To the Editor:

Though mentioned in his obituary [Obituaries, September 6, page 31], Kurt Tazelaar’s tremendous contribution to the Princeton community through his work at Herrontown Woods and Autumn Hill Reservation is worthy of elaboration. Since 2007, I had been trying to stir interest in restoring Herrontown Woods, along with the Veblen House and Cottage — all part of Princeton’s and Mercer County’s first nature preserve. But it wasn’t until I met Kurt and his wife-to-be Sally in 2013 that things got going.

Hurricane Sandy had come through the year before, making long-neglected trails truly impassable. That summer, Kurt took the project on, assisted by Sally and me. Many trails had disappeared altogether, giving us this weird sense of being on the frontier rather than on the outskirts of Princeton, as we looked for signs in the forest of where the trails might once have led. Later on, Kurt began amending the trails, rerouting them towards drier ground and more interesting topography. With Sally and other volunteers, he did the lion’s share of clearing of invasive vines and brush around the Veblen House and Cottage, and where Princeton’s Botanical Art Garden now stands.

Viewing Herrontown Woods as his gym, Kurt literally laid the groundwork for so much that has followed. He was aided by a deep love of rocks —the bigger the better, limited only by his remarkable strength and the carrying capacity of my ’94 Ford Ranger. Rocks in Herrontown Woods are round, and so we scavenged flat rocks from nearby developments. These he hauled up the trails with a hand truck, and set them carefully in place with the goal that, 50 years from now, they would still be serving as dry passage over streams and muddy ground.

One thing I regret is not having recorded his sonorous voice when he gave me a tour of his plan for the purple trail, on 7.5 acres that we had convinced the developer of Windy Top to donate. The land was clogged with nonnative shrubs and a massive clone of wisteria, but Kurt could see beyond that to a future landscape freed of invasive plants. Undeterred by his battle with cancer, he described where the trails would lead, and the cleared vistas hikers would enjoy.

It speaks to the importance of art in the world that the Friends of Herrontown Woods — now with people of many backgrounds caring for 230 acres of public land — was founded by artists with a vision and a hands-on approach. I have a background in science and music. Sally has made her living as an arts educator. And Kurt was an original in everything he put his hands to, be it guitar or painting or trail building. He built a giant bird’s nest out of the sprawling wisteria vines he cut down on the Veblen House grounds. He had the mind of an artist and a body that reveled in the exhilaration of physical work, and found his finest canvas in Herrontown Woods.

Steve Hiltner
North Harrison Street

Hiltner is president of the Friends of Herrontown Woods (HerrontownWoods.org).