preservation projects

Continuing the Open Space Preservation Effort
The primary threat to the future of Schiff Nature Preserve is potential residential development of neighboring properties. Development leads to destruction of forest and grassland habitats and permanent conversion of these habitats to houses, lawns, and pavement. This "habitat fragmentation" in turn results in the other major ecological threats, i.e. introduction of invasive non-native plant species and an overabundant white-tailed deer population.

Schiff to Mount Paul Greenway
To address the problem of habitat fragmentation, Schiff Natural Lands Trust created the "Schiff to Mount Paul Greenway" project in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program, the Morris County Preservation Trust, Mendham Borough, and Mendham Township. The goal of this project is to create a permanently protected open space greenway between Mendham Borough and Mount Paul County Park. Preservation of this greenway will prevent additional residential development and protect mature forests and grasslands. Over the last few years, we have been able to preserve hundreds of additional acres of open space in the Schiff to Mount Paul Greenway and now manage these areas as additional nature preserves.

The Schiff to Mount Paul Greenway was our first land preservation project area. The goal of the project area is to create a large area of preserved, publicly accessible open space and farmland stretching roughly from West Field on Rt.24 in Mendham Borough to Mt. Paul County Park in Chester Township. Many of the properties which the Schiff Natural Lands Trust has acquired and preserved in the past several years are now part of this emerging greenway. These include: the Pleasant Valley Road trailhead and parking area project; the Community St. John Baptist project;  and the McVickers Brook Preserve, which was completed in partnership with the Trust for Public Land and Mendham Borough. Although we are close to completing the greenway, there are still several key properties that we are working to preserve in order to reach our goal, including Pleasant Valley Mills/Wilmerding. 

 

The North Branch Corridor project area is the newest land preservation project area for Schiff Natural Lands Trust. Working with Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA), we are preserving environmentally sensitive land along the upper reaches of the North Branch of the Raritan River in Mendham Township, Peapack-Gladstone and Bernardsville. Preservation projects we have completed on the North Branch Corridor include the scenic Marckwald Tract, located on Mosle Road; the O’Leary Tract, off Pleasant Valley Road; and the Mosle Preserve property, completed in partnership with Mendham Township. 


Schiff Natural Lands Trust  •  973.543.6004  •  339 Pleasant Valley Road, Mendham, NJ 07945  •