, Designer Maria Lindenfeldar; author Sophie Glovier; Photographer, Bentley Drezner For all my constant hikes, Sophie’s books reveals entries I do not know, setting up quests new to me, such as the Hobbit Tree Trail at the Stony Brook. At the end of that hike with Sophie recently:
Mike Klein captures sensitivity of the banding process One of the joys of walking trails in and around Princeton is that surprises materialize at every turn. At the end of Sophie’s and Bentley’s “Hobbit Tree Hike” at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed recently, photographer Mike Klein captured naturalist, Allison’s tender hands, in the process of banding a feisty monarch, ready willing and able to fly directly SOUTH upon release!
Mike Klein’s image of butterfly, band in place, ‘ready to roll!’
Ready to Roam – Young Monarch on the ‘Eve’ of Migration
Making the World Safe for Butterflies - the Kate Gorrie Butterfly House at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association Two Allisons are naturalists with the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. Educated and experienced in the wild and wildness, they can identify the age of butterflies inside Kate Gorrie Butterfly House: “Third generation, all they want to do is mate. Fourth generation, LEAVE!” This Monarch, above, a fourth-year, is electrifyingly ready to roam. [http://www.thewatershed.org/] I was blessed to be at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association last weekend to hike to the Hobbit Tree with author, Sophie Glovier; photographer, Bentley Dresdner, of “Walk the Trails in and Around Princeton”. This compact guidebook to 16 trails upon preserved land, features the Hobbit Tree, to which we headed on a blustery, overcast morning.
There was an Allison at both the head and the tail of our trail queue, –each a naturalist, each brimful of energy and enthusiasm. A few nights before our trek, one of the Allisons had harvested the wine-red berries of trailside autumn olive trees. A vigorous (seemingly malevolent) invasive species, seeds inside those berries can leap from sprout to tree in one summer. With no natural enemies to compete, autumn olives out nourish themselves, outgrow and therefore shade grasses and flowers that belong in our meadows. Including those wildflowers which shelter and sustain butterflies. Eating the berries, and/or making a tart and gemlike jam of them and discarding the berries, as Allison did, keeps that many bird-fertilized seeds from germination. People of all ages were on that walk, and all were full of questions. The Allisons had answers for most, manifesting eagerness to find answers for the others (mostly mushrooms, in this rainy summer). At the end of our journey, sharp autumn sun welcomed us out of the woods and into a meadow studded with dark purple New York asters and gold-glimmering goldenrod. The fulness of these two species sent the two Allisons into rapture. “Asters and goldenrod!,” they exclaimed, like teens over a rock star. “What does that mean?”, they asked us - and we had no idea beyond beauty. “Monarch migration!”
New York Aster and Goldenrod
Kate’s Welcome Sign
Kate Gorrie’s Memorial Butterfly House and Sky So they took us into the Kate Gorrie Butterfly House, identifying winged miracles large and small. They amazed us with the age/interest connection among the monarchs. Out came a butterfly net, supple and soft, yet right out of a cartoon or a caricature. With a deft twist of her young wrist, Allison 1 (who had headed the walk) scooped the most energetic orange and black butterfly from the ceiling into its pale folds. Current Residents List
Alison 2 (tail of the walk, the jam-maker) had pen, paper and near-weightless tags ready. The tag would go onto a non-primary wing, where it wouldn’t interfere with flight. Its number and the fact that ‘our’ monarch was male - identified by two pheromone dark spots on certain wings, would be noted, and the date of release. It was as hushed as first communion in Kate’s memorial shrine.
At D&R Greenway Land Trust, I am blessed to work with Meg Gorrie, Kate’s mother. Volunteers Meg and Tom both contribute so much to nature at D&R Greenway and at the Stony Brook. Their daughter, Kate, a Hun student fascinated with nature, perished in a car driven by a friend, who had swerved to avoid a deer.
Kate’s Trail for us and the Butterfly House for the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, keep Kate’s memory and her passion for nature alive among family, friends and strangers, to this day and beyond. New life takes place because of the death of young Kate.
