Millburn Woman Has Been Fighting For Environment For 50 Years

From The NJ Conservation Foundation: The New Jersey Conservation Foundation has announced the unanimous election of former Assemblywoman Maureen Ogden as an Honorary Trustee.

Ogden has been a strong advocate for the environment for over 50 years, and a New Jersey Conservation Foundation trustee since 2006, the group stated.

Ogden, a Millburn Township resident, began her environmental career as a volunteer at the Cora Hartshorne Arboretum in Short Hills. She then joined the Millburn Environmental Commission, was later elected to the Township Committee and served for three years as mayor. She was a New Jersey Assemblywoman from 1982 to 1996, where she headed the Environment Committee and championed legislation protecting freshwater wetlands, open space, endangered species, and water and air quality.

After leaving the Assembly, she became chair of the Governor’s Council on New Jersey Outdoors, tasked with assessing the state’s open space needs and recommending funding. Following a successful statewide open space referendum in 1998, she became the first chair of the Garden State Preservation Trust.

In addition to being a NJ Conservation Foundation trustee, she has also served as commissioner of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, member of Legacy Council of NJ Highlands Coalition and chair of the Conservation Committee of New Jersey Garden Clubs.

In 2014, New Jersey Conservation Foundation named a 228-acre nature preserve in Long Valley after Maureen. The Maureen Ogden Preserve sits high on the Schooley’s Mountain ridge and features mature forest, meandering streams, and forested wetlands.

Ogden joins other distinguished New Jersey Conservation Foundation Honorary Trustees: Catherine Cavanaugh and former Governors Brendan Bryne, James Florio, Thomas Kean, and Christine Todd Whitman.

Image Courtesy of NJ Conservation Foundation