Recent 2020

New Bench Along Pompeston Creek Honors Late STEM Naturalist
November, 2020

On November 25th, STEM installed a bench along Pompeston Creek in honor of Debbie Grant Lord. Debbie was a gifted naturalist and teacher and served on STEM’s Steering Committee for many years. Debbie is missed by all of us who were lucky to have known her. She spent countless hours testing the waters of the Pompeston Creek and teaching both young and old about the nature of the creek. The bench is located downstream from New Albany Road a couple of hundred feet upstream from the Georgian Drive entrance in to Pompeston park. Thanks to all of those who contributed to making the bench possible! I invite everyone to enjoy the bench and the beautiful view it provides. - Mark Pensiero, STEM President

STEM Honors Esther & Steve Yanai
November, 2020

STEM is happy to report that a commemorative bench has recently been installed at the Esther Yanai Preserve. The bench honors Steve and Esther Yanai, the two individuals most responsible for making the preserve the great open space that it is today. Esther was tireless in her efforts to preserve the property, and through Steve’s generosity we have a parking lot that makes the preserve far more accessible.

The installation of the bench completes a major effort to enhance the trails through improved marking and maintenance. Additionally, two sets of bridges were installed over the swale and creek that cut through the property. Thanks to Justin Nikolic who built and installed two bridges as his Eagle Scout Project, and the Youth Group of the First United Methodist Church of Moorestown who built and installed the second set of bridges as a service project. In addition to being functional, both sets of bridges look amazing!

If you haven’t been to Esther Yanai Preserve recently, I invite you to visit, walk the trail and take a few minutes to enjoy the view from the new bench.

Mark Pensiero
President, STEM

Looking Back at STEM's Summer 2020 Activities
October, 2020

Even with COVID-19 turning the world upside down, STEM, and its volunteers and friends accomplished a lot this summer. A significant amount of energy was focused on attacking the Japanese Stiltgrass at Esther Yanai Preserve (EYP) and South Valley Woods (SVW). This invasive plant has become very widespread in Moorestown’s Open Spaces. We targeted the Stiltgrass at EYP on August 8th, and succeeded in creating a thirty-foot swath across the entire property by mowing and hand pulling the Stiltgrass. It is hoped this swath will created a barrier, and keep the Stiltgrass from spreading into the rear section of EYP. Over 15 volunteers showed up to help on this project and without them we could never have accomplished as much we did.

South Valley Woods was also targeted, particularly in areas where the Stiltgrass had made the trails impassable. This year’s Stiltgrass has now gone to seed, so the time to cut it has passed. Next year we’ll be able to see if our efforts were successful. From what I’ve read, Stiltgrass eradication is a multi-year process; the seeds can remain viable for five years or more. Hopefully we’ll see some positive results next spring when the Stiltgrass returns. I would be remiss in failing to send a shout out to Ken Walker, my weed-whacking partner. We spent many an August morning destroying the post dawn quiet at EYP and SVW.

Back in July the youth group from First United Methodist Church in Moorestown spent dozens of hours sprucing up the trails at both EYP and SVW. They trimmed branches and removed trees that were blocking the trails at both sites. Additionally, Justin Nikolic, a MHS student took on building two walkways at EYP for his Eagle Scout Project. They look great and make the trail far more accessible. We have two more walkways we want to install at EYP, with the goal of getting them installed in October. The trails at both locations are in great shape, so I encourage you to get out and take a walk at these wonderful preserved open spaces.

Moorestown’s Public Works Department has been super responsive when we’ve needed their help clearing large trees that were blocking trails at multiple sites. The trail at Little Woods was impassable due to multiple trees being knocked down during that powerful storm back in June. It was a monumental task getting the trails opened up, but thanks to Doug Nims and the team at Public Works that trail is now open.

STEM is also working with Moorestown’s Park and Recreation Department to acquire signage to improve the walking experience at both EYP and SVW. Thanks to Theresa Miller and Rich Corbin at Parks and Recreation for making that happen.

