The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service observes Endangered Species Day in order to recognize the national conservation effort to protect our nation’s endangered species and their habitats.
The day offers an opportunity for people young and old to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and everyday actions that people can take to help protect our nation’s disappearing wildlife and last remaining open space.
Protecting America’s wildlife and plants today is a legacy we leave to our children and grandchildren, so that all Americans can experience the rich variety of native species that help to define our nation.
NJ beach-nesting piping plover
Our own NJ Endangered Species are those whose prospects for survival in New Jersey are in immediate danger because of a loss or change in habitat, over-exploitation, predation, competition, disease, disturbance or contamination. Assistance is needed to prevent future extinction in New Jersey.
Threatened Species are those who may become endangered if conditions surrounding them begin to or continue to deteriorate.
Every year, thousands of people throughout the country celebrate Endangered Species Day at parks, wildlife refuges, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, libraries, schools and community centers.
You can participate in festivals, field trips, park tours, community clean-ups, film showings, classroom presentations, and many other fun and educational activities.
New Jersey has a surprisingly high concentration of native plant and animal species relative to other states.
Its native flora, comprised of more than 2,100 species, has representatives of more than 50% of the plant species found in the northeast from Pennsylvania to Maine despite the fact that it contains a mere 5% of the total land area of the region.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, although it amounts to less than 0.26% of the total land area in the United States, and is the fourth smallest state in the nation, approximately 13% of the plant species in the U.S. can be found in New Jersey.
What allows for this high diversity? A variety of habitats and landscapes exist in New Jersey, from the mountainous Ridge and Valley in the north, to the Outer Coastal Plain in the south. Five such physiographic provinces can be found within the state, all within an hour’s drive of each other, and the unique combination of geological, topographical, and hydrological features that each of these represents has given rise to a wide range of environmental conditions within them, and a tremendous diversity in the state overall.
The Lenape trail links together nearly all of Essex County’s parks from Newark to Roseland.
The Water Gap Trail is a 130-mile path from Liberty State Park to the Delaware Water Gap.
The free program is a special presentation on Tuesday night, May 18, 2010 at the Essex County Environmental Center at 7 p.m. For information, call 973-228-8776.
Sea turtles may be the Gulf of Mexico oil spills biggest victims. Already 25 turtles have been found washed up on Mississippi’s shorelines.
Kemp's Ridley
Autopsies are being done to confirm whether or not their deaths are linked to the oil spill. If it is determined that the oil spill is the cause of death in the turtles the oil could have harmed the turtles in many different ways. Experts say that contaminants, such as oil, can lead to changes in a sea turtles immune system. Contaminants can also cause liver damage and lead to changes in the turtle’s protein and carbohydrate regulation. Experts report that hydrocarbons released by oil can trigger pneumonia, if these chemicals enter the lungs. Red blood cells can also be damaged.
One particular sea turtle, the Kemp's Ridley turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are of particular concern in this disaster as they are listed on the Endangered Species List.
May 21st, 2010 is Endangered Species Day - an opportunity for people young and old to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and everyday actions that people can take to help protect our nation’s disappearing wildlife and last remaining open space.
Protecting America’s wildlife and plants today is a legacy we leave to our children and grandchildren, so that all Americans can experience the rich variety of native species that help to define our nation.
Started by the United States Senate, Endangered Species Day is the third Friday in May. Every year, thousands of people throughout the country celebrate Endangered Species Day at parks, wildlife refuges, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, libraries, schools and community centers. You can participate in festivals, field trips, park tours, community clean-ups, film showings, classroom presentations, and many other fun and educational activities.
The Hudson Riverkeeper’s Shad Fest has been a celebration for the past 20 years of the vast numbers of American shad that returned each year to the Hudson River to spawn.
The shad run has been a sure sign of spring for thousands of years and locally dates back to the Lenape Indians who used the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.
The shad population has declined and risen in the past twenty years to dangerously low water levels and pollutants.
That also makes these festivals (I wrote about the NJ Delaware River Shad Festival earlier this year.) a good way to draw attention to saving the American Shad and other Hudson River signature fish which at risk, and to the cleanup and protection of the river.
Shad fishermen set nets from mid-March to mid-May in the Hudson to catch the run of fish as shad migrate upstream to spawn. Shad have been known to travel up to 120 miles upriver to lay their eggs.
The shad spend only 1-2 weeks in the Hudson with most of their adult life being in the ocean. That's good in that their time in the river is short enough to have a very limited harmful effect from PCB’s and other contaminants.
Shad caught here are prized for their flesh and roe (eggs) and they will be shipped all over the country.
You can join Riverkeeper on Sunday, May 16, 2010, at Boscobel in Garrison, NY, in celebration of the American Shad and in the organization’s efforts to protect and restore this historic fishery. The day offers fun for all ages and features a Whole Foods Market picnic, activities for children of all ages, our unique Green Street marketplace, