Your Land & Water for February 2026

What's in this issue? A brand new tract of land has been preserved and it's got a poetic piece of history attached!

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LAUREL LAKE PRESERVE & WALT WHITMAN

On January 16, 2026, South Jersey Land & Water Trust conserved a 3.5-acre remnant of woods along Laurel Lake in Laurel Springs, New Jersey, where Walt Whitman once found enduring inspiration, and where generations of children have “played in the woods.” We believe the “Good Gray Poet” would be jubilant!

Our newly established Laurel Lake Preserve.  Photo courtesy of Dan Merton

Preserving in perpetuity the “green island” where Bald Eagles now forage had been the

private owners’ overriding goal since 2010. Now, 100 years after the late Herman Kuehner

acquired the acreage, and 16 years after three of his grandchildren set out to find an ideal

steward for this urban wildlife oasis, its long-sought conservation was finally achieved. The land has been permanently preserved through the efforts of the South Jersey Land & Water Trust with funding provided by New Jersey Green Acres and Camden County Open Space, and the acreage conveyed to the Trust — an idyllic outcome that exceeds the family’s nascent vision for the precious parcel.  

The acquisition of the lakefront sanctuary named “Laurel Lake Preserve” sets aside the

only remaining Open Space on Laurel Lake (which also rims the boroughs of Lindenwold

and Stratford), establishes the only public access to the lake, and brings the number of

projects completed by SJLWT since 1991 to 36 — accounting for more than 2,500 Open

Space acres. (Laurel Lake is part of Big Timber Creek, which is slated for restoration under the National Park Service program called River Town Review.)

The towering woods and lake attract birds in every season. Lifelong Laurel Springs

resident, project adviser and Field Guide Lloyd Shaw notes that many northern species

consider the mid-Atlantic locale a wintering destination: “A handsome flock of Hooded Mergansers returned in December and were quite content until the lake froze in mid-January. Other species who hang out in winter include Mallards, American Widgeons and

Gadwall, but when the lake freezes, they all move further south.”

Hooded Merganser's (Lophodytes cucullatus) Photo by Libby Burtner

Yet there’s never a scarcity of birds. “I see Bald Eagles frequently — it’s actually more unusual not to see them. One appeared overhead on January 16 just as I was reading a text announcing the woods had been preserved! And while I can’t always spot them, the hoots of the Great-horned Owl and shrieks of the Eastern Screech Owl alert me to their year-round presence. As I always say, I’m never disappointed when I walk these woods in winter.” 

Photo courtesy of Tom Smith

Saving the enchanting woodland from development is a fitting tribute to the iconic Bard, who spent many summers here, immersing himself in Nature, and drawing on it as his muse. It was Whitman's habit to leave his Camden City home in early spring to “go down to the woods,” making the 12-odd mile journey east on the White Horse Pike via various manner of 19th-century transport to arrive at what is now the Borough of Laurel Springs. After settling in for the season with his friends the Staffords in their Maple Avenue farmhouse (now designated the historic Whitman Stafford House), he’d while away his days creek-side, “loafing,” jotting his “garrulous notes” and observing Nature most intimately.

It’s widely acknowledged that Whitman penned much of his powerful, most enduring works in this locale in his prolific twilight years, writing notable portions of Specimen Days here, and drawing inspiration for significant additions to Leaves of Grass. He also shared the joy he took in walking the banks of Laurel Lake — which he deemed “the prettiest lake in America or Europe” — and the beauty of the surrounding woods and springs in effusive letters written to an international cast of friends.

Our newest preserve borders Laurel Lake, which is part of Big Timber Creek. Photo courtesy of Dan Merton

Whitman’s much beloved woodland is a rare remnant of the now near-relic Inner Coastal

Plain Forest as it existed in his day. Wildlife rely on it and, like the Bard, locals seek out

these woods for solace, renewal and the pure joy of communing with Nature. Protecting

and conserving this significant pocket of Open Space in a built-out borough was therefore especially important to SJLWT. Roughly 80 percent of Americans reside in urban areas. The Global Pandemic underscored the need to include accessible green space in our lives. Preserving green space within cities and towns (or converting and restoring vacant land) is a growing trend that Laurel Lake Preserve embodies, and that Whitman himself would celebrate.

Leafing through Specimen Days, compiled by the Bard from a box of copious notes “jotted in the woods” over seven or so summers, yields a trove of dated, diary-like entries that lend inspiration to our collective conservation work, and to anyone who loves the earth. To wit:  

April 6, 1877

“Palpable spring indeed, or indications of it. I am sitting in bright sunshine at the edge of the creek, the surface just rippled by the wind. All is solitude, morning freshness, negligence. For companions my two kingfishers sailing, winding, darting, dipping, sometimes capriciously separate, then flying together. I hear their guttural twittering again and again; for awhile nothing but that peculiar sound. As noon approaches other birds warm up.” — Walt Whitman, "Specimen Days," Big Timber Creek

Walt Whitman 1819-1892

When venturing out on the trails with South Jersey Land & Water Trust in any season, here at Laurel Lake Preserve or at other protected tracts, think of Whitman’s words:

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,

If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.”   

“Song of Myself“ Verse 52

“The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” — Walt Whitman

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*This article was crafted from whitmanwoods.org website content with thanks to its author Elizabeth Smith, who represented her family’s legacy property as project manager before SJLWT recently acquired it.

How can you get involved?

• Attend free SJLWT walks and workshops, and stay informed about upcoming social events and fundraisers by signing up for our monthly newsletter at sjlandwater.org and becoming a South Jersey Land & Water Trust member.

• Volunteer as a Friend of Laurel Lake Preserve under Field Guide Lloyd Shaw, who will lead removal of invasive plants and share insights about the myriad birds inhabiting the woods.

• Contact Michael Hogan, hoganphoto@verizon.net, Program Manager, or 609-476-2086.

• If you would like to help seed the endowment for Laurel Lake Preserve’s ongoing care, snail-mail your donation to Christine Nolan, Executive Director, SJLWT, 21 Main Street, Swedesboro, NJ 08085 with a note or letter that states that your donation is earmarked for the “LLP Endowment”.