Please keep an eye open for upcoming events. There is so much work that still needs to be done, and we love if you could come out and join us. I hope you all can spend some time outdoors during the fall. It is a great time to be outside. Enjoy!

Organization beautifies, spreads word about little-known open spaces

Save the Environment of Moorestown keeps areas accessible to the public.
By KELLY FLYNN, originally published in The Moorestown Sun on July 23, 2020

With summer travel plans largely cancelled or restricted, Moorestown residents now more than ever may be looking for local adventures.

Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM) has been hard at work clearing Moorestown’s open spaces to give residents a place of exploration and refuge in their hometown.

Mark Pensiero, president of STEM, said when the organization was founded, its goal was acquiring and preserving open spaces within the township. With the number of open spaces dwindling, his priority as president is to enhance and upgrade the little-known spaces in town.

Pensiero said throughout the summer, his goal has been to make Moorestown’s open spaces more accessible to the public and to clear the invasive species trying to take hold of the areas. Recent storms exacerbated the debris and inaccessibility of the trails, but STEM was fortunate to join forces with the First United Methodist Church of Moorestown’s youth group.

Kathy Clawges, youth minister at FUMC, said the church youth group had a mission trip to Burlington, Vermont, planned for this summer, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation.

She was contemplating ways the group could still take part in service work while maintaining social distance when she was contacted by one of her fellow FUMC parishioners, Ellen Maines, who told Clawges STEM was in need of some help clearing trails. Clawges said the work seemed like a perfect fit, and she was excited to show her youth group members they don’t have to go far to perform acts of service.

“It was an opportunity for the kids to see they don’t have to go 12 hours away; it’s right here in our backyard,” Clawges said.

On July 13 and July 14, a group of 10 FUMC volunteers pulled out invasive species, cleared blocked trails and laid down bridges at the Esther Yanai Preserve and South Valley Woods. The volunteers wore masks and socially distanced as they performed their work, and during the two days, volunteers provided STEM with more than 60 hours of labor. The partnership proved to be such an overwhelming success that Clawges plans to return with her group in the fall.

Clawges said despite living down the road from the Esther Yanai Preserve, she wasn’t aware of its existence. She noted that both she and the volunteers were amazed to discover Moorestown had these beautifully preserved spaces. Now that it’s on her radar, Clawges plans to utilize the spaces from here on out.

Pensiero said that’s a common theme when he’s speaking with people: Many Moorestown residents aren’t aware of these spaces and are shocked to learn they exist.

Pensiero wants to see to it that the spaces are continuously accessible for residents. In the past, he’s heard feedback from residents that South Valley Woods is too overgrown to explore, so he’s eager to keep the paths clear.

Pensiero also reached out to Moorestown’s Parks and Recreation Department and learned local boy scouts were in need of service projects to earn their Eagle ranks. Pensiero eagerly jumped at the opportunity to have the scouts build bridges and walkways, so residents can cross streams without issue.

“I want people to get out there and enjoy [the open spaces] and make it easier for them to get around,” he said.

Next up on Pensiero’s agenda is combating the invasive Japanese stiltgrass that’s taking over both Esther Yanai Preserve and South Valley Woods. At Esther Yanai, current estimates indicate nearly one-fourth of the site’s 34 acres are covered in stiltgrass. Due to its low food value, animals do not feed on the grass, and it can quickly form a “monoculture” that inhibits other wildlife from growing in the area.

On Aug. 8, STEM plans to host an event targeting the stiltgrass at Esther Yanai. He said the plan is to cut a 20-to-30-foot swath across the entire property. Over the coming years, that swath will be continuously expanded, with the goal of eradicating the stiltgrass, improving the habitat and thereby allowing native plants the opportunity to reestablish their communities.

Anyone can join the Aug. 8 event and all weed whackers and hand pullers are welcome. Contact Mark Pensiero at (856) 235 – 0171 or via email at markpensiero99@gmail.com.

