Sourland Mountain Preserve Expands By 59 More Acres

Hillsborough, NJ -- The Sourland Mountain Preserve will be expanding by 59 acres with a nearly $2 million purchase by Somerset County and Montgomery Township.

The land, located at the intersection of Pleasant View Road and Route 601, is being purchased from owner Bryce W. Thompson IV, for $1,999,200. It is nestled between Hillsborough and Montgomery.

Montgomery Township has agreed to contribute 30 percent of the purchase price towards Somerset County’s acquisition of the property, from its open space fund.

Primarily an open farm with areas of woodland, the property will remain in its existing state forever and will become part of the county’s Sourland Mountain Preserve, bringing the total preserve area to 6,150 acres.

Somerset County’s land management plans to continue farming on the land. Last year soybeans were grown. 

“Like many residents, my family and I moved to Montgomery in part because of the open space, the farmland and the incredible Sourland Mountain Preserve,” stated Freeholder Mark Caliguire, a former Montgomery mayor in a release. “I’m proud to say that Somerset County continues its successful open space preservation program that has received bipartisan support for many years.”

More than 35 percent of Montgomery Township is preserved as open space.

In 2012, the county purchased 256 acres from Carrier Clinic (175 acres in Montgomery and the remainder in Hillsborough), which is adjacent to the Thompson property. 

Montgomery Township is now working to acquire an additional 15 acres nearby on the opposite side of Route 601, as well as several other tracts of land throughout the community.

(Photo 2 Courtesy of Montgomery Township)