Whitcomb, Environmental Heads Encourage Brainstorming At Drew Forest Event
Photo by Tyler Barth
MADISON, NJ - Madison residents gathered in the Madison Community Arts Center to for a brainstorming session highlighting the importance of the Drew Forest on June 29.
About 75 residents, including former Councilwoman Astri Baillie, attended the event, where they learned from the Friends of the Drew Forest and Claire Whitcomb of the Environmental Commission about what the Forest provides for the region and how the fight to save it is going. According to Whitcomb, the current efforts, which include local community tables and conversations, lawn signs, and t-shirts, are working well and have put the region’s eyes on the Forest. She did reference the lawsuit Drew University has levied against Madison, but did not go in-depth.
“It’s not just a bunch of trees, and its value cannot be replicated simply by planting saplings”, said Whitcomb, who referenced how similar efforts by the community saved Giralda Farms and the Great Swamp from being sold off and redeveloped. Six towns and seven environmental commissions have already passed resolutions in support of forest preservation.
Additionally, the attendees watched videos by local filmmakers Bill Lynch and Paul Morgan, who showed fly-bys of what the Forest has to offer. According to Lynch, he wanted to convey a “sense of loss” through his video. Morgan was not in attendance.
Drew alum Justina Anise and Erika Cowper also spoke at the event. Anise referred to the Forest as “a group of symbiotic networks that we all benefit from” and showed the attendees the progress made in reviving the Forest since the Restoration Project began in 2008. According to Anise, the Forest has seen new life since efforts to keep deer and invasive plant species out of the area began, and its destruction would lead to the loss of a massive aquifer that supplies the surrounding area with its water needs..
Cowper, who graduated in May, led residents in brainstorming how to become ambassadors for the Forest, and what they can do from home and within their friend networks.
Whitcomb said after the event that she was incredibly pleased with the turnout.
“The turnout was amazing. People saw the yard signs and came looking for ways to save the forest and protect its role as a primary recharge zone for the Buried Valley Aquifer where we get our drinking water”, she said.