Statue, Child with Butterfly, in Bee Balm Appropriately reverent, the Hobbit-quest group followed the two Alisons outside. The pictures tell all but the end of the story. Departure was completely up to our orange and black hero. He’d spent four years in that house, and yet, right after the final picture, up up and away! DUE SOUTH. Toward Mexico. Unerringly. With amazing energy, considering that butterflies don’t like cold, are known to consider the 70’s cold. It was barely 70. Yet instinct was fully operant. Kate’s monarch is on his way.
NJ WILD readers know that I ‘get on my high horse’ about preservation, stewardship, gardens with insect-friendly plants, native species, non-poisonous realms, (and you haven’t even heard me on genetically modified corn which contains a chemical that destroys the intestinal systems of caterpillars. Remember, this monarch was a caterpillar. My theory is that all this GURD, all these intestinal problems, acid reflux and the rest, which never existed in my childhood, is the result of human manipulations of natural systems. I’m on that ‘high horse’ for the sake of the monarchs. What will YOU do to make the world safe for butterflies?
BRENDA JONES’ EGRET WITH FROG IN PRINCETON’S ROGERS REFUGE REMINDS US OF NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY Well, NJ WILD Readers, You and I are not the only ones aware of National Public Lands Day. Think back to a year ago, and try to imagine these words flowing from the White House. Rejoice with me! (bolds mine, needless to say…) NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS RECOGNITION DAY, 2009 Borne out of a commitment to protect and preserve our natural treasures, America’s public lands are an indispensable component of American life. As we work to protect their integrity for future generations, vast expanses of land remain available for the use and enjoyment of all who visit them. Today, from the largest National Parks and Forests to neighborhood playgrounds and urban parks, 130,000 volunteers are working on over 2,000 public land improvement projects across the Nation. Committed individuals, including participants from schools and universities, private businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies, are continuing the American tradition of stewardship through their service. Dedicated to improving all aspects of our natural environment, this year’s Public Lands Day focuses on water. Across the country, volunteers are highlighting the need to protect our Nation’s water bodies by monitoring water quality in rivers and lakes, restoring wetlands, preventing stormwater runoff and erosion, cleaning up trash from shorelines, and learning techniques to conserve water at home. Public lands help preserve our Nation’s quality of life, offering fresh water, abundant natural resources, and educational and recreational opportunities. I was proud to sign the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to add to our Nation’s treasured landscapes and build on our rich history as guardians of our natural environment. Today, we affirm our resolve to conserve these cherished spaces for our enjoyment and for that of future generations. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 26, 2009, as National Public Lands Day. I invite all my fellow citizens to join me in a day of service for our public lands. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth. BARACK OBAMA (Original Post, pre-National-Public-Lands-Day) Dear NJ WILD Readers, You know my constant drive to expand awareness and protection of our land, especially its lakes, rivers, forests, coasts and trails. Tomorrow is National Public Lands Day. Going out INTO Nature with your friends and family will remind you of her peril at our hands, of the essentiality of open space. Public Lands are crucial for the plants and creatures who live there; for modulation and protection of our climate, air and water; and, –beyond even their blessings to human fitness–, public lands nourish the spirit. They MUST be preserved, for their own sakes, as well as for the well-being of our children’s children. You can go out to Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed tomorrow (see previous post) and walk with Sophie Glovier, author of “Walk the Trails In and Around Princeton”. You can log onto the Kingston Greenways web-site and join vital President, Tari Pantaleo, in service to the land. www.kingstongreenways.org You can kayak or canoe at Princeton Canoe and Kayak, off Alexander Road in Princeton. You can write checks to your local land trusts, such as D&R Greenway Land Trust, the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association and Friends of Princeton Open Space, Kingston Greenways, Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands. www.drgreenway.org From Kingston Greenways: NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY KGA WORK SESSION: Saturday, September 26, 1 to 4 