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JANUARY 13, 2010
SCHIFF NATURAL LANDS TRUST ADDS 49 ACRES
TO ITS NEARLY 600 ACRES,
THANKS TO MORRIS COUNTY AND GREEN ACRES FUNDING.
January 13, 2010 – On any given day, as you travel
on the winding country lane called Mosle Road in rural Mendham,
you may see sheep grazing on a hillside, on the site of the former
Marckwald property. Now, thanks to the generosity of the Marckwald
family, the Morris County Preservation Trust Fund, as well as the
New Jersey Green Acres Program, that pastoral scene has been preserved
permanently by the Schiff Natural Lands Trust. The 49-acre site,
perched above the North Branch of the Raritan River, encompasses
significant upland forest, a small pasture, and approximately a
half-mile of frontage on the North Branch.
When the Marckwald family was considering their options for this
land, they reached out to Schiff through Mr. Charles Chapin, Mrs.
Marckwald’s son-in-law. Visible from Lookout Point at Schiff Nature
Preserve, the property was a desirable area for estate development,
but the Marckwald family chose instead to preserve this land, ensuring
that “the land will forever remain ‘open space’ with tremendous
benefits—environmental, economic and aesthetic—to the local community
and all who love the land,” said Mr. Chapin.
The land was originally identified in the land trust’s “Schiff to
Mt. Paul County Greenway” open space plan, which seeks to create
a preserved corridor of open space from the local parks in both
Mendham Borough and Mendham Township with Mt. Paul County Park.
Located in the Highlands Planning Area, the Marckwald tract had
also been identified as a top priority both in the Mendham Township
Open Space Plan and in the Highlands Regional Master Plan. Jon Wagar,
Schiff’s Director of Land Acquisition and Stewardship, notes that
“development would have entailed significant forest clearing and
natural resource destruction. Preservation of the Marckwald Property
will protect the wooded stream corridor of the North Branch of the
Raritan River, and allow for significant public access to this scenic
and ecologically important property.”
In selling this land at a price significantly below its appraised
fair market value, the Marckwald family donated more than $1 million
in real estate value to the Schiff Natural Lands Trust, taking into
account both the reduced sale price of the principal 42-acre tract
as well as the donation of an additional 7-acre parcel across Mosle
Road.
Funds to support this latest expansion of the Schiff Nature Preserve
came from a grant of $1.75 million from the Morris County Preservation
Trust Fund, as well as a non-profit matching grant of approximately
$285,000 from the Green Acres Program. The value of the donation
of a large portion of the value of the land by the Marckwald family
was used by Schiff to match these public grant funds. “This generous
donation by the Marckwald family will create a lasting natural legacy
for future generations,” said Michael Catania, President of Schiff.
“And, because both Morris County and the State of New Jersey have
both been such wonderful leaders in the fight to win the race for
open space, we were able to use this generous private donation to
leverage significant public funding to make this transaction possible,”
he concluded.
The Marckwald Property will become part of Schiff Nature Preserve
and be managed for passive recreational use (such as hiking and
birding), environmental education, and natural resource protection.
Schiff’s land management activities will likely include continued
management of the sheep meadow through periodic grazing, extending
its existing forest stewardship plan to cover the property, as well
as using innovative approaches to protect the declining eastern
Hemlock forest found on the steep slopes of the property along the
North Branch of the Raritan River.
Schiff Natural Lands Trust, Inc. is a member-supported, nonprofit
organization dedicated to acquiring and preserving open space, serving
as a model of environmental and educational stewardship, and improving
the ecological value of natural areas using best management practices.
It maintains an active nature center open to the public for environmental
education, research and passive recreational activities consistent
with the preservation of natural areas. For more information about
Schiff, please visit our website at: www.schiffnaturepreserve.org
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