Volunteers Clear Trails at Esther Yanai & South Valley Woods
July, 2020

Every summer the youth group of the First United Methodist Church in Moorestown travels to Appalachia to perform service work helping those in need. Covid 19 impacted their plans for this year’s trip; a road trip was simply out of the question. Fortunately they reached out to STEM to see if we could use help maintaining some of the trails in Moorestown’s Open Spaces. Are we ever glad that they asked! Recent summer storms have done some significant damage to some of our open spaces, and we really needed the help make them passable.

This past Monday and Tuesday (July 13 and 14) a group of over 10 volunteers tackled invasive plants, blocked trails and missing bridges at the Esther Yanai Preserve and South Valley Woods. Over those two days they provided over 60 hours of labor and accomplished an amazing amount of work. The trails at both locations have never looked better!!!!

If you haven’t been there, this would be a perfect time for a visit to either of these beautiful sites.

Open Space Trails
by By Amy Filippone, Dept. of Parks & Recreation, originally published on 5/19/20 in The Moorestown Sun

Open space trails are now open to the public and Moorestown has some beautiful parks that offer a welcome escape after the nearly two-month stay-at-home mandate. And the timing is perfect with spring weather bringing blossoming trees and plants and migrating birds.

Check out some of our local parks with trails:
Boundary Creek Park on Creek Road, formerly a peach orchard with tidal wetland on the Rancocas Creek.
Little Woods (soon to be The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods), also on Creek Road with beautiful views of the Rancocas Creek.
Swede Run Fields with trails on either side of Westfield Road.
Water Works Woods with access from Nixon Drive or Kings Highway offers a glimpse into a hidden part of Moorestown history.
Strawbridge Lake between Haines Drive and King Highway has paved trails, fishing and boating.
South Valley Woods on South Stanwick Road with running streams and wetlands.
Esther Yanai Preserve nestled off Garwood Road has vernal ponds.
Pompeston Creek Park spans from Baker School to North Riding Drive follows the creek almost to Cinnaminson.

Many of these preserved open spaces were acquired through the efforts of Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM), a volunteer organization begun in 1971. STEM, along with local, county and state organizations have preserved over 275 acres in Moorestown. They also maintain these areas through their Natural Area Care Committee that monitors trails and waterways throughout the year. Cleanups focus on Moorestown’s four watersheds, Pennsauken Creek, Pompeston Creek, Swede’s Run and Rancocas Creek, whose health is critical to fish, vegetation, birds and animals flourishing.

It’s taken decades of dedicated, patient work to acquire the parcels of land we now know as our local parks and each is a unique and complex journey. So many factors come into play and funding for open space preservation is limited.

Barbara Rich has been a member of STEM since it began and is well-known throughout the state for her work in the open space community. She explains, “It’s one of the most difficult things to accomplish for many reasons. It’s amazing the intricacies and I guess the typical average person understandably doesn’t know them. Once we rate a track and let the state and county organizations know, we are competing with other towns that want the money too - the competition for Green Acres (NJDEP) funding is amazing. So what we end up preserving has been a worthwhile effort.”

STEM’s website is a great resource for exploring our local parks and open space - stemonline.org. Details include park locations with GPS maps, size, history and photos. And they always need volunteers!

STEM Seeks to Recognize Founding Member

by Kelly Flynn, originally published on 3/6/2020 in The Moorestown Sun

A founding member of Save The Environment of Moorestown (STEM), Katherine “Kay” Smith established many of the natural care procedures the township follows to this day to maintain open spaces. So when she passed away, members of STEM approached Smith’s family and proposed they find a way to honor her legacy.

Almost one year later, Smith is getting the long-discussed recognition: Members of STEM approached council about renaming Waterworks Woods. The proposed name — Kay Smith’s Waterworks Woods — will be up for first reading at Moorestown council’s March 9 meeting, while every member of council has already expressed support at previous meetings.

