Valley resident gets Friends’ Jack Gleeson Award

   In mid-March, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space held its annual meeting at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association’s Buttinger Nature Center.
   The Jack Gleeson Award was presented, in absentia, to Dennis Davidson, a Hopewell Valley resident.
   The award, which is named for the Friends’ first president, is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to open space preservation and environmental protection in the Hopewell Valley. Mr. Davidson was honored for his "outstanding efforts over many years to preserve open space in his official capacity with the state’s Green Acres Program. Mr. Davidson has been a critical force in focusing attention and state funds on central New Jersey’s open space needs. Mr. Davidson continues to provide leadership in open space preservation as director of Land Preservation and Stewardship for Delaware & Raritan Greenway, Inc.," said a spokesman.
   Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, presented the keynote address. NJCF is a statewide land trust that seeks to protect strategic lands through acquisition and stewardship. In addition, the organization’s policy work focuses on promoting strong land use policies in the state.
   Ms. Byers discussed the Garden State Greenways initiative, which is being spearheaded by NJCF in partnership with the Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program. Garden State Greenways "provides a grand vision for an interconnected system of open space that will have lasting environmental and social benefits for New Jersey." Ms. Byers discussed how the project would be implemented in Hopewell Valley and the benefits it would bring for open space conservation, the protection of biological diversity, and the provision of recreational opportunities.
   Friends’ President Ted Stiles said the year, 2002, was a particularly successful one for the group. In 2002, five properties encompassing almost 250 acres were permanently protected in Hopewell Township through the help of the Friends. In the first months of 2003, an additional three properties totaling 87 acres have been protected.