By Tyler Barth for TAPintoMadison

It’s clear the community is very supportive of Madison’s love for the Drew Forest.

Mayor Bob Conley received a letter from the Friends of the Drew Forest and various shoppers during a visit to the Farmer’s Market recently, signed by over 90 people. He showed the letter during the Feb. 14 town meeting, held virtually.

Madison has repeatedly stated its vocal support for the preservation of the 53-acre forest, which has been under threat of possible redevelopment in the past few years, as Drew University sells off land to recoup financial costs. The Forest has endured nearby industrialization and large-scale redevelopment and has remained mostly unchanged throughout the past 150 years, one of the few swaths of land in New Jersey like this.

Also supporting the preservation are Chatham Township, Chatham Borough, the Environmental Commissions of Harding, and Morris Township. Chatham Borough passed its resolution to support saving the Forest just last night, according to Environmental Chair Claire Whitcomb.

Author Jean Maloof, from Berlin, Maryland, spoke in support of the preservation effort during the Jan. 31 town meeting. An outspoken supporter of the protection of the old-growth forests, Maloof is an admitted favorite of Claire Whitcomb, who called herself a “Maloof groupie”.

“I’m asking that the town of Madison does everything in their power to keep the forest intact”, said Maloof, “I thank all of you for your past current, and future efforts to save the Drew Forest”

Her comments were brief, but according to Christine Hepburn, Maloof’s presence was enough to show how important the Forest is.

“The fact that she has taken notice of the really quite small Drew Forest underscores how wrong it would be to allow it to be developed”, said Hepburn, a Drew alum who has spoken at several town meetings in support of the Forest.

According to Hepburn, Maloof’s participation could lead to a wave of other prominent forest and ecology advocates expressing their support of the Forest.