NY-NJ Trail Conference...

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Long Distance Trail Coordinator for the Conference. Trail crews can deploy an arsenal of tools to control water flow and erosion: water bars, check dams, puncheon (a low plank bridge), and puncheon’s big brother: the much-beloved bridge.

Though erosion presents a constant challenge, many parks suffer from an even more aggressive enemy. “The biggest problem here is probably the proliferation of invasive botanical species,” says Bob Jonas, currently Co-Supervisor of Morristown National Historical Park alongside his wife, Estelle Anderson. Invasives choked the trails when they first arrived as Co-Chairs of the Central North Jersey Committee in 2008. A three-year concerted effort helped fight back the worst of it, ensuring wider trails and reduced regrowth. “They’re very prolific,” he says. “So it’s a constant job, really.”

The Conference focuses on about a dozen particularly aggressive invasive species in NJ, including barberry, Japanese stiltgrass, and multiflora rose.

Training is also a major component of the Conference’s work: they offer rigorous apprenticeship programs for their certified sawyers as well as practical training and experience for their Conservation Corps members. “We’re really training the next generation of environmental conservationists and leaders,” Nester, the Community Outreach Coordinator, says.

All of this work is accomplished in partnership with federal, state, local, and private entities, as the Trail Conference doesn’t own any land itself and must seek permission from land managers in order to service the trails.

In the case of long distance trails, this might require conversation with literally dozens of land owners. The Conference serves three long-distance trails: the NY-NJ section of the Appalachian Trail, which it maintains alongside the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and two trails that it designs and leads: the 358-mile Long Path and the 180-mile Highlands Trail.

The Highlands Trail is of particular importance to NJ because it passes through the federally recognized Highlands Region, which occupies less than 15% of the state while providing over 70% of its population with drinking water. By connecting separately owned pieces of the Highlands Region into one landscape, says Cole, the Long Distance Trail Coordinator, the Highlands Trail helps preserve NJ’s water and air quality while offering opportunities for recreation, as well as justification for preserving individual parcels of natural land.

If certain land is considered historically significant, several entities must approve major maintenance projects before the Conference can proceed. Anderson, Co-Supervisor of Morristown National Historical Park, notes the historical importance of the land she maintains: over 7,000 of George Washington’s troops were stationed at Jockey Hollow throughout the terrible winter of 1779-80 during the Revolutionary War. Every pile of rocks “could have been an encampment,” she says. “It could have been a fireplace, it could have been a foundation.”

The result: digging and moving rocks is not permitted in the park without approval from the State Historic Preservation Office, the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and the Northeast Region Archeology Program. But Anderson and Jonas are undeterred. They’ve made a list of twenty trail signposts that they’d like to replace or service, as soon as approval and warmer weather arrive.

The Trail Conference enjoys a harmonious relationship with land managers and park staff. As a volunteer-run organization, the conference can perform necessary trail work that parks don’t have the time, personnel, or resources to do themselves. Liebmann, the Northwest NJ Trail Chair, recalls asking one park superintendent for her input about a tricky trail maintenance challenge. Her response: “Why are you asking me? You know the trails better than I do. What do you think?”

“And she’s right,” Liebmann says. “We’re on the trails all the time.”

This speaks to the especially vital role that the NY-NJ Trail Conference fills in NJ: our state allocates insufficient funds to its parks, leading to a lack of resources and park staff that many fear is unsustainable. In April 2022, ecologist Michael Van Clef, Ph.D. released the New Jersey State Lands Management Report assessing NJ’s public lands and resources. Clef depicts a dire picture of NJ’s state parks: the state’s operating budget for parks is one third of Pennsylvania’s and one sixth of New York’s, even as NJ state lands face more environmental pressures due to greater population density. Park staffing has been slashed to bare bone, with only fifteen Park Superintendents assigned to supervise fifty parks, and “invasive species control is virtually absent on park lands” due to a lack of personnel to tackle the job.

In short, NJ parks don’t have enough staff to do the continued on page 26

NJ Starz: Ariana Crowder

Hometown: Franklin Township

By Steve Sears

Former So You Think You Can Dance contestant, Ariana Crowder, traded sports for dance, and never looked back.

Crowder was, in her words, introverted as a child. Dance for her was a way of being expressive without having to speak. “It was kind of my way of communicating and expressing myself without having to use words,” she says. “It was kind of my own language. I felt more comfortable expressing myself that way than using words at that point. I think that’s what got me really interested (in dance) in the first place.”

Originally born and raised in Jersey City, Crowder lived with her parents in the upstairs portion of her grandparents’ home. “We were a very tight, close-knit family. I went to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Bayonne for a little bit, and then I actually started dancing with my very first dance classes at Ms. Hugette’s School of Dance, also in Bayonne. I was four-years-old.”

Sports – especially track, softball, and cheerleading - were her primary interests, however, up until the sixth grade. After that, her family moved from Hudson to Somerset County and Franklin Township. At Conerly Road School, she made many friends, and her interest in dance piqued. “I really liked growing up in Franklin,” Crowder states. “Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up. It’s super diverse, and I had great, supportive teachers; not just dance teachers, but teachers in school as well. I was very serious about my studies, being a good student while also dancing.”

