Before Mary Louise Blanchard retires this year, she wants to leave her community with one environmental message: plan for your future.
"You have to plan to preserve what you want to preserve in your community. It takes sitting down, talking, and actually planning what you want to achieve," she said recently.
Mary Louise has been involved in Harding's planning almost since the moment she moved here with her husband, Merce, and two sons 20 years ago. She headed the task force to create an historic district in town in 1976. Mary Louise and Merce together ran Harding's recycling program "on an interim basis" for eight years, until the state's 1986 recycling mandate. A member of Harding Township's Planning Board for 13 years, Mary Louise is in her third year as Chair. She also chaired Harding's Environmental Commission and is Assistant Director of ANJEC (Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions).
Since the 1980s, Harding Township has been faced with astronomical increases in land prices and the subsequent development of equally large homes. If there has been one goal to her community activism, Mary Louise says it has been to "elevate awareness" that environmental resources must be protected to retain the community's character and attraction. Harding's largest open spaces are Jockey Hollow and Great Swamp.
During Mary Louise's tenure, Harding Township has created a "practical, do-able" Open Space Greenway Plan, focusing on stream corridor protection and conservation easements. The Township Master Plan and the Route 202 corridor have been analyzed for ways to protect environmental resources including the Passaic River, Primrose Brook, Great Swamp, open space and trees.
Most recently, Harding Township drafted a model stormwater management ordinance that focuses not only on water quality, but on water quantity. The proposed ordinance, modeled on GSWA's stormwater management ordinance, may be realized within 3 months.
Her years in community service have taught Mary Louise that the most important element in community activism is public involvement. "The power of the people is the most important product we have in a democracy," she said. "If you're concerned, get involved right in your community. One person can make a difference. It starts right in your own town."--- Mary Stober, Great Swamp Watershed Association