PM Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands, Kingston Greenways Association, and the D&R Canal State Park will jointly sponsor a work session in the Mapleton Preserve. Meet at 145 Mapleton Road in Kingston, and choose the task that suits you. Litter removal, Vine clearing, Bamboo and brush cutting, Tree planting, Photo documentation Some tools available on site, but participants welcome to bring their own favorites. Work gloves, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and hats advised. For more information, contact tari, or call the Park at 924-5705. National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. In 2008, 120,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, removed trash and invasive plants and planted over 1.6 million trees. It keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the “tree army” that worked from 1933 to 1942 to preserve and protect America’s natural heritage. This annual event: * Educates Americans about critical environmental and natural resources issues and the need for shared stewardship of these irreplaceable lands; * Builds partnerships between the public sector and the local community based upon mutual interests in the enhancement and restoration of America’s public lands; * Improves public lands for outdoor recreation, with volunteers assisting land managers in hands-on work. To learn more, please visit http://www.publiclandsday.org/ You can write your senators and representatives, urging the protection of Mother Nature. One person does make a difference. “All that it takes for evil to happen is for good people to do nothing…” Here’s Defenders of Wildlife with their easy National Public Lands Day ritual - a hot link to reach politicians who hold our open land in their hands. Who counter the depredations of developers.
Book Designer, Author, Photographer - before Trail Guide’s ’succes fou, succes d’estime’ Authors may be ‘a dime a dozen’ in this town. Ah, but how many writers mid-April-published book has sold so fast, at so many Princeton sites, that its third printing has had to be rushed to merchants and non-profits on the heels of Labor Day? Those who have yet to purchase may walk to ‘the Hobbit tree’ with its creators this Saturday, and celebrate National Public Lands Day, at 10:30 a.m. at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. Sophie Glovier’s Walk the Trails In and Around Princeton is that book. Nearly 2000 volumes are in local hands, to the degree that D&R Greenway Land Trust had to print order forms for Walk the Trails in early August. This trail guide is unique not only in its convenient size, –fitting into a cargo pants pocket without interfering with our stride. Bentley Drezner’s handsome photographs appear as removable postcards, to be sent to distant friends, proving how beautiful New Jersey is. Above all, the book is a first in that it focuses (pun intended) on 16 trails in our region on preserved lands. The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed is one of three beneficiaries of Walk the Trails profits, and the books are back in stock there. Members and newcomers may join Sophie and Bentley at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed at 10:30 at the Watershed on Saturday. www.thewatershed.org Walk the Trails: Journey to the Hobbit Tree
Morven is the newest site for picking up Walk the Trails, which privilege Morven personnel requested. The books are always at D&R Greenway Land Trust (One Preservation Place, off Rosedale Road). Contacting D&R Greenway Land Trust, you may order and/or pick up the book - www.drgreenway.org, 609-924-4646. If mailed, postage and handling fees will apply. It’s back at Labyrinth Books (where for the first time in Dorothea von Moltke’s proprietary memory, the entire staff owned that Trail Guide within 24 hours of its arrival in that fine independent bookstore.) The audience learned of this ‘first’, earlier this summer, as Dorothea introduced Sophie and Bentley for their Presentation on the genesis of the book, revealing favorite walks. At the Princeton Shopping Center, both Jordan’s and BIue Ridge Mountain Sports see to it that Walk the Trails In and Around Princeton is available for shoppers. Sophie has signed and sold and led a Towpath Walk at Eno Terra with D&R Greenway Staff for one of their 20th birthday celebrations. She was kept busy signing and talking of preservation at West Windsor Farm Market on a recent Saturday morning; and at Chicklet Books on Sept. 18. Thursday October 1 will find Sophie and photographer Bentley Drezner at Barnes & Noble for New Authors’ Night, from 6 - 9 p.m. Profits are shared among ‘The Watershed’, D&R Greenway and Friends of Princeton Open Space. Over $6000 has already been transferred, although the wheels of the retailer grind slowly, recompense-wise, for these generous creators. Their mission above all is furthering appreciation, preservation and stewardship of New Jersey land in general, and the Princeton region in particular.
