LAND STEWARDSHIP AT HOME: Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space Executive Director Jenn Rogers, center, is shown with the organization’s Vice President Mark Bean and his wife Samantha, in front of a rain garden they established as part of the Community Conservation Program.

By Anne Levin

Thanks to two grants totaling $101,250, The Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space (FoHVOS) have the resources to involve more property owners in land conservation.

The Princeton Area Community Foundation’s Bunbury Grant program and the Open Space Institute and Land Trust Alliance’s Land and Climate Program have donated funds to support the expansion of the nonprofit’s community partnerships in the conservation of privately-owned land, as well as continued stewardship of properties owned by the organization.

The idea is to encourage residents and corporations of the Hopewell Valley — as well as all of Mercer County and neighboring communities such as Montgomery, Lambertville, and the Amwells — to play a greater role in conservation. The initiative applies to properties of all sizes.

“You can make a difference anywhere from a quarter of an acre up to 100 acres of land,” said Jenn Rogers, FoHVOS executive director. “You don’t need an incredibly large property. We’re actually starting to see this becoming a more common way to take care of property. It’s not fully mainstream yet, but we as citizens are really starting to understand that our health — physical and mental — is really connected to the health of our natural world.”

As an example, FoHVOS Vice President Mark Bean and his wife Samantha have created a biodiverse yard at their Hopewell Township property.

“The couple have converted a detention basin to a lush meadow, established native landscaping beds, and created a rain garden to reduce stormwater runoff and recharge groundwater supplies,” reads a press release about the grants. “A tangible result of their efforts is reduced water in their basement during rainstorms.”

To help inform the nonprofit’s expansion of its stewardship program, FoHVOS is asking area residents to take a seven-minute online Community Conservation Survey, available at surveymonkey.com/r/JP8Z3Z.

The two grants will support research, planning, and strategy work to expand the Community Conservation Program, which enlists private landowners in promoting native plants, reducing stormwater runoff, and increasing biodiversity on their properties. Some 300 homeowners currently participate, encompassing nearly 4,000 acres of land.

“We’ve had success in the past working with residents in and around the Hopewell Valley. We’re focused on expanding it to corporate campuses and agricultural land,” said Rogers.

FoHVOS was incorporated in 1989. The nonprofit manages more than 3,000 acres of land and 17 miles of hiking trails. “Our preserves offer critical habitat for over 40 species of rare plants and animals, safeguard local waterways, and encompass nearly 1,000 acres of old growth forest,” reads the release.

Educating residential, corporate, and agricultural property owners about how they can help in conserving the land is the continued focus.

“Conservation is not just for biologists, ecologists, and naturalists,” said Rogers. “It’s for everybody. When we all participate, that’s when we really make the difference. The grants were pretty competitive, and we were really pleased to get them. We worked really hard at bringing grant funding into our organization last year. We’re thrilled with the recognition.”