Pinelands Preservation Alliance has established special dedicated funds to support specific work we do. We welcome contributions directed to these funds. Because of the way we reserve these funds for specific work, we ask that dedicated contributions be in the amount of $500 or more.
Brendan T. Byrne Fund for the Pinelands
Former governor Byrne was truly the father of the Pinelands, because, as governor at a key point in time, he put his great political talents and prestige behind winning passage of the Pinelands Protection Act in 1979. And he remained a staunch advocate for the Pinelands until his death in 2018. With Governor Byrne’s blessing and support, we created this endowment fund in his honor. This fund has already helped PPA create Pinelands Adventures to show thousands of people each year the beauty and wonder of the Pinelands, renovate the historic barn on our headquarters property so we can welcome more and more people to learn about PPA and the Pinelands, and increase PPA’s strategic reserve to ensure we can always be here, in good times and bad, defending the Pinelands.
Pinelands Legal Defense Fund
This fund is dedicated to helping PPA cover the costs of attorney and expert fees when – as happens all too often – we need to challenge bad development permits issued by the Pinelands Commission or Department of Environmental Protection in order to protect rare species habitats, the aquifer and other natural resources of the Pinelands. This fund has played a key role in enabling PPA to hire expert witnesses to analyze and submit testimony on proposals like the South Jersey Gas pipeline proposed for the Pinelands Forest Area – a project we were ultimately able to defeat. Since we never really know when this kind of legal and consulting work will be needed, it is essential to have funds ready to hand at any moment. That is the purpose of this fund.
Pinelands Education Fund
When we created Pinelands Adventures, we made a commitment to provide schools and community service organizations with guided nature trips at whatever cost each can afford, including for free. We have met that commitment and provided thousands of young people from all walks of life with wonderful, potentially life-altering experiences in the Pinelands. Through the Pinelands Education Fund, we seek gifts and grants to enable Pinelands Adventures to continue offering free and subsidized trips.
Michael and Caroline Huber Fund for Pinelands Science and Policy
This fund was created in 2019 with an initial gift from Robert and Joan Rechnitz in honor Mike Huber, PPA’s beloved founding board chairman who passed away in 2009, and Caroline, who remains a great supporter of our work. This fund is dedicated to paying the costs of holding symposia, lectures and workshops that meld good science with good policy, since we can only get the policy right if we understand the causes of problems facing the Pinelands – and the likely consequences of different possible responses to those problems. It may not be glamorous, but the Pinelands protection program was always based on the best available conservation science, and we believe every conversation about how to protect the Pinelands today and into the future needs to arise from rigorous scientific analysis. With the Huber Fund, PPA can now bring experts from around the continent to participate in vital policy discussions.
Four Star Charity
PPA received its second consecutive 4-star “exceptional” rating in the Charity Navigator rating system as a nonprofit organization that “exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause.” This is their highest possible rating and was received in 2020.
