Context: For going on 50 years, area residents and Whitman pilgrims have considered this private lakefront land a passive park in all but name. Owned since 1925 by the same family, the 3.75 acres are presently held in an irrevocable trust that faces imminent dissolution. Saving these precious woods from development, providing public lake access and preserving this rare remnant of the Inner Coastal Plain Forest as Open Space in perpetuity are the conservation imperatives.
Conservation Timeline:
2006-2009: Camden County Open Space (CCOS) approaches Elizabeth Hanson Kuehner to explore the purchase of 3.75 wooded lakefront acres (Block 61/Lot 1 & Block 62/Lot 5; Laurel Springs, NJ) in 2006. She is too ill to consider it, but instructs her heirs to contact CCOS post her death (which occurred April 9, 2009).
2010: Family initiates effort to place land into conservancy via CCOS.
DEC 2010: Borough of Laurel Springs (LS) passes Resolution 122-2010, acknowledging “passive recreational use” of the land, citing “such use as precedent since the early 1970s …” and stating its willingness to forego real estate taxes.
WINTER 2010-11: Borough confirms support of “Elizabeth Hanson Kuehner Trust’s Plans for Passive Recreational Space” in a formal letter. Family makes application to CCOS, including Borough Resolution & Support Letter.
FALL 2011: In the interim since application to CCOS in February, the Camden County Freeholders decree non-contiguous Pocket Parks can’t presently be managed by the county. A CCOS emissary asks LS Council if it will instead accept land into Open Space; LS declines citing financial hardship.
2012: In August, family delegates, Delaware River Valley Planning Commission and area residents re-engage with Borough to address financial concerns (turnout was Standing Room Only). Benefits of Open Space formal presentation by Patty Elkis, deputy director of Delaware River Valley Planning Commission, citing financial and environmental advantages fails to convince council. In her closing remarks, Ms. Elkis notes that she has never witnessed such a large turnout in favor of Open Space anywhere in the Tri-State area, and definitely not in a township as small as Laurel Springs.
FALL 2012: Borough remans in favor of Conservation.
2013 – 2014: Family courts area conservation groups, but it’s determined none possess the necessary stewardship bandwidth and/or resources. The family next engages with Arts & Letters groups, identifying Walt Whitman Arts Center, then headquartered on the Rutgers Camden campus, as a candidate. WWAC is eager to steward “Whitman Woods” in perpetuity (with South Jersey Land & Water Trust acting as conservation manager); CCOS initiates vetting and invites WWAC to make a presentation. The solution is abandoned, however, due to sudden WWAC board deaths and its compromised tax-exempt status.
2015:
MAY: Family meets with North American Land Trust (NALT) founder Andrew Johnson, who is intrigued by the prospect of a Whitman-inspired, small New Jersey-based conservation project. The Chadds Ford, PA-based nonprofit offers its expertise and a potential stewardship solution.
JUNE: Survey and Preliminary Appraisals are secured; NALT plots site maps.
JULY: NALT completes mapping.
AUGUST: NALT visits site and hosts subsequent strategy session to guide family through next steps for conservation solution, from prioritizing site plan development, to brainstorming funding targets to underwrite purchase, improvements and endowment. Funding goal is set at approximately $1M. NALT role is made known to Borough of LS, County and WWP Advisory Board.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: Family enlists additional Advisory Board members and pro bono consultants; meets on site with environmental consultant, engineer, surveyor and landscape architects, and methodically orchestrates moving parts to draft Preliminary Site Plan and Vision Doc for Pledges/Underwriters. Key media is engaged/cultivated.
NOV/DEC: Preliminary Site Plan Map with 1-foot elevations undertaken.
2016:
WINTER: Whitman scholars join the project; regional billboard campaign launches via Jersey Premier Outdoor Media.
SPRING/SUMMER: Wetland delineations and site mapping completed. Site drawings in progress. Facebook page launched; Web site blossoms.
2017-2018: Develop formal Concept Site Plan. Grassroots fundraising outreach. Cultivate social media messaging networks. Strategize 2019 Whitman Bicentennial festivities with regional partners (“Whitman at 200,” “Walt Whitman Initiative” and Borough of LS WaltFEST).
2019: Create/publish seasonal electronic newsletter messaging directed to project Patrons and Friends. Partner with University of Pennsylvania for its “Whitman at 200” celebrations. Stage a series of free on-site Whitman Bicentennial community events (April-July) featuring Nature Walk/Talks, Painting en Plein Air & Photography workshops, capped by a “Mid-Summer’s Eve Salon — a convivial assemblage of Music, Wine, Brew, Birdsong & the Bard’s Nature Prose” featuring members of The Philadelphia Philharmonic.
SPRING 2020: Amplify social media reach via Facebook promotions and Instagram; expand electronic messaging frequency. Conduct on-site “Big Day”and “Spring Migration Bird Count” projects led by WWP Field Guide Lloyd Shaw; report findings to Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Nurture the “Restoring Nature to Neighborhoods” concept during the height of the pandemic.
SUMMER/FALL 2020: Amplify “Restoring Nature to Neighborhoods” outreach via Facebook. Conduct on-site “Fall Migration Bird Count” project led by WWP Field Guide Lloyd Shaw; report findings to Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
2021: NALT receives Chester County overtures and funding support for Brinton Run Preserve, stretching its capacity.
2022: NALT board reconsiders its Camden County WWP steward/owner role.
2023: NALT revises its WWP steward/owner role to that of Chief Conservation Collaborator. Family realigns with Borough, which remains in favor of Conservation via CCOS.