In 1951, Jim and Betty Woodford bought a 185-acre parcel of land, in what were then the wilds of Medford Township, to use as a summer getaway. They quickly fell in love with the beauty of the Pinelands and decided to live at Cedar Run full time. By 1957 they built their first home with a view of the lake and founded Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge. Betty became a local authority on the flora and fauna of the NJ Pinelands and quickly began teaching others what she knew.
Over the next 40 years, Betty and Jim devoted their lives to Pinelands preservation, environmental education, and wildlife rehabilitation. Betty became an expert botanist, naturalist, nature photographer, and wildlife rehabilitator. She was renowned for her Pinelands education programs. In 1997 the Woodford’s ultimate dream was realized when a Green Acres grant preserved Cedar Run’s land and buildings for future generations.
Today, Cedar Run is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of New Jersey’s wildlife and habitats through education, conservation, and rehabilitation. Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge sits on 171 wooded acres on the edge of the New Jersey Pinelands. Cedar Run includes the Woodford Nature Center, an outdoor Wildlife Housing Area with nearly 60 native residents, and a Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital. The overall mission of Cedar Run is to serve as a community resource on the importance of protecting and enhancing healthy ecosystems for all.
To that end, Cedar Run engages in: ecologically based land management; the operation of a Federally and NJ State licensed hospital facility that cares for more than 5,000 injured, orphaned, or displaced native wildlife each year; the education of over 20,000 students annually through our various on-site and outreach programs; and serves as an active resource to the greater New Jersey community on all wildlife and habitat-related questions and issues.
To learn more about Cedar Run, visit their website at cedarrun.org and/or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.