Credit: (NJSOC)It now appears likely that the Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation will end up running the 73-year-old facility, the nation’s oldest and largest environmental field center in Stokes State Forest.
With wide backing from a diverse group of public-interest and conservation organizations, a bill to allow that group to run the school (A-3149) won unanimous approval from the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, two months after an identical measure cleared a Senate panel.
While the ultimate decision over the fate of the school, located on a remote 240-acre tract, rests with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Friends, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, has built an impressive coalition to begin restoring the facility, where 57 buildings have fallen into disrepair.
Bidder drops out
The group’s chances to run the school got a boost last week when Montclair State University, one of three bidders who submitted proposal to take over management of the school, dropped out of bidding. Montclair State had managed the school until two years ago but stopped doing so when the university said it could no longer afford to run the facility.
The third bidder has not been disclosed by the DEP, which is expected to decide who will run the school later this year under current law. The bill under consideration to allow the Friends group to run the school would need to be passed by the full Senate and Assembly.
At its peak, the school, nestled in the state forest near a lake and rolling hills, once attracted over 9,000 school students a year. Most of them would stay in cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression.
It also provided teacher training and professional development programs for the state’s colleges. Its environmental field station offers much potential for research, which Rutgers, one of the partners of Friends, would manage under the group’s bid to run the school. Ramapo College and Sussex Community College also have partnered with Friends.
Abrupt closure
“This an absolute treasure,’’ John Connolly, president of Sussex Community College, told the committee. “There is no place like it anywhere else.’’
For decades, the NJ School of Conservation would educate children about the environment; those students would often end up teaching other schoolchildren and college students, according to Connolly.
The Friends of the school stepped in when it abruptly closed two years ago and kept it going, Connolly said.
Since then, the school has initiated a scaled-back version of its former self, while still performing some functions under Friends’ leadership. In addition, Friends conducted a comprehensive inventory of the facility and assessed its restoration needs, according to Kerry Kirk Pflugh, president of the organization.
The Legislature did provide an initial $1 million to restore and repair buildings at the site, but much more will be needed, according to advocates of the school.
