The Morris County Open Space Trust Fund Committee is pushing for the approval of nearly $7 million in grants to preserve land across three towns.
The committee presented recommendations for $6.95 million in funding to the Board of County Commissioners during a public meeting in Morristown last week.
The grants would preserve more than 192 acres in Denville, Mendham Township and Rockaway Township. County commissioners are expected to vote on the proposals before the end of the year.
The recommendations are to preserve the following tracts:
Denville
The largest recommended grant would send $5.7 million to Denville to preserve 57.29 acres spanning the historic St. Francis and Pocono Field properties. The land dates to 1895, when the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, a Catholic congregation of Franciscan sisters, purchased the property.
A senior living facility operated on the northern parcel for more than 120 years, while the southern portion functioned as a farm before becoming recreational fields. A barn from that era still stands and operates as a thrift store.
Both properties were sold in 2022 to developers planning a modern senior living complex on the northern site, but those plans were later abandoned. Denville now plans to convert the northern site into a community park while keeping the Pocono Fields for recreation.
Rockaway Twp.
The Land Conservancy of New Jersey would receive $1.04 million to preserve 123.3 acres known as the Wildcat Ridge Preserve in Rockaway Township.
The property features deciduous forest and a two-acre pond and is bordered on three sides by state-owned open space within the Wildcat Ridge Management Area.
The site sits just south of the Egbert’s Lake tract, which was preserved through a previous $400,000 county grant, and contains part of the Park Commission’s West Morris Greenway.
Mendham Twp.
Mendham Township would receive $214,000 to preserve 11.72 acres along Tingley Road within the Washington Valley Historic District.
The property sits adjacent to the Whippany River, a designated trout production waterway, and borders Lewis Morris County Park. The site offers access to Patriot’s Path via a spur trail and includes woodlands, wetlands and meadows.
“Nearly every municipality in Morris County has benefited from this program since its inception,” Deputy Director Stephen Shaw, the board’s liaison to the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation, said in a written statement. “By carefully reviewing each application and prioritizing local needs, we’ve preserved more than 14,750 acres through the municipal and non-profit grant program, and more than 18,300 total acres to date through the county’s entire open space program.”
The Morris County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, approved by voters and supported by a special county tax, finances the grants.
The fund also supports farmland preservation, county parkland acquisition, historic preservation, trail construction, and the purchase of residential properties in flood-prone areas.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
