November 5, 2025
Update from Mayor Bill Zeigler
Our friends and neighbors on the Leonia Environmental Commission are doing tremendous work, and I want to offer special thanks to Chair Karen Marx and Councilman Christoph Hesterbrink, who successfully applied for and received a grant from ANJEC (the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions) and VEOLIA for Highwood Hills.
In the late 1970’s Highwood Hills was being considered for development as apartments. Fortunately, the majority of the Mayor and Council at the time disabused that notion and kept it as a natural wilderness with Green Acres protections. If our development of the northeast section of town is any indication of what can happen when 100% residential development is undertaken (at least as it relates to increases in educational and municipal service costs), then we can thank our lucky stars we dodged that bullet with the notable support of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.
We will be using this ANJEC grant to improve signage and add another path. We invite you to enjoy these woods. Dogs on leash are welcome. The entrance is at the intersection of Paulin Blvd. and Highwood Avenue.
We will be holding volunteer work days to spread wood chips on the paths and would appreciate any help we can get. Please check out the Environmental Commission’s webpages on the Leonia Borough website. There you will find a lot of information including how you can reduce waste and increase recycling. We will be adding a Highwood Hills specific page soon.
If you want to volunteer for the next Highwood Hills project events, please click HERE.