One of the University's best-kept secrets opened its trails for eager
nature enthusiasts Sunday, as the Friends of the Rutgers Ecological
Preserve, the Edison Wetlands Association, and the Highland Park
Environmental Commission hosted a tour of the Rutgers Ecological
Preserve.
Students, parents, young children and older hikers made up the excited
crowd of about fifty, as the tour showcased one of the state's largest
ecological preserves.
The almost-hidden 370-acre preserve is located on Livingston campus,
less than 500 yards from the bus stop on Road 3 by the Quads, and is
one of the single largest undisturbed areas in Middlesex County.
The preserve is home to a vast array of indigenous creatures, including
white tail deer, coyotes, gray foxes, wild turkeys, red tailed hawks,
eastern box turtles, and even bald eagles, said Rich Stollery, a tour
guide with FREP.
Johnson & Johnson Corporation donated the Ecological Preserve to
the University mainly for educational purposes. Organizations such as
FREP make sure the University holds up its end of the bargain.
"Originally, the Johnsons gave it to Rutgers to preserve it," Stollery
said. "We're not asking for anything new. Fifty years from now, people
can come here and walk through nature if we don't keep chipping away at
it."
Concerns over the gradual diminution of the preserve are becoming
common among local environmental groups. Every few years, the
University talks about developing the area, said Michael Rosenberg,
chairman of the Highland Park Environmental Commission. "Gradually more
pieces get taken away. A few years ago, the extension of Route 18 took
several acres of the preserve away. More recently, they took away a
piece to build [Rutgers football head coach] Greg Schiano's house."
FREP is currently looking for ways to reverse recession while they can.
"What we're trying to get is permanent protection," said Moreen
Ciaston, executive director of FREP. "When asking President McCormick
if he's going to lease the development, sell any of the preserve, or if
Rutgers was planning to build it themselves, he said that at that
point, everything was on the table."
These grassroots organizations feel that the fate of the preserve is in McCormick's hands.
"In order to preserve this land, he needs to permanently commit the
land for preservation by conveying the rights of the development to an
environmental group, or a group that holds those titles to protect this
land," said Mathew McDonnell, member of FREP.
This large piece of land is a diamond in the rough for developers, and
the preserve can always be a temptation in order to raise money for
McCormick's master plan, added McDonnell.
Those who attended the event also stressed the importance of student involvement.
"Students should take the initiative because we are the key to the
future," said Heidi Hsu, a first-year student and intern at New Jersey
Community Water Watch, an organization committed to addressing water
quality problems in the state's urban areas. "If we don't care, no one
will."
Several other members of Water Watch were in attendance, showing
support for the preserve which hosts five streams that are an essential
source of clean water to the Raritan River.
Other students in attendance were in awe after witnessing the wildlife in the University's backyard.
Occasional remnants of the old Camp Kilmer army base are scattered
around the preserve, but are sometimes barely noticeable under the
massive shadows of hundred year-old oak trees.
"Love it," Stollery said. "Support us. Just come out here and enjoy it."
