One person can really make a difference

When the Port Authority wanted to build a new jetport in the Great Swamp, it sounded like a good idea to some people. After all, no one else could afford to turn that swamp into a productive land use that would serve the entire region, and this site would allow the PA to build the world's largest airport. But, what most people failed to recognize in 1959 was that the Great Swamp was already a highly productive and deeply unique resource. The Great Swamp is a critically important piece of habitat that also serves as a recreational hub and an aesthetic centerpiece for a large portion of New Jersey's bedroom communities.

One woman, Helen Fenske, saw the intrinsic value in the landscapes of the Great Swamp and stood up to the Port Authority. She started a committee to fight the project and led a rapidly growing group to a new form of activism. ultimately, the efforts of her group led to the defeat of the port Authority (a first) and the creation of the Great Swamp Natural Wildlife Refuge. After that she helped create the DEP and establish programs like Green Acres and wetlands protections.

One of the news accounts sums it up pretty well: "She was ahead of everybody on so many things," [Abagail] Fair added of Mrs.Fenske's influence on the environmental movement. "She was a tactical lady. She brought us up to where she was. She was an amazing lady."

Helen Fenske has died, but her mark on the landscape of New Jersey remains as a real treasure. She is being remembered for a long list of accomplishments and, most importantly, how she taught us so much about what we could each accomplish if only we set out to do it.