History of Ridge and Valley Conservancy

RVC was born in the late 1980s out of the Frelinghuysen Township Open Space Committee, an informal group of five people who wanted to preserve a quarter-acre triangle of land at the entrance to the Johnsonburg Historic District, and who wanted the township to require conservation easements in subdivisions. Development pressure in the area was intense at the time, so the Committee investigated other options to preserve land directly. The concept of Ridge and Valley Conservancy developed in 1990 and funds were raised to incorporate as a non-profit land trust in 1992.

The timing was ideal, as robust state and county funding was available for land preservation. State Green Acres funding required the development of target project areas, so RVC identified four strategic conservation areas — the Limestone Forest Sinks and Springs, the Kittatinny Ridge Forest, the Paulinskill Greenway, and Bog Turtle project areas. It has remained active in all of these areas to the present day.

Two of RVC’s first projects were the acquisition of a conservation easement on the 272-acre Tucker property and the purchase of the 258-acre White Lake property, both in Hardwick, in partnership with the state and Warren County. RVC also developed a partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which shared RVC’s emphasis on protecting the most critical wildlife habitats in the Great Limestone Valley of New Jersey (commonly called the Kittatinny Valley within the state). Several large acquisitions were made in partnership with TNC, with RVC serving as the lead, including the 700-acre Tranquility Farms property, purchased from the descendants of Peter Stuyvesant, and the Bear Creek/Glovers Pond property, identified by the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program as New Jersey’s most important Bog Turtle site.

Along the way, RVC took advantage of the state’s non-profit farmland protection program to preserve five farms, which it ultimately transferred to Warren County’s farmland preservation program.

RVC has been particularly adept at forming partnerships and leveraging funding to accomplish land conservation. Challenges that RVC faces include dwindling sources of public funding and a decline in public support relative to land conservation. Opportunities include increased private funding and a growing awareness among funders that the Ridge and Valley Region is resilient in the face of climate change and therefore is deserving of special attention.

In 2016, RVC marked a milestone with the achievement of accreditation by the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission. RVC built up its organizational reserves within a few years of accreditation. The creation of endowments and other growth in funding sources ensures continuity for the land it holds. RVC was awarded re-accreditation in 2021.