Princeton NJ Non-Profit Press Releases

Friends for Abbott Marshlands Receives Environmental Award

Left to right: Jeanette Bergeron, FFAM; Jennifer Coffey, Director, ANJEC; 

Claudia Shaughnessy, Environmental Advisory Commission, Hamilton Township 

Mendham – The Friends for the Abbott Marshlands (FFAM) was honored with the coveted Environmental Achievement Award in October at ANJEC’s Annual Environmental Congress. There, 200 local and state environmentalists from throughout New Jersey gathered to celebrate their accomplishments, learn from environmental experts and interact with state and federal policymakers. The full-day event was held at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, NJ.

FFAM was among three nonprofit organizations whose outstanding projects were recognized along with exceptional environmental efforts by six environmental commissions and five municipal officials. ANJEC has been presenting the Environmental Achievement Awards since the mid-1970s.

The award recognizes the FFAM trail projects from 2022 – 2025 for improving access to and protecting the Abbott Marshlands, a valuable natural resource. The most notable improvements rerouted two sections of trails eroded from storm water totaling more than 700 feet, and installed five boardwalks, four sets of steps and a raised earthen walkway, and replaced two 70-foot boardwalks decayed from flooding. More than 40 FFAM volunteers, 12 seasonal interns, two corporate groups, a Boy Scout troop, Trenton Climate Corp from Isles, and an NJDEP work group contributed to projects.

Keynote speaker NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette was on hand to address how New Jersey is positioning itself to weather climate change. Workshop sessions throughout the day addressed important environmental issues and policies such as resilience in the face of climate change, stormwater management, energy conservation, regional collaboration, local action and more.

ANJEC also presented the Candace McKee Ashmun Environmental Legacy Award to Theodore Chase of Franklin Township.  This award is named for ANJEC's first executive director, who served a leadership role in NJ’s environmental community for over 50 years.

“We are celebrating more than a half century of success and rededicating ourselves to ambitious goals on behalf of our precious natural resources,” said ANJEC Executive Director Jennifer Coffey. “We’re very proud of ANJEC’s influential role in New Jersey’s recent environmental milestones, from the strongest plastic pollution legislation in the nation to landmark flood hazard regulations that will save untold lives and property.”

About ANJEC

ANJEC is a 56-year-old nonprofit based in Mendham whose mission is to promote local action to protect and restore New Jersey’s natural resources and to ensure healthy communities for today and the future. ANJEC advances its mission by engaging in equitable and inclusive practices through leadership, partnerships, education, advocacy for strong public policy and in support of environmental commissions, public officials, and communities throughout New Jersey. For more information, visit www.anjec.org

About Abbott Marshlands

The Abbott Marshlands are situated in Lenapehoking, the traditional and ancestral homeland of the Lenape. These lands include over 3,000 acres of open space along the Delaware River in Central New Jersey. Although a satellite view of the area quickly reveals its ecological unity, the land is divided among two counties, four municipalities, and numerous landowners. Crisscrossed by a canal, a railroad, and even a major highway interchange, the essential nature of the northernmost freshwater tidal marsh on the Delaware River becomes evident. It provides rich habitat for a wide variety of birds, fish, mammals, and plants. FFAM is the only organization whose sole focus is the promotion and stewardship of the marshlands. Visitors remark on it being an urban oasis, a critical wildlife habitat in the Delaware River’s estuary to be relished and protected. The public is invited to join in this important endeavor. For more information, visit https://abbottmarshlands.org/volunteer-opportunities/ and come to one of the free walks to experience it.

FFAM’s efforts include a volunteer trail stewardship program, an active calendar of programs on marshlands ecology and history, and other community outreach activities including a biennial juried photography exhibition in the summer of 2026. They coordinate their work with the staff at the Tulpehaking Nature Center in Hamilton, the Mercer County Park Commission, the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park and the Point Breeze property in Bordentown. The Abbott Marshlands Cooperative Stewardship Council members include representatives from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the D&R Canal Commission, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Mercer County, and local municipalities of Trenton, Hamilton, Bordentown City and Bordentown Township. The website, https://abbottmarshlands.org, provides extensive information regarding upcoming events, ecology, cultural history, archaeology, recreation, education and stewardship.

The Historic District:

The Abbott Farm Historic District became the first National Historic Landmark in New Jersey, designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1976. It is a unique archaeological site, recognized as the largest Middle Woodland village of its type on the east coast of the United States. It was named after Charles Conrad Abbott, whose early archaeological work and writings, from the 1850s onward, spurred much research there.