The Chathams back preservation of Drew Forest

By Claudia Ceva for New Jersey Hills

Both Chatham and Chatham Township have joined the many advocates in the fight to preserve the Drew University Forest Preserve.

The 53-acre forest, located on the campus of Drew University in Madison, has been a topic of conversation over the past year regarding the university’s desire to potentially sell a portion of the forest preserve to a developer for housing.

The Borough of Madison is now working with the university and conservation groups in an attempt to save it.

The Madison Borough Council passed a resolution in May 2021 formally acknowledging its support for the forest’s conservation.

The Chatham Township Committee passed a similar resolution at a committee meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and the Chatham Borough Council followed suit six days later with its own resolution officially indicating their support for the forest’s preservation.

Chatham Township Committeeman Mark Lois said before the vote Feb. 8 he would “certainly support” the effort and the committee should put the same energy into preserving land within the township, as well.

“We have significant environmental issues in our own town which we all also support,” he said, noting the ridge above River Road as one example. The forested property was formerly considered as a possible affordable housing location, before the site was changed to the former Charlie Brown’s restaurant property on Southern Boulevard.

He also suggested having a discussion about what the impact the borough’s development on its end of River Road will have,

Township Mayor Ashley Felice and Deputy Mayor Mark Hamilton both agreed.

Several residents told the Township Committee earlier in the meeting they were happy to see the Drew Forest as a topic on the agenda.

Jim Connelly of Mountain Avenue said Drew Forest is a “gem of a property that needs to be secured as open space” in a written comment read by Township Clerk Greg LaConte.

Connelly said though the property is in Madison, it borders the township and any development there would have a negative impact on the area.

“It would be preferential to maintain Drew Forest as the high-quality open space it is,” he said.

Pine Street resident Jessica Romeo and her daughter Audrey thanked the Township Committee for taking the matter of preserving the forest seriously.

“Preserving this rare, intact forest will support Drew University financially while providing numerous community benefits,” Jessica said.

She said the forest also serves as an educational resource with labels helping identify a variety of its trees and pollinator plants. It also provides a home for wildlife in the area.

Daughter Audrey said she enjoyed taking a walk with her family in the forest recently, which she described as “very peaceful.”

Joe Basralian, chair of the township’s open space advisory committee and one of the founders of the “Friends of the Drew Forest” group, also expressed his gratitude toward the Township Committee.

He had initially pitched the idea of passing a resolution stating the township’s support for the forest’s preservation at its last meeting on Thursday, Jan. 20.

Basralian said the “Friends of the Drew Forest” is pushing for the Morris County Open Space & Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, state Green Acres and Madison to purchase the land from the university at “fair market value” to present the university with an option other than high-density development.

“That way all of us can have access to it forever, and all of the benefits that the forest provides,” he said.

Dot Stillinger of Noe Avenue, a longtime former member of the township’s environmental commission, chair of the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s Land Preservation and Advocacy Committee, said it would be in the best interest of the township to take a regional approach to preserving open space.

“The fact that the Drew Forest lies within Madison doesn’t mean it doesn’t have implications for Chatham Township,” she said. “So, I would strongly urge everyone to consider all possible means to preserve that land.”

Even Claire Whitcomb, chair of Madison’s Environmental Commission, chimed in via Zoom to thank the Township Committee.

She noted the site is “teeming with wildlife” and is home to some of the oldest trees in Morris County.

“What it offers is, first of all, a connection to the neighboring parks – Giralda Farms, Loantaka and The Great Swamp Watershed, but it is unique in its own right and I think if it gets served saved as a conservation park, it will be a regional draw for education purposes because forests that have this understory of native plants and trees are extremely rare,” she said.

Successfully preserving the forest would also support the university as a whole, Whitcomb said.

“We would like to lend our voice to the cause,” Chatham Borough Councilwoman Jocelyn Mathiasen said before the vote was taken at Monday’s meeting.

She noted the forest is practically in the borough’s backyard, bordering Chatham Township.

According to the borough’s resolution, the forest helps deliver clean water to more than 450,000 residents in New Jersey – more than 200,000 in Morris County alone – reduces flooding and soil erosion and serves as a “major cooling zone” to counter the amount of heat produced by surrounding towns.