Welcome to our newest partner, Extinction Rebellion!

Essex County, NJ
  • Home
  • Partners
  • Youth
  • Action
  • Press
  • SMR History
  • Contact Us
  • More
    • Files
  • More
    • Home
    • Partners
    • Youth
    • Action
    • Press
    • SMR History
    • Contact Us
    • More
      • Files
  • Home
  • Partners
  • Youth
  • Action
  • Press
  • SMR History
  • Contact Us
  • More

Coalition to Save
South Mountain Reservation

Coalition to Save South Mountain ReservationCoalition to Save South Mountain ReservationCoalition to Save South Mountain Reservation

Our Mission

Our Mission

Our Mission

  • To conserve forever the Olmsted-designed South Mountain Reservation lands and waters in accordance with its purpose of providing passive recreation and native habitat preservation


  • To restrict the Turtle Back Zoo from any further expansion, and protect all South Mountain Reservation land against further encroachment and development

Issues

Our Mission

Our Mission

THE CHALLENGE: Essex County proposed a 500 seat amphitheater which would have destroyed 2.5 acres of land inside the South Mountain Reservation.


THE RESULT: The project was put on indefinite hold and the NJDEP issued warnings to the County that no construction can proceed without required permits.


THE CURRENT CHALLENGE: Multiple projects are currently proposed to chip away at the reservation. We are remaining vigilant. But, we need your help to hire experts to assist us in moving towards full protections. 

West Orange Planning Board recommendations to Essex County

Download PDF

Our legal team sent a notice of intent to sue if development proceeded on areas our environmental consultant determined were wetlands. Our complaint prompted the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to conduct its own off-site evaluation. And their findings backed up ours! 


At the August 11, 2021 West Orange Planning Board meeting, the attorney for Essex County stated, “There are no legal boundaries to the zoo. It is part of the reservation.”  This is a historic Reservation intended to be preserved for the generations. So our work continues until boundaries are defined and expenditures for preservation replace the county’s multimillion expenditures on wreak-creation alone.

TOGETHER WE:

  • Mobilized a 27 member coalition of conservation and civic organizations
  • Educated the public and garnered support for land preservation
  • Garnered more than 12,000 signatures on a petition sent to County officials
  • Lobbied town governments and environmental commissions to pass resolutions  opposing the amphitheater & support continued protections for the reservation 
  • Organized a student-led rally attended by over 300 students, families & elected leaders
  • Received extensive media coverage including in The Star Ledger and News12
  • Marshaled environmental, architectural, engineering and legal experts to stop  the wasteful $8 million-dollar taxpayer-paid amphitheater

Sign-Up for Updates!

Your contribution is TAX DEDUCTIBLE, thanks to our Coalition partner Our Green West Orange.  To help save our reservation, please click the button below.  -Thank You!

Donate Now

Copyright © 2022 Coalition to Save South Mountain Reservation - All Rights Reserved.


Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder