Recognizing the need to preserve sensitive ecosystems for protection of water resources within the Passaic River Basin, the Passaic River Coalition’s Board of Trustees established a Land Trust to acquire and preserve open space. The Passaic River Coalition Land Trust provides a mechanism to implement the PRC’s mission of land and water resource management by permanently protecting and preserving land.
We directly purchased roughly 1600 acres, using NJDEP Green Acres Trust matching funds, county and municipal open space trust funds, foundation support, and private donations. Working in partnership with others, the PRC assisted in the preservation of hundreds more acres. Since then, the PRC has deeded roughly 400 acres of our Land Trust to municipalities, counties and the state for management as preserved lands. In many cases, those lands were adjacent to existing parks, allowing for cost-effective stewardship.
Stewardship includes everything from taking down hazardous dead trees (especially ash trees killed by the Emerald Ash Borer) to reducing damages from illegal off-road vehicles (none of our properties are open to motorized vehicles of any sort). Our Land Trust includes a total of 1,242 acres in 6 counties (Passaic, Morris, Bergen, Essex, Sussex, and Somerset) and 22 municipalities.
Learn About Our Largest Preserves!
As part of this stewardship process, the PRC has engaged students from the New Jersey Institute of Technology to evaluate several major properties in the PRC Land Trust. To date, they have prepared evaluations for three of our large preserves: Emerald Forest, Russia Brook Sanctuary, and Tory Rocks. Click here for more information. Thanks to the students!
Help us provide good stewardship to our 1,242 acres of
Land Trust properties by donating today!
Businesses can help by sponsoring a land trust property and involving employees in stewardship days.
The Passaic River Coalition Land Trust works with citizens, governments, and businesses to develop solutions to protect the environment within the watershed through land preservation. The Land Trust not only preserves land; we also provide guidance to local government in the efforts to identify and plan for protection of vital natural resource and develop a methodology to acquire and manage open space.
The Passaic River Coalition has participated also in landscape design of our properties, public parks and open space, including:
- Riverside Conservation (multiple properties)
- Riverfront Parks (e.g., Woodcliff Avenue in Little Falls, Mary Ellen Kramer Park in Paterson, Yapewi Park in Butler)
- Urban Parks (e.g., the Passaic River Restoration Project plans for the Lower Passaic)
Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Down!
The Passaic River Coalition is pleased that people can use our Land Trust properties for non-motorized, passive recreation such as hiking and nature watching. Maintaining these properties for public safety costs money and time; we need your help! One new problem is the hundreds of ash trees have been killed by the Emerald Ash Borer. Every year, we must pay to remove dead ash trees that could fall on neighboring private property and roads or the trails within our lands. We need help with this ongoing problem as well as routine maintenance and monitoring!
| PASSAIC RIVER COALITION LAND TRUST PROPERTIES (Current to 20 February 2024) | |||
| Property Name | Acres | Municipality | County |
| Bat Cave | 2.24 | Rockaway | Morris |
| Butler Forest Preserve | 12.2 | Butler | Morris |
| Butler Raceway | 2.73 | Butler | Morris |
| Cynthia’s Landing | 9 | Denville | Morris |
| Dragon Fly Meadow | 8.95 | Bloomingdale | Passaic |
| Emerald Forest | 218.4 | West Milford | Passaic |
| Farley Road Easement | 0.29 | Millburn | Essex |
| Federal Hill | 34.7 | Bloomingdale | Passaic |
| Hickory Road | 5.96 | Ringwood | Passaic |
| Indian Grave Brook Wetland Preserve | 19.93 | Bernardsville/Mendham | Somerset/Morris |
| Lillian Thomas Preserve | 20.15 | Allendale | Bergen |
| Long Hill Wetlands I, II and III | 7.1 | Long Hill | Morris |
| Mahwah River | 0.53 | Mahwah | Bergen |
| Morsetown Brook Wetland Preserve | 9.8 | West Milford | Passaic |
| Pine Island | 6.8 | West Milford | Passaic |
| Ponderosa | 16.34 | West Milford | Passaic |
| River Road Acres I, II and III | 18.8 | Chatham | Morris |
| Russia Brook Sanctuary | 242.82 | Jefferson/Hardyston/Sparta | Morris/Sussex |
| Russia Brook Sanctuary II | 125.33 | Jefferson | Morris |
| Stony Brook Forest | 7.3 | Butler | Morris |
| Tory Tract | 302 | Ringwood | Passaic |
| Twin Brooks | 18.47 | Ringwood | Passaic |
| Wanaque Ridge Preserve | 45.9 | Wanaque | Passaic |
| Warren Riverside | 28.38 | Warren | Somerset |
| Waterview | 67.8 | Ringwood | Passaic |
| Willow Hall (PRC Headquarters) | 6.49 | Morristown | Morris |
| Yapewi Park | 3.51 | Butler | Morris |
| Total Land Trust Acres | 1241.92 | ||