What Hurricane Bill Hath Wrought along Towpath below Alexander Road
When you awaken to the squabbling of ducks, you know there’s been a flood. At least that’s my Canal Pointe reality, where the catchment basin is the color of someone’s old cold coffee overfull of old cold milk. I had actually learned the truth about this weekend’s rain at 1:24 a.m., when a roar worthy of Niagara blasted me from sleep. I knew what it meant - the Millstone River had overflowed its banks again, luckily across the well-termed floodplain, over at the canal below Alexander. Hour after hour, I’d doze, then wake to torrents of sound.
GOLDENTHREAD OF EVENING, D&R CANAL One of my all-time favorite poems is Jane Kenyon’s “Let Evening Come.” When Evening Came tonight, I dug out some OLD hiking shoes, my trusty camera, a bottle of water (totally consumed, for the first time this summer, in all that heat and post-hurricane humidity), and headed out to see what Niagara had generated in the night.
Millstone, Flood-Dyed
Paddling in Flood-Time
Coreopsis After Flood Jane Kenyon had an indomitable spirit. She seemed the human embodiment of Mother Nature, Herself. I love seeing flood-smashed grasses already lifting laden heads; bright wildflowers such as the roseate marsh mallows and these sunbursts of coreopsis, still flood-slanted, but rising. The resilience of Nature is her blessing and her curse. We take that bounce-back for granted. Never forget that many individuals and groups strove to save the D&R Canal and Towpath, to turn it into a State Park - among them the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, and ‘my own’ D&R Greenway Land Trust. Vigilance remains necessary, to preserve, protect, defend, repair and provide stewardship for this historic waterway, whose presence caused the genesis or renaissance of many a New Jersey town in the 1830’s. Never relax that vigilance. Support your natural land trusts. They’ve worked miracles. And, by the way, it’s our drinking water… Never forget… ENTICING D&R TOWPATH BELOW ALEXANDER (This looks like the scene the Packet chose for our NJ WILD BLog a year ago…)
THE CALM AFTER THE STORM - OUR OWN RAINFOREST
CARDINAL FLOWER OF D&R CANAL, TOWPATH - Sign of healthy water
I once walked the Towpath, 9 years ago right now, with a very wise girl, who’d been running on ahead. She skidded to a halt before this stand of coreopsis, hurtling back to say, “Take time to see these hot flowers!” May I always remember to take time for flowers. May YOU!
Scene worthy of Constable skies, at Greenway Meadows, off Princeton’s Rosedale Road one of 16 trails described in Walk the Trails In & Around Princeton by Sophie Glovier, photography by Bentley Drezner
The rapt audience at Labyrinth Books on Sunday learned that Sophie Glovier’s and Bentley Drezner’s new trail guide, published in April, has sold 1000 copies in this short time! http://www.walkthetrails.org/index.html. As Dorothea von Moltke, one of Labyrinth’s owners, introduced Sophie and Bentley, Dorothea announced, “This is the first time at Labyrinth that, within a day, every staff member had purchased a copy of a new book.” Dorothea went on to predict that, “It won’t be long before everyone in Princeton has one.” High praise, indeed, for these first-timers with their splendid pocket (as in cargo pants)-sized guide to 16 trails on preserved land in our region. These generous, committed preservationists are donating the profits to the book to D&R Greenway Land Trust where I work; to Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, and to Friends of Princeton Open Space. Representatives of all were in the Labyrinth audience, books in hand. Walk the Trails In and Around Princeton, at $20, may be purchased at Labyrinth, and at D&R Greenway (One Preservation Place, off Rosedale Road, Princeton) Otherwise, call D&R G to order, with nominal postage and handling. [www.drgreenway.org] To walk with Sophie Glovier, Bentley Drezner and D&R Greenway Director of Stewardship, former head of D&R Canal Commission for 30 years, Jim Amon - call D&R Greenway to register for June 14 Towpath Walk (12:30) and Reception (1:30) at Kingston’s fresh, local sustainable new Eno Terra Restaurant. This event is a preservation fundraiser at $75 per person, honoring the 20th birthday of D&R Greenway, and the 175th of the Towpath. Delicious foods and wines are being chosen