Saddle Mountain
Highlands of northern Passaic County
400 acres

Located north of Snake Den Road of Norvin Green State Forest and south of Lake Sonoma; it is southwest of the Wanaque Reservoir.

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee excluded this area by block and lot number from a bill appropriating $12 million dollars to help non-profit groups buy open space. No one is saying who requested the change. But Senator McNamara said they he would remove the prohibition.

The mountain is owned by the Braen family. The family bought the land from several private owners in 1990. The family operates several quarries in North Jersey. The family says they want to build a golf course on the mountain. It is thought that the golf course is a ruse for mining stone from the mountain.

In 1998 the Braen family closed their part of the Hewitt-Butler Trail.

Info from Bruno Tedeschi and Jan Barry, "Forest left off list for saving: Politics seen shaping plans." The Record, February 28, 2000. P. A-1 and A-7.