Great Swamp Watershed Association Names New Executive Director, Joan G. Fischer of Chester Township

The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) today announced the appointment of a new Executive Director, Joan G. Fischer, Esq., of Chester Township. Mrs. Fischer will fill the vacancy left when former Executive Director Julia Somers accepted a position with the Highlands Coalition after serving as GSWA Executive Director for 14 years.

Mrs. Fischer comes to the GSWA from her Executive Director position with the Raritan Highlands Compact, a non-profit conservation organization comprised of nine Morris County municipalities, the County of Morris, and several planning and water resource entities. Before that she was a consultant to the Highlands Coalition where she conducted an outreach project for preservation of the Highlands Region, and to New Jersey Conservation Foundation. She is serving her third term as a Councilman in Chester Township and is also a longtime member of their Planning Board. Mrs. Fischer also serves on the Morris County Open Space Committee.

Mrs. Fischer has in the past engaged in the private practice of law and has served as a municipal prosecutor and as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.

Mrs. Fischer says she views the position with the GSWA as an exciting step forward in her professional life. ”I am eager to begin work with the GSWA because it will draw on all my previous legal, municipal, land use and project management experience and skills. I will strive to educate all who are lucky enough to enjoy the region of the GSWA that our mission is to preserve the quality of the water that we all drink and the beauty and recreational value of the watershed properties that we all enjoy. I want the mission of the GSWA to become personal and philosophical goals for members of our communities.“

Dan Harding of Basking Ridge, Chairman of the GSWA Board of Trustees, says the Association is delighted with the appointment. “Joan is well-known and widely respected in the New Jersey environmental community. She brings a wealth of land use experience and valuable environmental credentials to the Watershed Association.”

Mrs. Fischer was selected following an extensive executive search among many individuals throughout the environmental and conservation community in the state.

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25 Years of Protecting Water & Land In Your Town!

Founded in 1981, the Great Swamp Watershed Association, headquartered in Harding Township, NJ, is committed to protecting drinking water and preserving land to maintain the natural beauty and livability of your town. Celebrating 25 years of service as a non-profit organization, the Association relies on membership and contributions in its advocacy for the ecological health of the 36,000 acres of the watershed. For information on membership and upcoming events, visit the website at www.greatswamp.org. Anyone interested in supporting the Great Swamp Watershed Association may call Ruth Kerkeslager at 973-538-3500.
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