County approves $5M grant to preserve Drew University forest. But will school agree?

By: William Westhoven, Morristown Daily Record

The Morris County Commissioners on Monday approved a $5 million grant recommendation by the county Open Space Trust Fund Committee to help fund a purchase of Drew Forest in Madison.

The board, as it typically does every year, followed the committee's recommendation, despite pleas from residents, students, environmentalists and elected leaders that they should double the grant to the $10 million originally requested by Madison. 

"The recommendation was presented to our board after careful consideration and a review of all aspects of Madison’s application, including information developed through site inspections as well as written and in-person comments from the public,” Commissioners Director John Krickus said during the board's meeting in Morristown.

The borough applied for a record $10 million grant in hopes of combining that amount with other funding sources to purchase the 51-acre forest that buffers residential neighborhoods from the Drew University campus.

Madison's efforts to purchase the acreage followed reports more than two years ago that the university hoped to sell all or part of the land to housing developers.

Drew University forest sale still under negotiation

In a statement Tuesday, the university said it appreciated the county's grant and would "continue to negotiate with the town of Madison in good faith and toward our shared goal.""Our strong desire is to sell the Drew Forest to the borough of Madison, so that it can be preserved as it is, and the surrounding community can continue enjoying this beloved natural resource," the school said. But, "In order to do so, Drew would need to receive a price reflecting the market value of the land. Only by addressing the financial needs of the university can we secure the long-term preservation of this community treasure.”

The university explained its openness to development two years ago by citing the economic pressures it faced.

"A global pandemic, a national decline in college-aged students, a precipitous drop in state aid, and other factors have taken their financial toll on the university and its endowment over the past decade." Drew officials said in a statement still on the schools's website.

How much could Drew Forest cost?

Madison officials hoped a $10 million county grant, combined with federal dollars, state Green Acres money, the borough's own open space fund and other sources would cover a market-rate purchase of the entire tract.

The potential price for the property is unclear, but Madison Mayor Robert Conley told the Daily Record earlier this month that the price would be "significantly more" than $10 million.

While the county didn't meet the town's full request, the grant was still a major commitment, Krickus said on Monday.

“Our approval tonight of a $5 million Open Space grant for Drew Forest is the first and only significant commitment by anyone to preserve this property," he said.

Jay Thomson, the Open Space Trust Fund Committee chairman, said earlier this month that while negotiations for Madison to purchase the property from Drew are "ongoing," the committee could only approve $5 million "at this time.”

"Projects of this magnitude typically come to the committee with a signed contract or a multitude of funding partners already in place," Thomson said. "This application has not made some of those benchmarks.”

Supporters won't quit

Friends of the Drew Forest, a nonprofit including Drew students, local residents and environmental groups, has collected more than 15,000 signatures on a Change.org petition in support of preservation.

Judy Kroll, Friends of the Drew Forest's co-chair, told the commissioners her group will continue its push to preserve the land, which supporters say is a habitat for many species under the threat of extinction. The woods also serve as a recharge area for the Buried Valley Aquifer, from which 26 towns draw well water.

"Whether you decide to fund the full $10 million tonight or not, Friends of the Drew Forest will continue to grow our support base and will continue to partner with you in the future of the forest," she said.

The Madison application was the only one received and presented to the county commissioners by the Open Space Trust Fund Committee for 2023. If approved in full, the award would have equaled the previous high of $10 million granted to Chatham Township for the purchase of land at Giralda Farms.

“The purpose of having the Open Space Trust Fund Committee review these applications has been to take these decisions out of the political process, which is why the recommendations are always presented to this board after Election Day," Krickus said " Over the past 30 years, our board has never interfered with that process, and we see no need to stray from that sound practice today."

Since 1994, the Morris County Open Space Program has preserved more than 17,800 acres with approximately $295 million generated by the county preservation tax.