Several years ago Washington Crossing Audubon Society received a generous bequest from the late Polly Holden to be used for conservation and environmental education. Our objective for providing grants from the Holden Fund is to assist individuals and organizations in advancing conservation and environmental education through initiatives broadly related to birdlife. The 2014-2015 Holden Grant Award winners are:

The 2016 Holden Grant recipients are:

D & R Greenway: to place interpretive signs at three of their preserves, Cider Mill Grassland Preserve, Sourland Ecosystem Preserve, and Cedar Ridge Preserve, which are grassland, interior forest, and mixed fields and woods, respectively.

Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space: to help fund a Copperhead radio tracking research project at Baldpate Mountain to search for a den or dens of this species of conservation concern.

Friends of Taylor Wildlife Reserve: for materials for a boardwalk extension to make a Taylor Wildlife Preserve marsh trail more accessible to birders.

NJ Audubon: to continue improving the Plainsboro Preserve for Eastern Bluebirds and for continuing their five-year Bluebird box monitoring program.

NJ Conservation Foundation: for photographic equipment to make a short film on Red Knots, part of a series of short films for education purposes, called The Creature Show. The photographic equipment will also be used for future episodes of The Creature Show.

Splash: to buy optical equipment, binoculars and a spotting scope and tripod, for a children’s Birding on the Delaware River class offered on their floating classroom, Splash.