Smith grew up in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, and her daughter, Becky Petrillo, said she was always playing in nature and would regularly take her dog to the local creek. Smith graduated from Temple University in 1954 and moved to Willow Grove with her husband Allan Smith, whom she met at college. The pair had three children.

The family moved to Moorestown in the 1960s and Smith was active in a number of organizations, including the League of Women Voters. In the early 1970s, she and fellow league member Esther Yanai campaigned for the township to purchase and preserve an open parcel of land on Garwood Road.

Out of that campaign, STEM was born. As one of its founding members and president for a time, Smith was in charge of the township’s natural area care goals and standards.

Petrillo said when she and her siblings got a little older, Smith went back to school and earned her master’s degree in biology from Rutgers-Camden. While Petrillo was away at college, her mother was taking trips to the Jersey Shore to study the wetlands and collect grass samples. Upon graduating, Smith taught biology at Rutgers and the Community College of Philadelphia.

All the while, Smith was actively involved in STEM’s efforts to develop a Natural Resources Inventory to catalog all of the township’s open spaces. Petrillo said the project was no small undertaking, and she remembers times when the family’s dining room table was filled with maps as her mother and other STEM members met regularly to develop the list.

Smith was also a member of the township’s Environmental Advisory Committee. When developers approached the township with plans to build, Smith was one of the members who walked the land and advised the township on the environmental impact of any potential development.

Waterworks Woods, a 20-acre parcel of land that borders the lower portion of Strawbridge Lake, was of particular significance to Smith. She helped design the trail that cuts through the space, and she identified more than 30 plants at the site. Throughout the years, she led clean-up days where a group of volunteers would clear the trails and remove any invasive species that had grown in.

“She knew what needed to be done, and she had an unbelievable way of [rallying] folks who were wanting to accomplish what she wanted to be accomplished,” said Barbara Rich, a friend of Smith’s and fellow member of STEM.

Smith passed in February, 2019 after a battle with lung cancer. At the funeral, members of STEM informed Petrillo they wanted to commemorate her mother’s legacy. She considers it an honor to have her mother’s work recognized.

“She had a vision, an awareness, of how important all that open space was,” Petrillo said.

April 6th, 2020
Moorestown Town Council passed an ordinance on second reading honoring one of Save the Environment of Moorestown’s (STEM) founding members, Kay Smith. “Waterworks Woods” will be renamed Kay Smith’s Waterworks Woods. Resident Joseph Ponessa offered his support for the ordinance during public comment. Ponessa said Smith worked tirelessly with STEM until shortly before her death.

“She was really a force of nature in terms of supporting and working for open space in Moorestown parks,” Ponessa said.

Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano also thanked her fellow council members for their support of the ordinance. “I hope this will also help to draw more attention to Water Works Woods, which is a really special open space we have in town, and one that Kay loved very much.”

A Letter from the New President of STEM
April 2020

Dear fellow STEM members,

This is my first communication as the newly elected President of STEM. I step into some pretty big shoes as I take over from our outgoing President, Joe Ponessa. Joe has been an amazing leader and I am thrilled that Joe has decided to stay on the Steering Committee. I also want to thank the two Steering Committee members who have agreed to become officers. A big shout out to Kathy Huffman who is taking on the Vice President’s role and Colleen Malloy who is filling the role of Secretary. I also appreciate Chet Dawson who continues to serve as STEM’s Treasurer.

We also have two new Steering Committee members this year, Harry Mayer and Elaine Young. We are thrilled to have them on the board, and I look forward to working with both of them. I also want to thank Jean Fox and Paula Horton who have decided not to seek another term on the Steering Committee. We will miss their energy, ideas and commitment. Thanks for your many years of dedicated service. I also want to thank Claire Adair for her many years of service as she transitions into her new role as an “honorary” Steering Committee member.

