Princeton Gets Grants To Plant Native Trees At Community Park North

PRINCETON, NJ – The Municipality has been awarded a grant of $552,000 to fund the reforestation of Community Park North.

During the meeting held last week, Council adopted a resolution to accept the grant.

The funds come from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Natural Climate Solutions Grants.

The grant will fund the on-the-ground implementation of projects that create, restore, and enhance New Jersey’s natural carbon sinks, such as salt marshes, seagrass beds, forests, urban parks and woodlands, and street trees.

A significant portion of Community Park North was blown down in major storms or has succumbed to other factors, according to a memo.

“I was super interested t find out that this area was not native growth, that this was actually a planted area from the 19th century,” Councilman David Cohen said.

“I used to hike here and after a couple of storms like Sandy and Ida, it’s just amazing the percentage of trees that came down because of those storms.”

Princeton had applied for this grant in partnership with the Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS).

The grant will restore 40 acres of forest at Community Park North (CPN), a 71.5-acre public park to the east of the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, and directly south of the fields of historic Tusculum.

According to a memo from Deanna Stockton, Municipal Engineer and Deputy Administrator, CPN was planted in the last century with Norway spruce, a non-native tree, and Eastern White pine. Both are known to be vulnerable to climate change for varying reasons.

The first stage of the forest restoration project will involve removing invasive species , including Oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, and others, with a combination of contracted labor and FOPOS volunteers.

“Once the invasive species are removed, thousands of native trees and shrubs will be planted. They will be protected by a fence around about a quarter of the project area, and by individual cages elsewhere,” Stockton wrote in the memo.

“These plantings are expected to substantially increase the amount of carbon sequestered by the forest in future years, and to make it more resilient to climate change. They will also provide better habitat for birds and other animals and an improved aesthetic experience for park users.”

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