Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF) is Monmouth’s only county-wide land trust. Founded in 1977 by Michael Huber and Judith Stanley Coleman as a 501(c)(3), Monmouth Conservation Foundation has been preserving land and protecting the natural habitat of Monmouth County for over 46 years.

MCF is steadfastly dedicated to ensuring a permanent legacy of open space and natural habitat throughout the county. As more farmland and open space are developed into residential communities or commercial properties, the unique character of our community becomes compromised.

This is where MCF comes in, forming crucial beneficial partnerships by serving as a facilitator and/or partner among public and private entities. Our objective is to preserve land by determining how a property will be best preserved and utilized so the public-at-large benefits.

An example embodying MCF’s work is Flemer Entities (formerly Princeton Nurseries). Located in Upper Freehold Township in western Monmouth County, this expanse of land, at 1,200 acres, was the largest single piece of farmland in the county.

MCF and its partners facilitated an arrangement whereby 422 acres of the property were added to the county’s Crosswicks Creek Park, another 506 acres created a new state wildlife management area, and the balance was preserved as farmland.

Another project, completed in 2011 in Middletown, saved 30 acres of what had been the Coe estate on Sleepy Hollow Road and a former private residence, now a home and working farm for autistic young adults. This acquisition also protected a Category 1 stream flowing into the Navesink River.

Additionally MCF recognizes the importance of acquiring and creating small pockets of open space in under-served local neighborhoods of Monmouth County. Our Springwood Avenue Park project in Asbury Park is an example of how MCF is expanding its focus to include providing an oasis of green for underprivileged families who lack the resources and ability to access open space in other areas of Monmouth County. 

Monmouth County’s 665 square miles is known for its beauty and diversity of flora, fauna and topography. Our county offers a rich blend of rural, suburban and urban lifestyles that make it one of the most desirable areas on the East Coast for people to live and raise families. That desirability is due, in large measure, to successfully protecting open space and avoiding the sprawl and density that have plagued other counties. 

MCF’s ongoing efforts to preserve land and protect our county’s fragile ecosystem benefit both those currently living in the area and those who will call the county home in the future.

Preservation is no longer just about protecting our land and natural habitat; it is also essential to protecting our health and well-being and that of future generations. Our ongoing charge remains defending these extraordinary resources and refuges from development and exploitation.

We have much to do and only a small window of opportunity in which to do it. With your help we can continue to move forward on many critical projects that will create new parks, expand recreational resources and preserve farmland throughout Monmouth County.

PLEASE JOIN OUR MISSION.