The Coalition works at federal, state, and local levels to help its 110 conservation organization members preserve open space in the Highlands, a two-million acre greenway stretching across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
Prior to three years ago, O'Hearn worked in corporate communications for 18 years with business firms that had no connection to environmental protection.
But in his personal life, O'Hearn became involved with the environmental movement after college by joining preservation groups such as the Sierra club.
He became more active in the movement once moving to Ringwood in 1990 and fighting alongside the Sierra Club to preserve Sterling Forest from a proposed large development.
At about the same time, O'Hearn joined the newly formed Highlands Coalition and the locally-based Skylands CLEAN.
"I did most of my learning about the environment on the side as a volunteer, " he said. "Sterling Forest was a big issue. They were trying to put 32,000 homes into 18,000 square miles on the border of New York and New Jersey."
But not until O'Hearn joined the Passaic River Coalition in 2002 to head up land acquisition, his current position until starting with the Highlands Coalition on Feb. 28, did he start blending his personal environmental activities into a new career focus. His job of researching key parcels to pre- serve the river basin was a perfect utilization of what he had learned from working actively with environmental groups, O'Hearn said.
"The fortunate thing was I had gotten to learn a lot about land use in the Sierra Club and as a board member of Skylands CLEAN," he said. "It was trench warfare. I got to learn about lots and blocks, and then I trained intensely with Pete Ter Louw, PRC's former head of land acquisition"
While at PRC, O'Hearn channeled his communications and past lobbying experience with his personal interest in Highlands preservation into intense lobbying for the recently passed Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act
About the same time, O'Hearn and a new, preservation-minded Democratic majority were elected to the local government, replacing the former GOP majority.
It is this combination of experience, said Tom Gilbert, former executive director of the Highlands Coalition, and who had a part in hiring O'Hearn, that will help O'Hearn the most in his new position.
"I think Bill is a terrific choice" said Gilbert. "His greatest strength is he has a diverse background. He's worked in business world, and is a local elected official. He is someone who has been very involved in the different Highlands issues for many years as an activist, and worked on local land use issues. "
Surrounding much of the Wanaque and Monksville Reservoirs, which provide drinking water to over half the state's population, Ringwood is a poster child for the Highlands preservation effort.
The new Highlands bill has set declared Ringwood and neighboring West Milford as off-limits to most development while other towns have been designated to accept the growth overflow.
Gilbert and other members of the Coalition were involved in the writing of the Highlands bill and that link has and will continue under his leadership, said O'Hearn.
O'Hearn said his immediate focus will be on helping the new Highlands Council, a regional body created from the new bill to have oversight on land use in the Highlands, implement their edict under the bill and the state's new environmental regulations.
"The first discussion we will have together is to do an assessment with all four states," said O'Hearn. "Then clearly our goal is to assist the Highlands Council to do a great job and a complete job in 18 months on a regional Master Plan.
Gilbert said O'Hearn's diverse background will help in gathering support for the regional planning process from diverse groups while helping him understand their individual concerns as well. Once the regional plan is in place, O'Hearn said his focus will then return to protecting the Highlands key water sources, particularly ground water.
He said his role in this will be to guide their four-state member organizations into which parcel to pursue for acquisition, coordinating those purchases with state and federal organizations and lobbying at the federal and state levels for the funding to buy them.
"I will be doing a fair wnount of lobbying," said O'Hearn, "talking to legislatures in Trenton and (Washington) DC and coordinating and advising'the Highlands committees in all four states, and will spend a lot of time working with the Highlands Council"
Similarly, but on a more local level, Mayor Wenke Taule will be serving on a county-based committee that will liaison with the newly formed Highlands Council.