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Fall Field Day at the Reserve - November 22
Help to put the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Reserve in order for the winter.
There will be trail work and other fall chores. Something for everyone!

The volunteer work day begins at 8:30 a.m. with sign-in at the J. Steward Johnson Environmental Center on the Reserve's main campus and proceeds through the afternoon until 3 p.m. Plan to wear sturdy clothes and boots; dress in layers; and bring a bag lunch and water bottle. Tools and work gloves as well as water and snacks will be provided. Children under 12 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the day.

RSVP by Thursday, November 20 by contacting Bay Weber at
bweber@thewatershed.org or 609-737-3735 ext. 21.

Rain Date: Sunday, November 23

Vote "Yes" to Preserve Hopewell's Last Remaining Open Spaces - November 4
On Election Day, Hopewell Township voters will have an important opportunity to protect the township's drinking water, property values and rural character by voting "yes" to support the Hopewell Township Open Space Referendum.

This measure will:

Outdoor Classroom - Timberlane Sixth Graders Experience the Watershed Reserve
The entire sixth grade class from Timberlane Middle School - more than 300 students in all - came out to for a two-week intensive experience at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Reserve this October. A partnership between Watershed Association teacher-naturalists and Timberlane staff and students, the Sixth Grade Field Trip presented an array of activities that were educational and inspirational, addressing core curriculum content while helping to build new relationships and new connections, all within our community.

Students took part in team building exercises, tried their hand at several survival learning stations, spent a day in the stream measuring rate of flow, examining water chemistry and meeting a variety of aquatic organisms, wrote poetry at the Stony Brook, took part in a group art project, and more.

To learn more about the Sixth Grade Field Trip, or how you or your class can experience the Watershed Reserve, contact Education Director Jeff Hoagland at 609-737-7592 or jhoagland@thewatershed.org.

Watershed Association Celebrates H2Whoa! - 33rd Annual Watershed FEST
H2Whoa! is a tented evening under the stars featuring great food, music, and live and silent auctions. Tickets to the Watershed FEST are now available. Our largest fundraising event of the year, all proceeds support the Watershed Association's critical science, education, conservation and advocacy efforts. To learn more, visit the FEST website or check out the Press Release. Don't forget to enter to win the H2Whoa! raffle for a chance to take home the Kymco People S 200 scooter.

New Municipal Pesticide Regulation Guidance document available
Designed for elected officials, citizen board members and interested advocates for pesticide reduction, this guidance document provides assistance for establising municipal programs to reduce pesticide use on public and private property through ordinances, educational initiatives and best management practices. It includes a summary of the legal and regulatory authority for local regulation of pesticide use in New Jersey, sample ordinances and resolutions, and other resources. The new Municipal Pesticide Regulation Guidance document is provisional and comments are welcome. Please contact Susan Charkes at scharkes@thewatershed.org.

Butterfly Festival Flutters Into 8th Year!
Come celebrate the wonder of nature's favorite quick-change artist - the butterfly - and 'green' living at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association's 8th Annual Butterfly Festival on Saturday August 9.

Held at the scenic Watershed Reserve on Titus Mill Road in Pennington NJ, the festival offers fun for the entire family. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, attendees can enjoy naturalist-guided tours of the Kate Gorrie Memorial Butterfly House, along with nature hikes, live entertainment, food from local purveyors, children's activities, a butterfly costume contest, and an array of demonstrations and exhibits about the environment and conservation.

Admission is $15 per carload with parking generously provided across the street at Bristol-Myers Squibb. For more information, read our press release or visit the Butterfly Festival webpage.

No Child Left Inside
As today's children become increasingly consumed by technology, the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association's summer camp and two new programs - No Child Left Inside and A Natural Sense of Wonder - help parents unplug. Check out the U.S. 1 profile.

Consider the Environment in Redevelopment Debate
Plans to redevelop 350-acres around the Princeton Junction Train Station at West Windsor are again gaining steam. Board of Trustees Chair Candace Preston critiques the lack of environmental discussion in the Trenton Times Op/Ed session. Read the opinion.

Restoring the Millstone River: It's up to all of us!
Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association Executive Director Jim Waltman underscored the urgent need to improve the Millstone River - and ways we can work to accomplish this task - in an Op/Ed piece published in The Princeton Packet on May 13. Read the opinion.

Watershed Association Welcomes 6 New Board Members, Honors Award-Winners
At its Annual Meeting on April 28, the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association welcomed six new members to its Board of Trustees and honored its environmental stewards, educator and volunteer of the year. To learn more, read the Press Release.

Princeton Junior School Earns First River-Friendly School Certification
On April 24, the Princeton Junior School in Lawrence, NJ became the first school in the state to receive River-Friendly School Certification through the Watershed Association's RiverFriendly program. To learn more, check out the Press Release.

2nd Annual Watershed-wide Stream Cleanups - April 5-6 & 12-13
This spring the Watershed Association and Americorps Watershed Ambassador Program are coordinating a record breaking number of stream cleanups throughout our watershed. Cleanups are currently being scheduled for Cranbury and Monroe Townships in Middlesex County, Franklin Township in Somerset County, Monroe and Millstone Township in Monmouth County and Heightstown, Lawrence Township, Princeton, and West Windsor Township in Mercer County.

