In May, NPSNJ awarded grants to projects throughout the state that support our mission of promoting the appreciation, protection, and study of New Jersey’s Native Flora. We awarded two Conservation Science Grants of $2,000 each to the Friends of Foote’s Pond Park in Morris County and to the Wild Woods Restoration Project for a project in Bergen County. Also awarded were 21 mini-grants of $500 or $750 each.
The Friends of Foote’s Pond Park will use their grant for their ongoing efforts to restore biodiversity and native habitat to Foote’s Pond Wood in Morris County. The grant will be used for a patch reforestation project that will establish all layers of a future oak-hickory forest. The work in- volves clearing the forest floor of invasives in canopy gaps left by dead ash trees, densely planting native forest layers, and protecting new plantings from deer.
Wild Woods Restoration Project, a nonprofit lo- cated in Salisbury Mills, NY, and active throughout the Hudson Valley region, will use their grant for a new partnership with the Closter Nature Center. The project will restore the woods at the Nature Center while building volunteer capacity to assist managers of public lands with natural resource restoration efforts in the Bergen County area. Ulti- mately, the project will create a corps of volunteers for future restoration projects.
Over 40 individuals and organizations applied for grants in the 2024 cycle. A committee of nine NPSNJ members, representing chapters throughout the state, evaluated the proposals on the basis of awareness (will the project reach a new audience for NPSNJ’s mission?), investment (will the funds be used well?), use of native plants, and sustain- ability (will the project be completed and main- tained?). Final consideration was given to geographic diversity and whether the project was located in an underserved community; a majority of awardees are located in such communities.
— Elaine Silverstein, NPSNJ Vice President of Chapters
A full list of awards follows:
Conservation Science
| Friend’s of Foote’s Pond Wood | Morris County |
| Wild Woods Restoration Project | Bergen County |
| Firehouse 6, Chelsea District, Atlantic City | Atlantic |
| Jared Rosenbaum, Rooted | Warren |
| Meditative Gardens of Collingswood | Camden |
| Riverview neighborhood, Jersey City | Hudson |
| Cape May Science Center | Cape May |
| Tulpehaking Nature Center | Mercer |
| Union Public Library | Union |
| Atlantic Highlands Historical Society | Monmouth |
| Somerset County Master Gardener Teaching Garden | Somerset |
| Sunset Lake Neighborhood Association | Somerset |
| Potters Park, Spring Lake Borough | Monmouth |
| Janis E. Dismus Middle School, Englewood | Bergen |
| Red Dragon Canoe Club, Edgewater park | Burlington |
| Skylands Unitarian Universalist Fellowship | Hunterdon |
| Borough of Rutherford Green Team | Bergen |
| Somerset County Master Gardener Teaching Garden | Somerset |
| Boyd McGuinness Park, Jersey City | Hudson |
| James J. Braddock Park, North Bergen | Hudson |
| Hammonton Green Committee | Atlantic |
| Washington Park, Jersey City | Hudson |
| Brookdale Park Conservancy | Essex |