and prepared by the Momo Brothers for this D&R Greenway Founders’ Fete. History and nature will be expertly woven throughout the afternoon, indoors and out. Using Sophie’s and Bentley’s handsome guidebook can return children and their parents to the nature that is their birthright! Here is your answer to free entertainment that does not involve long drives, expensive gas, and spewed emissions. NJ WILD readers know I’ve been writing on nature, travel and history for Princeton Newspapers and New Jersey Magazines, intensively in the 21st Century. Sophie’s books reveals new trails to me, and points (like Ariadne in the Labyrinth) to entries to trails I’ve longed to hike but didn’t know how or where to begin! Both women lure us out on the trails, or as I would insist, into the WILD of which there is all too little in our daily lives. In Sophie’s and Bentley’s world, literally mapped out in their book, the random becomes the norm, beauty the outcome. New nature discoveries season each walk, –often the rare and endangered plants and birds–, as though thanking the humans for preserving these 16 trails. At their Labyrinth Books, through Power Point and voice, both women shared discoveries, –from caves to waterfalls to lily ponds. Particularly memorable are expansive views of the Sourland Mountains, visible from the Greenway Meadows vantage point I’ve photographed and inserted above. That walk is on the 60 acres preserved by D&R Greenway Land Trust, upon which our handsome circa-1900’s barn still resides, serving as home base. Often, Sophie and Bentley alert us that, from this trail, nothing human is in view. Sophie’s writing has the impeccable clarity of the best journalists. Bentley’s artistry has been turned into postcards which can be removed and mailed to your friends who are not blessed by living in beautiful New Jersey! Here is Steve Hiltner’s description of the book, from his blog, Princeton Nature Notes - and thank you, Steve! As many already know, there’s a wonderful new pocket-sized guide to nature trails in and around Princeton available at various bookstores, and also on the web at http://www.walkthetrails.org/index.html. Even long-time residents of Princeton are often unaware of the many natural wonders to be explored hereabouts. This guide can help change that. Profits from the book go to preserving open space. Sophie is on the board of Friends of Princeton Open Space.
Dear NJ WILD Readers: What could be better, on Mother’s Day, than to celebrate Mother Nature with multiple generations? A unique opportunity will take place at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association on May 10.
Sophie Glovier’s new book, Walk the Trails In and Around Princeton, will have Its first public appearance there, at 1:30 p.m., for Mother’s Day. Sophie will talk about the book’s development and lead a hike at ‘The Watershed’. Reservations arequested: Nancy Apple or Lisa Jordan at (609) 737-3735 x10. This handsome and practical book will fit in your cargo pants pocket. Its sensitive scenes are actually postcards you can send, proving to others that New Jersey is beautiful! Clever icons, as in the Michelin Guide, give key details about each trail — such as suitable for strollers, dogs, etc. A series of launching events is planned in our region, many in conjunction with D&R Greenway Land Trust, where Sophie served as Director of Philanthropy during the key St. Michael’s Preservation Project in Hopewell. Trails in Hopewell and the Sourlands are included. Sophie and her partner, superb photographer, Bentley Drezner, are sharing profits from this unique guidebook to hikes on preserved land with local land trusts. Appreciating swathes of nature saved by friends and neighbors, Sophie’s and Bentley’s creativity will expand preservation and stewardship in this, our most populous state. D&R Greenway, where I work, [ --One Preservation Place, off Rosedale Road, 609-924-4646] has her books for sale - $20, tax included. We can mail it, –$4 shipping and handling. Stop in to enjoy our newest art exhibition, The Hand of Nature, and pick up this treasure, rich in beautiful images, maps, directions, and how to enter trails I’ve always longed to visit! In addition, Sophie and Bentley lead us to trails I never knew were here in our central Jersey region. |
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