Check out our Calendar of Events for specific dates and times or contact Andy White, Millstone Watershed Ambassador americorps@thewatershed.org, for more information and to sign up!

The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association is proud to be a part of a unique collaboration with seven other non-profit organizations - "Greening - Natural Connections, Growing Community". Through this collaboration, a variety of free activities are offered by each participating organization.

The centerpiece of this effort, and the most notable offering, is a special performance entitled "A SENSE OF WONDER" by OBIE Award-winning actress Kaiulani Lee at Passage Theatre in Trenton. Through this one-woman play, Ms. Lee brings Rachel Carson to life, portraying her love for the natural world and her passionate fight to defend it.

Rachel Carson was a trailblazer, not only for her groundbreaking book Silent Spring published in 1962 but also for her forging a path for women in science. As a marine biologist Rachel Carson enjoyed illuminating life in the oceans and the interconnectedness of all living things through her writing in The Edge of the Sea, Under the Sea Wind and the bestseller The Sea Among Us. Ultimately, through her precise and poetic language, Ms. Carson wrote one of the most influential books in American literature, Silent Spring - an impassioned plea that encouraged us to question our impact and role on this planet. The world has not been the same since.

"Now, I truly believe, that we in this generation, must come to terms with nature, and I think we're challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves." - Rachel Carson

We invite you to purchase tickets for this memorable performance. The Watershed Association committed to selling tickets for these performances because we believe that it has the capacity to change the way people think about and care for our natural world.

To get a taste of this performance,
check out this Bill Moyers' interview with Kaiulani Lee, the actress portraying Rachel Carson!

Performance dates are March 20, March 27 and March 28. Each performance begins at 8:00PM. Special receptions with wine and hors d'oeuvres will precede the March 20 and 27 performances at 6:30PM. On March 28 a special dessert and coffee reception follows the performance to honor John S. Watson, Jr., NJ Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner for Natural Resources for his work with New Jersey youth. Each performance is $40 and includes the receptions catered by The Brothers Moon Restaurant in my fair town Hopewell. Brothers Moon is committed to supporting local farmers and using the best quality seasonal and organic ingredients available. Tickets are general admission for this small, intimate 115-seat theater.

Please consider attending a performance. If you don't know the Rachel Carson story, you should, and if you do, well here is your chance to meet that Superwoman, an environmental hero of unparalleled stature.

Please purchase your tickets from Passage Theatre at www.passagetheatre.org or 609-392-0766 - please reference the Watershed Association as SBMWA when you make your purchase. We hope to see you there. We know you will enjoy the show.

Washington Township (Mercer County) is now Robbinsville Township
On November 6, 2007, voters approved renaming the township after Robbinsville, the historic village that lies at the heart of this fast-growing municipality. With five other Washington Townships in the state, concerns were increasing about the potential for confusion. We will be changing our maps, webpages and other information to refer to the new name in the course of the next few weeks.

Join us in planning for the future of your Sourland Mountain Region
Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association are working with Banisch Associates, Conservation Resources Inc. and communities in the Sourlands Region to develop a Comprehensive Management Plan that will help guide future development and preservation.

The Sourlands Region spans 90 square miles (56,000 acres) and is the largest unbroken forest in the heart of Central New Jersey. This initiative is being coordinated by the Sourland Planning Council and funded through a Smart Growth Planning Grant from the New Jersey Office of Smart Growth.

The project is encouraging your participation through an interactive website and mapping application provided by Vertices LLC. To learn more about this exciting project, visit the project website.

No Child Left Inside
A New Naturally Fun Learning Opportunity coming to your community!

Parents begin with an engaging weeknight presentation highlighting the importance of nature exploration in the development of our children. Families continue with a Saturday neighborhood park exploration designed to encourage lasting natural wonder by illuminating a wealth of possible nature activities.

To discover a date and location in your community, please contact the Buttinger Nature Center Teacher-Naturalists at 609-737-7592 or bnc@thewatershed.org.

New Publication
Establishing and Managing Grasslands Naturally

Newly revised and updated
Model Stream Corridor Ordinance and Implementation Package

Order Now!
2007 Catalog of Watershed Conservation Information

New Publication
What Homeowners Can Do About Gypsy Moths

Conserving Water through Innovation
A Water Friendly Fundraising Idea and Order Rain Barrels

Governor Jon Corzine signed into the law the New Jersey Global Warming Response Act (A3301/S2114) on Friday July 6, 2007.

This important new law requires greenhouse gas emissions in the state to be reduced to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and to 80 percent of 2006 emission levels by 2050. Crucially, the requirement includes not only emissions from electricity generated outside New Jersey but also from electricity generated elsewhere and consumed within the State -- recognizing that our environmental actions and their effects extend across political boundaries, so the solutions must look beyond boundaries as well.

This approach accords with the watershed-management way of approaching environmental issues, by assessing and planning on an ecoregional basis. No wonder that 3 of the 5 Primary Sponsors of the bill in the Assembly (all 3 of whom spoke at the signing ceremony) represent constituents in the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed: Assemblywoman Linda Stender, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora and Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein.

Get Ready for Summer!
ENERGY STAR Air Conditioner Rebate

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