Crowder attended a summer dance camp with Center Stage Dance and Theater School in East Brunswick, and it was there and then her love for dance was cemented. She joined a serious dance program for the school’s younger students, and practiced almost every day. “I started training a lot at a very young age, and I did all different styles. I started out with ballet, tap, and jazz, and then moved into hip hop and contemporary styles.” Crowder also took part in a lot of dance competitions during her young teen years, traveling throughout New Jersey primarily in the springtime, and then during the summer headed with the school to different states for national competitions.

Early on, a few people inspired her. One was Center Stage founder, George Warren. Crowder says, “He was really great about helping or getting my mom to understand that I did have a future and potential.” And then there was her teacher, Nadine Moody. “One of my first ballet teachers,” Crowder says. “She really sort of nurtured my hunger and passion when I was really young. She talked to my parents and told them, ‘She’s pretty good; keep her coming back to classes.”

Her mom, Stephanie, whom she refers to as her “Ride or die,” also encouraged her. “My mom wanted to make sure that I tried a bunch of different things, to really figure out what I was interested in, and what I gravitated towards the most,” Crowder recalls. “She gave me a lot of options. Once I found dance, that was the one thing that I was really excited about and wanted to keep doing. She’s been supportive throughout my entire life and journey as a dancer and my career. She had taken me to every single one of my dance classes and all of my auditions. Even when we struggled financially, she’d figure out a way for me to still take classes. I honestly would not have the career that I have now without my mom. I just love her so much and I’m so grateful for her. And I look up to her. If I ever have kids, I would just love to be like the mom she has been to me.” Crowder also has a close relationship with her younger brother, Eric. “We all always have each other’s backs, so I’m grateful for both of them.”

After moving on to Franklin Township High School, she studied at FUNKtion Dance Complex in Edison, and it was there that she learned how to dance hip hop and street jazz. Then, after attending Rider University in Lawrenceville as a Psychology major for one year, Crowder opted out of the institution. Plan “A” had to be embraced. “It was kind of interfering with my schedule with dancing and I was becoming more successful professionally with dance, so I decided to pursue that. I figured I’d go to school some other time later in life. The window for a dance career is much shorter because it is so athletic. I wanted to maximize time as a professional dancer.”

Crowder is best known for her time spent on the hit television competition show, So You Think You Can Dance. She competed during season 12 as a member of team “Street.” “It was a great experience,” Crowder says. “I learned so much. I met so many great dancers and choreographers. The season I was on it was ‘Stage’ versus ‘Street,’ and it was a competition between more classic styles like ballet and contemporary jazz versus more contemporary styles like hip hop.”

Crowder, when hearing that her friends were going to the initial audition for the show, on a whim joined them, and auditioned for the “Stage” side of the competition. She made it all the way through the initial rounds, and then met up with the portion of the show where she faced the three judges at the time, Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul, and Jason Derulo. They saw something on her dance resume that they found fascinating. “When I went in front of them to audition, they saw my dance history and that I did hip hop, and they made me freestyle on the spot. And I got through to the Las Vegas round, but they told me I had to pick a side to be on the show.” “Street” it was. “It was more of a strategic move just because on that show or with the history of that show a lot of times, hip hop dancers aren’t as well versed in choreography, they’re better at freestyling. I figured I had a better shot at getting on the show if I went on the ‘Street’ side since I am trained in so many different styles. It ended up working out.”

As for the competition. Crowder took a unique approach, not really preparing a full audition, but freestyling all throughout the entire process. Therefore, she went in minus jitters. “It was kind of like playing with house money,” she says. “I told myself. ‘I’ll just see what happens.’ And then I just kept making it through each round. I wasn’t really nervous. It was more just like, ‘This is a really cool experience and really fun, and I’m going to enjoy myself because I don’t know if this is ever going to happen again.”

Crowder made it to the top 14 before she was eliminated, but the competition and appearance on the show, coupled with her immense talent, opened many doors. She’s met many choreographers, learned many new dance styles, and, now living out on the west coast, has connected very heavily with the Los Angeles dance community. “It was a great experience – I really enjoyed it!”

As she moved on in her dance career, she has performed for and with some of the best. “I’ve danced for a few different artists: Chris Brown, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Katie Perry, Mary J. Blige, Emeli Sande, Aloe Blacc, and recently Shania Twain.” She also appeared in the film “Bolden,” a biopic about early jazz blues musician Buddy Bolden. She had done some teaching prior to leaving the Garden State, but since moving to LA, has also engaged in other things. “‘I’ve also started doing some commercial acting,” Crowder says. “I’m branching out a little bit now. I feel like LA is definitely good for television and film and the music industry. I’ve done a couple of music videos since I’ve been here, so it’s been nice. I loved growing up in New Jersey,” Crowder continues, “but I definitely appreciate LA and all its offerings, especially as an adult.”

As Crowder approaches her 30th birthday in April, she has some bucket list stuff on her agenda. “I am thinking about transitioning into more creative directing or choreographing where I’m not in front of the camera but more so behind the scenes,” she says. “I’m also in a serious relationship (her mate is Adam Beshara; “He’s one of my biggest supporters and biggest fans, so I love him very much,” Crowder says) and I would love to travel with my partner and my family and live abroad for a couple of years. I’m happy with my dance career and I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished, and I’m just continuing to accomplish new things and more things. I’ve started to discover new things that I’m interested in and new hobbies and new interests. That’s a good feeling, being a beginner at something again, since I’ve been dancing my whole life and I’ve honed that skill to as much perfection as I can. I’m currently just enjoying getting to know myself beyond just defining myself as a dancer.”