The Friends for the Abbott Marshlands (Friends) are an all-volunteer grassroots organization, organized in 2002 in partnership with D&R Greenway Land Trust. (See Origins, below).  The Friends’ mission is to:  facilitate preservation and protection of the Abbott Marshlands (Marshlands), promote Marshlands stewardship, and educate the public of the many varied and unique resources of the Marshlands. The Friends strive to partner with other agencies (public, nonprofit and private) to protect, preserve, enhance and promote the natural, historical and recreational resources provided by the Marshlands.

Reflecting (c Ann Darlington)

Goals

  1. To work through the Abbott Marshlands Council, as established by the Hamilton–Trenton–Bordentown Marsh Cooperative Stewardship Plan-2010 and the Cooperating Stewardship Agreement for the Hamilton – Trenton – Bordentown Marsh, to protect and preserve the area designated as the Abbott Marshlands and to encourage uniform management of the Marshlands as a whole.
  2. To increase awareness of the Marshlands resources and assets through on-going general public information including engaging local residents, local and regional interest groups, and elected officials.
  3. To increase educational programming and opportunities for research, both within the Marshlands and
    through the Tulpehaking Nature Center, by reaching out to and engaging public and private educational institutions at all levels, including grade schools and colleges & universities.
  4. To advocate to the proper oversight agency through the Abbott Marshlands Council for increased maintenance and security within the Marshlands and to supplement the public staffing through stewardship efforts that include but are not limited to: trails maintenance, clean-ups by volunteers, neighborhood watch-group support, removal of invasive species, identifying species diversity (both flora and fauna), identifying species protection needs, mapping, identifying soils protection needs, and the notification of improper or illegal trash disposal.
  5. To promote and support recreational and cultural activities within and about the Marshlands.
  6. To support the Marshlands through fund raising activities and development of long-term local and regional partnerships.

Approved by the Executive Committee
Revised 6/17/2014

 

Origins of the Friends

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Ned Gilmore & Boy (© MA Leck)

In 2002, Friends for the Marsh was organized in support of preservation of the Marshlands, following a recommendation of the Hamilton/Trenton Marsh Management Plan –1999, which was published by the Hamilton/Trenton Marsh Management Plan Committee and coordinated by Delaware & Raritan Greenway (now known as D&R Greenway Land Trust).

The name for the Friends was changed to Friends for the Abbott Marshlands in 2011 to acknowledge the branding initiative designed to bring attention to the historical and natural significance of the area.
Since 2002, the Friends have organized and sponsored a variety of programs with the intent of educating people about the marsh. Programs have included field and canoe trips, trail maintenance and clean-up activities, symposia, and Voices for the Marsh juried photography shows. Two major exhibits have also featured the Marshlands. Ebb & Flow: 10,000 Years at the Hamilton – Trenton – Bordentown Marsh, an exhibit shown at D&R Greenway Land Trust in 2010 featured the Voices for the Marsh show. In autumn 2014, an exhibit, The Abbott Marshlands – More than Meets the Eye, held at The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, located in Cadwalader Park, also featured marsh photographs.

Friends for the Abbott Marshlands worked together with the other partners to develop the Cooperative Stewardship Plan – Hamilton – Trenton – Bordentown Marsh 2010, a blueprint for Marshlands stewardship and management.  Friends for the Abbott Marshlands is also a member of the Abbott Marshlands Council, whose charge is to assist in implementing this plan.