Learn & Discover

Land Ethics Award

Purpose of Award:

The Land Ethics Award honors and recognizes the creative use of native plants in the landscape, sustainable and regenerative design, and ethical land management and construction practices.

Who is eligible for nomination:

Nominations may be private individuals, businesses, design professionals including landscape architects and site engineers, conservation and preservation organizations and local, state and federal agencies involved with environmental protection.  School groups may also be nominated for relevant team projects.

Individuals, non-profit organizations, government agencies, community groups, and business professionals are encouraged to apply. Application projects must be a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years old.

Judging/Selection Process:

The application has been extended to Sunday, February 2, 2020. The recipient will be selected by a jury of professionals in the field of design, preservation and conservation. Selections should be made by mid-February 2020. The Land Ethics Award will be presented at the Land Ethics Symposium on March 12, 2020.

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve held its 20th Annual Land Ethics Symposium: Creative Approaches for Ecological Landscaping, at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown on March 12, 2020. Attendees—both professionals and homeowners—participated in a day-long symposium dedicated to the sharing of best practices and new ideas to conserve and create native landscapes. 

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One highlight was the announcement of this year’s Land Ethics Awards, which honor and recognize the creative use of native plants in the landscape; sustainable and regenerative design; and ethical land management and construction practices.

With the recent push to revitalize the landscape on a more local and individual scale, this year’s judges chose winners whose actions reflect that ethos. No matter the size of your own landscape, BHWP encourages you to use native plants, exhibit a strong land ethic and promote sustainable designs that protect the environment.

This year’s award winners include:

Best Community Effort:

Lambertville Goes Wild

  Led by BHWP naturalist Mary Anne Borge, a two-year effort by this group of four women resulted last year in having the National Wildlife Federation recognize their hometown as a Community Wildlife Habitat—an endeavor that required planting over 60 new native gardens in the town. The previous year, they worked with the Lambertville Public School to implement a wildlife garden that its students planted in October 2018. Fueled by these successes, last year they also:

• Helped Lambertville Academy, a preschool, add a wildlife garden to its property;
• Helped the Lambertville Recreation Commission add a riparian buffer to the town’s Cavallo Park; and
• Planted a wildlife garden with 700 native herbaceous perennials at Lambertville’s North Union/Cherry Street Park—the first major improvement of this open space since its purchase in 2011.

Best Individual Effort:

Glenn Blakely

The Thompson-Neely Grist Mill played a strategic role in Gen. George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s crossing of the Delaware River. After being closed for more than 20 years, Glenn Blakely began leading a group of volunteers committed to restoring the mill, which borders the Preserve on Pidcock Creek. Blakely communicated regularly with the Preserve and provided ample notice of all activities to help ensure the survival of the precious native plants growing along the raceway and to make sure that all the work was carefully planned to minimize damage to the surrounding land. 

He constructed historically accurate sluice gates and relief valves in the raceway, allowing for the proper diversion of water to run the mill. In addition, Blakely restored the trail that runs along the mill race, making it a beautiful and peaceful walkway. Throughout his work he used native plants, and with the guidance of the Preserve’s curator, selected the appropriate species for the various areas in which he was working. With Its function restored, the mill is now regularly used for educational programming.

Best Large-Scale Project:

American Littoral Society

The American Littoral Society, in partnership with Princeton Hydro and other local stakeholders, worked to improve the health and water quality of the Schoolhouse Branch and the North Branch of the Metedeconk River and Barnegat Bay. 

The Metedeconk River flowing through Ocean County Park in Lakewood, NJ, was suffering from two major water quality impairments:  an excess of fecal coliform attributed to resident Canada geese and temperature impairment due to insufficient canopy cover. The remediation effort involved four linked green infrastructure projects in the park. These included: 

• a bioretention swale to absorb stormwater and filter out pollutants; 
• two curb-side tree boxes to capture intercept runoff and allow proper water infiltration; 
• two 250-square-foot floating wetland islands to annually remove an estimated 17 lbs. of phosphorus and over 550 lbs. of nitrogen; and 
• two living shorelines to filter runoff, improve habitat quality and protect against erosion.

The ALS also conducted a variety of educational programs to increase the public’s understanding of the importance of the projects and the biological BMP solutions. The resulting water quality improvements realized will benefit the water quality of both the Metedeconk River and the greater Barnegat Bay.

Project of Special Distinction:

Neshaminy Creek Watershed Association

The Neshaminy Creek Watershed Association completed extensive work to restore the Covered Bridge Trail in Tyler State Park. For over 18 months beginning in April 2018, the NCWA partnered with Bucks County Community College to transform this 5-acre site from an area loaded with invasive plants, such as multiflora rose, into a native woodland that met the essential needs of local wildlife. Working in both wet lowlands and dry uplands, the NCWA took great care selecting and planting 249 native trees, 40 shrubs and 80 perennials. In particular, they paid careful attention to the diversity of species, planting techniques and post-planting care.

Past Award Winners