FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Capt. Bill Sheehan

Springfield, NJ – Last evening at the prestigious Baltusrol Golf Club, Hackensack Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan was honored at the bi-annual awards dinner of the Garden Club of America. Representing the national organization's Zone IV, the twelve clubs in New Jersey presented Capt. Sheehan with a plaque acknowledging his "…dedicated and inspiring commitment to preserve and protect the remaining Hackensack Meadowlands for future generations."

Since 1999, New Jersey's Garden Clubs have taken a major role in advocating for the establishment of a wildlife refuge in the Meadowlands, reaching out to their members throughout New Jersey. In so doing, literally thousands of people have been educated about the marsh and have been energized to advocacy on its behalf. "It's great when the Governor gets letters from Little Ferry or Rutherford about the Meadowlands," said Capt. Sheehan, "But letters from Summit and Rumson tell him that even more people care."

One surprise during the evening's festivities was the announcement that the Hackensack Riverkeeper Eco-Cruise Program had been voted "Favorite Program" by the Club's membership. "Over the past few years, we've had the pleasure of taking literally hundreds of Garden Club folks out into the Meadowlands," said Capt. Sheehan, "This year is no different; in fact we need both boats (the 15-passenger pontoon cruisers "Robert H. Boyle" and "Edward Abbey") to take the Rumson Club out next month." The popular Eco-Cruises are available for individuals and groups to take advantage of from May through October.

Also feted at the event was Julia Sommers, Executive Director of the Great Swamp Watershed Association based in New Vernon, NJ. The site of a 7,500-acre National Wildlife Refuge in Morris and Somerset Counties, the Great Swamp is practically a freshwater version of the Meadowlands, complete with much of the same wildlife (ducks, herons, raptors, etc.) and many of the same problems (nonpoint-source pollution, sprawl development, etc.) As inscribed on their awards, Ms. Sommers and Capt. Sheehan were cited for their "significant contribution to conservation" in New Jersey.

"It's no coincidence that people who garden care about places like the Meadowlands," said Capt. Sheehan, "They have an affinity with the land and a connection to the rhythms of nature - things that are all too often lost amid the hustle and bustle of our Twenty-first Century existence."