Earth Day Marked in Haddon Township's 'Urban Forest'

The Saddler's Woods Conservation Association marked Earth Day Saturday by turning out more than 100 volunteers to clear invasive weeds and debris from Haddon Township's "urban forest."

The 25-acre tract off of MacAurthur Boulevard surrounds the headwater spring of the main branch of Newton Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River. The land was once owned by a former, runaway slave, Joshua Saddler, who bought it from a family of Haddonfield Quakers he worked for after escaping from a Maryland plantation.

In 1868, his will stated that none of his heirs "shall cut the timber thereon." The trees are now among the oldest in the nation.

Saddler's Woods Conservation Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education, restoration and research of Saddler's Woods.