To make sure paradise isn't lost, Goehner-Jacobs, her husband, David, and six more core volunteers - including Donna Moffett and Robyn Jeney - together spend about 3,100 hours a year working on behalf of SWCA.
Bit by incremental bit, their labor of love is paying off. The woods are not only protected from development, but are slowly being restored to a more natural condition. And while some locals still believe townhouses should have been built there, as a recent letter in a local weekly insisted, public support for SWCA seems strong.
Every year, about 100 volunteers bolster the work of the core group by helping raise money, remove invasive weeds, reintroduce native plants, and collect trash, including (so far) 300 tons of concrete. I like to help out during the spring and fall cleanups; grassroots stewardship of a precious public space like Saddler's Woods is, to say the least, a big job.
"We are the eyes and ears of the Woods," Goehner-Jacobs tells about 30 people at the Welcome Area for a cleanup last Saturday. Volunteers from corporate sponsors (Subaru, REI), along with public officials (including Peter Kroll of the Township Environmental Commission) and longtime supporters like Charlie Sedor grab gloves and tools.
A junior at Cherokee High School, where he recently performed in Les Miserables, Sedor has been an SWCA member for four years.
"Today we're doing the dirty work," says the 17-year-old Marlton resident, one of a crew of five working just downstream from where Newton Creek emerges from the ground.
"We're [taking] concrete and debris out," Sedor says, pausing with his wheelbarrow. "You never know what you're going to find. It's a never-ending battle."
![Volunteers (from left) Jason Crain, Charlie Sedor, Matt Williams, and Emily Vernamonti haul chunks of concrete from a stream. "We're [taking] concrete and debris out," Sedor says. "You never know what you're going to find. It's a never-ending battle."](http://media.philly.com/images/600*450/20100608_inq_jriordan08z-a.JPG "Volunteers (from left) Jason Crain, Charlie Sedor, Matt Williams, and Emily Vernamonti haul chunks of concrete from a stream. \"We're [taking] concrete and debris out,\" Sedor says. \"You never know what you're going to find. It's a never-ending battle.\"")
