CNBNews

Moorestown, NJ, June 17, 2024 – Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM), a community-led non-profit in Moorestown, NJ, has been awarded a $40,000 grant through New Jersey Audubon as part of its Watershed Restoration and Community Engagement Program. STEM is one of only six NJ organizations that received New Jersey Audubon funding (totaling $228,000) through a grant with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

STEM, founded in 1972 by a group of Moorestown residents, received $40,00 for its “Swede Run at Swede Run Field Geomorphic and Ecological Study.” STEM will perform a complete environmental analysis of Swede Run as it travels through Swede Run Fields. This will include the riparian forest and wetlands.  This analysis will focus on water quality, invasive plants, as well as native wildlife and plants with the goal of determining the most valuable habitat restoration goals.

Swede Run Fields, which is approximately 139 acres, was preserved by the Moorestown Township in 2001 with the help of NJ Green Acres funding. In 2021, STEM partnered with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Moorestown Township to convert a 75-acre former farm field into a field of native pollinators and grasses. Planting of the field occurred in the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, and more work is planned. The next step in the project calls for expansion of the existing vernal pools found on site.  This portion of the project will begin when the State permitting process is completed.

STEM President Mark Pensiero said the organization will use the funding from the planning grant to “study and get more information about Swede Run, which is the waterway that travels adjacent to and through Swede Run Fields, the preserved property.”

The field is now in its third growing season; the “leap year” in the three-year “sleep, creep, leap” cycle of creating a native grassland and pollinator field.  “The field was incredible this May with the explosion of colorful yellow Lanceleaf Coreopsis,” said Pensiero.  “I look forward to watching the progression of the field as we move into the summer.”

“I’m thrilled about what we’ve accomplished through the support of our local members, the Moorestown Township and the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s “Partner for Fish and Wildlife” program. This grant is an opportunity to continue to make Swede Run better, not just for wildlife, but for people as well,” Pensiero said.

STEM was founded in 1972 as a grassroots organization with a mission to preserve, protect and enhance the natural environment of Moorestown for today and future generations. Its work to address local environmental issues, such as water and air pollution, solid waste disposal and recycling, also includes helping to preserve and protect the township’s open spaces. The organization is made up of Moorestown and other area residents who want to help support its mission. For more information visit STEM at www.stemonline.org.

New Jersey Audubon is a privately supported, not-for-profit, statewide membership organization dedicated to fostering environmental awareness and a conservation ethic among New Jersey's citizens; protecting New Jersey's birds, mammals, other animals, and plants, especially endangered and threatened species; and promoting the preservation of New Jersey's valuable natural habitats. New Jersey Audubon fosters environmental awareness and a conservation ethic among New Jersey's citizens and protects the state's birds, mammals, and other animals and plants, especially endangered and threatened species.