PRINCETON: Trust begins work on children’s nature trail

   D&R Greenway Land Trust has begun work on a Children’s Discovery Trail on its Drakes Corner Road Preserve in Princeton Township.
   The trail is named for late philanthropist Charles Evans, who founded the house of fashion, Evan Picone.
   Linda Munson, president of the Charles Evans Foundation, arranged its sponsorship of the Children’s Discovery Trail, as well as the current D&R Greenway art exhibition, “Born of Wonder: Childhood and Nature.”
   ”We are creating places and ways for children to experience nature more intensely. Our purpose is to spark a personal conservation ethic within today’s children, our future leaders,” said Linda Mead, president and CEO of D&R Greenway.
   The Children’s Discovery Trail will be a permanent place where such connections can be made.
   Young people have already played a role in caring for this site. Students from Stuart Country Day School provided bluebird nest boxes. Gifts given to Sam Koffman of Princeton for his Bar Mitzvah funded tree planting inside a “deer exclosure” area that protects native vegetation.
   ”To see nature through a child’s eyes is to re-experience the world when it was new and every day a revelation. Those moments of wonder, of everyday miracles that lead to a lifetime love for the natural world, and a desire to protect it, are precious,” said Ms. Mead. “Yet today’s children are growing up with — as author Richard Louv puts it — ‘Nature-Deficit Disorder.’ Young people are disconnected from the natural environment. Without that sense of connection, young people do not develop a sense of place, which is basic to an understanding that we need to take care of our environment.”
   The trail will be a half-mile meander on a property acquired by D&R Greenway in 2004 for permanent preservation.
   The foundation’s gift to D&R Greenway totals $100,000, which is funding the trail, the art show, and a third project, to be announced.
   ”With these gifts,” said Ms. Munson, “the foundation seeks to create something everlasting: a perpetual memorial to Charles Evans.”
   The trail traverses woods, moving into a wet, swampy area past highbush blueberries. It crosses a rock wall that marks the boundary for an old pasture. Beyond the wall, boulders proliferate where children can climb over huge rocks. Continuing past a small pond and along a meandering stream, the trail will end in a grove surrounded by old birch and oak trees.
   On the Web: www.drgreenway.org.