How the New Jersey School of Conservation got a new lease on life

When the New Jersey School of Conservation was closed in July 2021 by its previous managers, people across the state lamented the move as “another casualty of the pandemic.”

But three years later, this internationally renowned educational resource is back serving the public and positioning itself to be a leader in environmental education for students throughout New Jersey — thanks to the strength of our partners and the hard work of elected officials who have championed our cause and secured needed funding to restart our programs.

Founded in 1949, the School of Conservation was a pioneer in outdoor education, introducing generations of New Jersey schoolchildren to nature through experiential learning. The school’s approach fostered respect for the environment, touched the lives of thousands of students, and inspired many to pursue environmental careers.

After the closure, the Friends of NJSOC, a nonprofit organization of educators, former students, and campers formed in March 1987 to support the education programs at the NJSOC, understood how important this educational resource was to our state and stepped up to the plate, determined to take on the seemingly insurmountable task of saving this state treasure.

We assembled a distinguished and powerful group of allies from the business, environmental, and academic communities, as well as former staff and students to serve as advisors. We initiated a letter-writing, media outreach, and fundraising campaign and worked with our allies in the Legislature on our crucial mission to obtain full management responsibility of the NJSOC.

With the assistance of Sen. Steven V. Oroho, we were able to secure a meeting with the Department of Environmental Protection, the owners of the campus in Stokes State Forest, which led to an access agreement allowing the Friends to offer limited environmental education programming to the public at the height of the pandemic. We relied on former NJSOC staff, students, and teachers to serve as volunteer instructors of those programs.

NJSOC was open, but after years of underinvestment, it was going to need substantial resources to return it to its full potential.

Our champions in the Legislature, Assemblyman John McKeon and Sen. Bob Smith, chair of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, sponsored a budget resolution that would assist the Friends in providing environmental education programming and restoration of the campus facilities. Thanks to their support and advocacy, the school received $1 million annually in the 2021 and 2022 state budgets.

These funds have allowed us to begin the restoration of the cabins, infrastructure, and other facilities, giving the NJSOC a new lease on life.

However, to sustain this revival, legislation was needed to assign the Friends as permanent managers of the NJSOC. Again, Assemblyman McKeon and Sen. Smith sponsored such legislation and advocated strongly for its support and passage. In October 2022, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation naming Friends as the managers of the NJSOC. The Friends then signed a 20-year lease with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in May 2023 — giving us the long-term stability needed to resume the residential environmental education programming that has been at the core of our work.

This year, Assemblyman McKeon and Sen. Smith again helped secure our continued funding by including an allocation of $2 million in the state budget.

Under the Friends’ leadership, we are working to reimagine environmental education for the 21st Century, partnering with numerous colleges and universities across the state to make our campus available for cutting-edge research.

We also understand the unique role NJSOC can play in providing opportunities for students from environmental justice communities to experience nature and the outdoors. We are working with community leaders and education experts to reach students, no matter their ZIP codes, so they can experience all that a pristine environment has to offer.

Now, we must all work together to address a challenge that strikes at the very heart of our school.

Standing between the school and long-term stability is a dam on Lake Wapalanne that is in urgent need of updating. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the dam no longer meets state safety requirements. The Friends will need to raise more than a million dollars to bring it up to code.

If we fail to act, the lake located in the heart of our campus may have to be drained, making it impossible to continue many of our most popular programs.

Continuing the monumental progress the Friends have made in the last few years will require the help of neighbors, businesses, and advocates. NJSOC is a special place that we want to share with all the children, educators, and researchers of New Jersey, no matter their age, ethnicity, level of education, or financial situation.

The Friends are committed to providing world-class environmental education programming and experiences to every student who visits our campus and to perpetuating the NJSOC’s legacy, which in the words of our Founder, Dr. L. B. Sharp, “That which can best be learned through direct experience dealing directly with native materials and life situations outside the classroom should there be learned.”