Forest once set for a cut is safe in Haddon Twp.

This article originally published in The Inquirer on April 23, 2003.

For the tree folks, it was a sweet Earth Day victory.

Last night, Haddon Township adopted a conservation easement that will preserve the MacArthur Tract, an old-growth forest that for months was the subject of demonstrations, bitter debate and political maneuvering.

An easily missed jewel sandwiched between shopping centers and a high-rise apartment building, the land will be set aside “for the gentle use, enjoyment, and appreciation by local residents and visitors.”

The move was made by the same township commissioners who once drew national attention for their plan to clear-cut a quarter of the centuries-old forest of tulip poplars, beeches and oaks to build soccer fields.

The difference, some say, is that it is election season and that more than a year of protests by environmentalists and neighbors wore the panel down.

Commissioners have also said the cost of putting athletic fields on the MacArthur Tract turned out to be too steep - more than $1 million. Officials will look elsewhere for space to accommodate the community’s burgeoning youth sports association.

The township earlier backed off another unpopular plan that would have placed fields next to Saddlertown, a tiny, historically African American section that is already home to a number of municipal-service complexes.

Whistles and applause broke out when the easement was unanimously adopted at a meeting attended by people poring over the voluminous easement document, some wearing “Save the Trees” T-shirts.

Resident David Jacobs was jubilant.

“This is exceptional,” he said, smiling. “Everyone’s going to be happy with this.”

Mark Dill, one of the most visible proponents of preserving the plot, called the move “an important first step.”

The easement applies to the 15 acres owned by the township. It does not affect the 13 acres behind Paul VI High School owned by the Diocese of Camden, but that ground may be purchased and incorporated into the larger MacArthur Tract.

Kathy Hogan, a lawyer who used to work for the federal Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, drafted the easement. She sits on the new township Environmental Commission - and is running on Mayor Bill Park’s slate of township candidates.

She said she had reviewed easements around the country and talked to numerous residents before writing Haddon Township’s. The result, she said, is an “innovative, contemporary” document that considers residents’ desires for the property.

It bans off-road vehicles and skateboards in the forest, and prohibits the removal of any native plant or vegetation. Biking is permitted on approved paths only.

Many easements look to an outside nonprofit to oversee the properties they regulate. The MacArthur Tract will be regulated by the township Environmental Commission.

“Because so many people are so passionate about the preservation of the MacArthur Tract, this keeps the whole operation in-house,” Hogan said. “Residents can come to the township and voice any concerns.”

Any attempts to develop or alter the parcel will require judicial proceedings.

Environmental Commission members will come up with a complete inventory of the site and issue recommendations about its preservation.

In some ways, the athletic-field threat was a boon for the ancient trees. Before the flap, trash and weeds marred the forest. Now a well-organized group cares for the trees, organizes tours, and coordinates art nights, poetry readings, and other community events there.

Janet Goehner-Jacobs, who with husband David Jacobs maintains a Web site devoted to the tract, invited residents at the meeting to a tree-planting on Friday. New trees, she said, will ward off invasive plants that might harm the ancient ones.

“What better way,” she asked, “is there to celebrate this motion for the easement?”