The grounds of the Esther Yanai Preserve were damp after a weekend of rain during the Memorial Day holiday.
Once parked in the parking lot on Garwood Road, you enter one of the largest wooded areas in Moorestown, according to Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM).
Visitors are greeted by a wooden kiosk which has a description of the 34-acre preserved open space and trail map of the property, which is primarily wetlands — including some vernal pools. The township purchased the undeveloped land in October 2004.
Once on the trail — which leads from the culvert to Swede Run — the sights and sounds of nature engulf your senses. Its broad flood plain meanders through the property. A sign notes the area is a certified wildlife habitat through the National Wildlife Federation, offering an abundance of food, water, cover and places to raise for wildlife to raise their young.
The National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat™ program partners with cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of all kinds to become healthier, sustainable, and more wildlife friendly, according to its website. Through the program, hundreds of communities are enhancing and restoring wildlife habitat in urban and suburban areas across the country, while also connecting to existing work around climate resiliency, community resiliency, urban forestry, water conservation, and beautification.
Once on the trail — which leads from the culvert to Swede Run — the sights and sounds of nature engulf your senses. A sign notes the area is a certified wildlife habitat through the National Wildlife Federation, offering an abundance of food, water, cover and places for wildlife to raise their young.
STEM contributed $50,000, a major portion of its fundraising proceeds, toward the $390,000 purchase cost of the tract. The remaining funds came from Moorestown Township, Burlington County, and New Jersey Green Acres.
The preserved open space is named after Esther Yanai, one of the founding members of STEM. She along with Barbara Rich, Kay Smith, and Renee Boulis founded STEM in 1972, which has preserved and protected more than 275 acres of land in Moorestown.
Yanai, who was instrumental in preserving the land named after her, died in 2003. She was remembered as a conservation trailblazer in a New Jersey Conservation Foundation “State We’re In Column” by then-executive director Michele S. Byers in 2004.
“Esther was a giant in New Jersey’s conservation movement,” Byers wrote.
Yanai moved with her family to Moorestown in 1958. She got her start in public affairs as a member of the League of Women Voters in Moorestown during the late 1960s. She led a study that concluded the town would benefit from a citizen’s group devoted solely to local environmental issues, as well as a conservation commission to protect its stream corridors.
She drove the creation of a Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) for the township — a process that took 10 years. In 1988, the NRI was adopted as an appendix to the township master plan.
Yanai was the driving force behind an Open Space Inventory for Moorestown’s first Open Space Committee. She also helped bring about the Moorestown Environmental Advisory Committee, as well as an ordinance protecting the township’s stream corridors.
In 2017, Yanai’s husband, Steve, donated $25,000 to the township to create the parking lot on Garwood Road in hopes to bring more residents to frequent the preserve, as reported in the Moorestown Sun.
Steve described his wife as a courageous and passionate woman who spent 40 years advocating for Moorestown to maintain its open spaces. They met in Minneapolis where he was a graduate student and she was a social worker. They were married in 1956 and moved to Moorestown in 1958. They have two daughters and a granddaughter. When Steve died in 2021, his obituary noted he was proud to be known as “Esther’s husband.”
The parking lot today holds up to six parking spots. In 2020, STEM purchased and installed a bench in honor of Esther and Steve Yanai.
In 2021, the youth group of the First United Methodist Church in Moorestown completed trail improvements at Esther Yanai Preserve. Four elevated walkways were added to help walkers navigate through some of the wetter areas of the preserve. A second set of bridges were installed by Justin Nicolik as part of his Eagle Scout project.
Additionally, some sections of the trails were re-routed to move the trails out of wet areas and onto higher ground.
Anyone can park in the parking lot on Garwood Road and experience the sights and sounds of nature as they traverse the 34-acre Esther Yanai Preserve. Open dusk to dawn, look out for the hearts and carvings drawn on tree trunks.
“Certainly, Moorestown bears [Esther Yanai’s] indelible mark,” Byers said as she ends her “State We’re In” column, “but she can be found everywhere volunteers are working at the grassroots level to protect and enhance their local environment!”
STEM members are doing just that as they continue Yanai’s advocacy. Among the description and trail map inside the wooden kiosk at the Esther Yanai Preserve is information about STEM. To find out more about STEM and how you can help preserve, protect, and enhance Moorestown’s preserved open spaces, visit www.stemonline.org.