As we navigate through these difficult times and unchartered waters it is important that we take care of our families, friends, neighbors and ourselves. I have often found that the outdoors can be a wonderful source of strength and solace. Moorestown has some wonderful outdoor spaces that are available for all of us to enjoy. If you haven’t already done so please check out our revamped web site for additional information on Moorestown’s open spaces. Everyone in town is close to an open space. If the news has you down, turn off the TV and head outside!!

I look forward to my time as STEM’s President. I welcome your suggestions, comments and concerns. As I try to set up priorities for the coming year I welcome your input. I also request your time and energy as we strive to maintain and enhance the open spaces that we have in Moorestown. We are blessed to have these open spaces available to all of us, and hope that you take the opportunity to enjoy them.

As my father in law used to say – “This too shall pass”. We will get through this and come out the other side. Hope to see you outside, of course at the recommended social distance.

Regards,
Mark Pensiero
Markpensiero99@gmail.com

Council Discusses Farming, Other Uses for Swede Run Fields

by Kelly Flynn, originally published on 1/31/2020 in The Moorestown Sun

The Swede Run Fields are ripe for a new use, according to Moorestown Township Council.

At its meeting last Monday, council discussed foregoing farming at the space and exploring more natural options for the township-owned property.

Thomas Merchel, the interim township manager, said the township purchased the approximately 90-acre parcel in 2001 with the idea that the site would one day be preserved as open space. At the time, the township agreed to lease around 12 acres of the property for farming.

The lease expired in 2017, and the township subsequently agreed to let the farmers stay and maintain the property at the same rate. But the current farming tenant is no longer interested in leasing the land, so the township has to decide how to utilize the property moving forward.

Since acquiring the space, the township has seen the nearby addition of Swedes Run Dog Park and pedestrian walking path through the fields. But more public use of the space has resulted in complaints from the public about farming chemicals. Merchel said since 2001, the township has seen a fair number of residents voice their concerns after walking down the path and seeing chemicals sprayed.

Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano said for years the space has been a topic of discussion for the township’s open space committee. The committee has indicated it would like to see the farming discontinued, she added.

Napolitano suggested potentially turning the farmland into a meadow, which would only require a minimal amount of maintenance. She acknowledged, however, that there may be a somewhat substantial cost to transform that many acres of land into a meadow.

Sustainable Moorestown has discussed putting a beehive in the field if it reverts to an open space or meadow, according to Napolitano. Given that Moorestown was recently named a Bee City USA, the space would contribute to requirements for maintaining that designation. Napolitano said the space is suitable for a hive because it’s large enough that the average passerby wouldn’t disrupt it.

Councilman Brian Donnelly suggested continuing to lease the land but with restrictions, such as requiring it to be farmed organically. Napolitano responded that it might be difficult to find someone to lease the land if more stringent requirements are imposed.

Merchel said the leasing agreement generates very little revenue for the town. He suggested Moorestown either let the fields revert fully to an open space or have some kind of plan in place that keeps the walking paths and other areas maintained.

Deputy Mayor Lisa Petriello said she was inclined to hand the decision over to the township’s open space, environmental and Sustainable Moorestown committees for further research in the year to come.

“There’s probably any number of uses for that property and I think it’s worth investigating,” she added.

The remainder of council agreed to turn the matter over to the township committees. Napolitano suggested council get the committees’ recommendations sooner than a year from now because the site may become difficult to maintain if left untouched for too long.

Mayor Nicole Gillespie agreed that committee experts should offer their recommendations as soon as possible.

January 30th, 2020
At the annual meeting of Moorestown's Community organizations (Moorestown Improvement Association, the Historical Society, the Garden Club and STEM) on January 30th at the Moorestown Library, our report focused on our Natural Area Care (NAC) accomplishments in Moorestown's Open Space Parks in 2019. This work consisted of trail maintenance and blazing. Over the course of 11 workdays, 86 volunteers contributed some 3053 hours of service to the community.

Residents are encouraged to take a hike in one of the twelve open space parks in town.

STEM President Joe Ponessa reports STEM activities from 2019

See 2019