A Force of Nature

Inside Barbara Rich’s Moorestown home are decades of paperwork documenting environmental perseverance.

Some are in bins. Some are laid out on a table. Moorestown’s Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) is readily available — a report she says she was honored to work on.

Rich, who is now in her 90s, is one of the four co-founders of STEM (Save the Environment of Moorestown) and a member of the town’s Environmental Advisory Committee.

Her advocacy journey began in Willingboro in the 1950s. At the time she was a young widow with two young children, ages 3 and 1.  

“[Developers] had an application before the Planning Board to build a lot of houses along Rancocas Creek,” Rich recalled. “The [land] contours were crazy,” she said, because of the closeness to Rancocas Creek and the stream running through it. It wouldn’t have made sense to develop on the land.  

Rich and a group of volunteers fought against the application.

“It was defeated,” she proudly recalled. “So that began my interest.”

In 1959, Rich and her children moved into a home on Tom Brown Road in Moorestown. From the start, she got involved with all things environmental preservation.

Rich, and three other women, Esther Yanai, Kay Smith, and Renee Boulis, founded Save the Environment of Moorestown in 1972. It’s a grassroots organization with a mission to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural environment of Moorestown for today and for future generations, according to its website. 

“We came together with a goal to preserve open spaces in town,” she said. “We spend time overseeing what the Planning Board and Zoning Board are doing.”

As Rich explained, members provide testimony at countless public hearings, speaking as private citizens.

STEM has tackled high-profile concerns of the day, such as water and air pollution, solid waste disposal, and recycling. Anticipating Moorestown’s tremendous future growth and increased development, STEM volunteers played a pivotal role in initiating open space planning and promoting protection of the environment, especially in ecologically sensitive areas.

Over the past three decades, STEM has undertaken a wide range of ambitious projects to preserve, protect, and maintain the health of Moorestown’s open space and farmland, including development of a Natural Resources Inventory, the preparation of an Open Space Inventory, and the establishment of the Natural Area Care program. 

STEM’s cooperative efforts with local, county, and state bodies have led directly to the preservation of over 275 acres of land within Moorestown.

“We started a movement so to speak,” Rich said of STEM, which now oversees 13 open spaces.

“We gathered people for an open space tour showing people where the open spaces could be.”

There were busloads of people on the tours, which began in 2002, she said.

One of those spaces is the Preserve at Little Woods, which sits next to a former landfill. In 2018, the Town Council approved a motion to rename the preserve The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods, honoring Rich, but also keeping the honor of Dr. Silas Little, an environmentalist, researcher, and the onetime owner of the tract.

Joseph Ponessa, a former STEM president, cited Rich as a “tireless worker for open space, and a recognized expert, at both local and statewide levels, on open space and environmental issues.”

The renaming came as a surprise to Rich. 

“I couldn’t believe it … I, of course, appreciated it,” she said. “I think it was because of my activities in town. Going to all the meetings — all the Town Council meetings, Planning Board, and Zoning Board.”

Rich was appointed to serve on the town’s Open Space Advisory Committee. She also is a co-founder of the Rancocas Conservancy.

Fronting on the Rancocas Creek, The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods is an 11-acre mature beech woods and one of the most beautiful spots in Moorestown, according to the STEM website. 

“It’s unusual,” describes Rich. “The contour of the land is very different from other open spaces.”

The loop trail, blazed and maintained by STEM Natural Area Care volunteers, provides unexpected views. It is tempting to sit and linger on convenient fallen logs at the top of the hill overlooking the Rancocas Creek and enjoy the decidedly non-suburban environment.  

And if you go far enough into the trail, lucky visitors may glimpse one of the local bald eagles foraging for food. 

Visitors can access the trail via a path from Creek Road into the woods just west of the old landfill, now a composting center.

The acquisition of this property, starting in 1989, occurred as a by-product of the Laurel Creek development and from a series of unpredictable but fortuitous events. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation holds a conservation easement on the property and oversees the conservation restrictions on it.

Rich was named Moorestown’s Citizen of the Year in 2012 and Environmentalist of the Year in 2017 by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC). Proclamations are in frames at her home.

Mark Pensiero, president of STEM, said he has had the pleasure of knowing Barbara since he joined STEM’s board close to 30 years ago.

“Barbara is a force of nature who has advocated for land preservation in Moorestown for over 50 years,” he said. “Barb has an encyclopedic knowledge of environmental law and has been the driving force behind the preservation of many of Moorestown’s open spaces including two of my favorites — Swede Run Fields and The Barbara Rich Preserve at Little Woods.

“Barbara has a gift of working to bring opposing groups together to accomplish great things,” Pensiero added. “She is a gift to Moorestown and all of those who cherish the natural world.”

In January, Moorestown Township held a special recognition ceremony for Rich. State Sen. Troy Singleton was among the dignitaries to participate in the ceremony.

“Barbara Rich’s impact on our state is nothing short of extraordinary,” Singleton said. “I have had the privilege of witnessing her unwavering commitment to preserving the natural beauty and environmental integrity of communities like Moorestown.

“Her leadership in co-founding the Rancocas Conservancy and her tireless advocacy for open space preservation have protected thousands of acres for future generations, while inspiring countless others to take up the cause. 

“Barbara’s work,” the state senator added, “is not only a testament to what dedicated stewardship can achieve, but a lasting gift to the people of New Jersey.” 

Rich’s open space advocacy continues with the fight to preserve the property along Boundary Creek Park for additional open space. She provides updates in an open space report during the town’s Environmental Advisory Committee meetings.

“The town is so appealing,” Rich said of raising her children in Moorestown. She fostered her daughter’s love of riding horses at her former home on Tom Brown Road.  

Even now, with three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, Rich’s advocacy continues. 

“There’s nothing like the opportunity to do what you think you can do and accomplish things,” she said. 

Along the way she met like-minded people.

“It’s well worth all the effort,” Rich said.