Risi Acres and Good Shepherd

In November 2003, Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance (HLTA) partnered with the New Jersey Green Acres Program and West Amwell Township to preserve 295 acres in the Sourland Mountain region, in West Amwell Township, Hunterdon County. The partners acquired Risi Acres, a 170-acre parcel of woodlands fronting Route 31, and placed a conservation easement on the adjoining 125 acres known as Good Shepherd.

A significant natural area, the Sourland Mountain region contains the largest unbroken contiguous forest in central New Jersey, 6,000 acres of wetlands, and geologically unique boulder fields. The region includes environmentally sensitive watershed lands that drain to the Delaware & Raritan Canal, from which more than one million people get their drinking water. The land acquired also contains headwaters to Alexauken Creek.

The newly acquired parcel along Route 31 will be managed by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife as part of the Alexauken Creek Wildlife Management Area. The land will be open to the public for passive recreation and hunting.

The remaining 125 acres will remain privately-owned and preserved with a conservation easement that prohibits future development of the property. A public access corridor through this property provides an essential link between the 170 wooded property acquired and the Alexauken Creek Wildlife Management Area.

Executive director Maragret Waldock explains, "As development increases in Hunterdon County we risk the degradation of our high quality streams. Preservation of these wooded properties maintains a critical buffer to the Alexauken Creek and helps maintain the rural character of the Sourland Mountain region."