Bergen SWAN, Neighbor

Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network is a non-profit educational foundation dedicated to the protection and good stewardship of the riparian lands surrounding the reservoirs of the Hackensack River. It has been in operation since 1988. From our beginnings Bergen SWAN has been aggressively pursuing the preservation of the watershed buffer forests around our drinking water reservoirs. To date, we have helped protect from development over 3,300 acres of woods and wetlands, and over 300 acres of golf courses. While we continue to fight for the permanent protection of the last remaining open spaces in our region, we are increasingly turning our focus to developing stewardship and educational programs that ensure the long-term sustainability of our watershed.

The narrow, protective, forest buffers around our reservoirs represent some of the only unbroken stretches of woods in an intensely populated, increasingly urban area. These watershed buffers are a critical link to sound watershed management for the Upper Hackensack, helping to maintain safe drinking water quality for nearly 1 million Bergen and Hudson County residents in New Jersey and in Rockland County, New York.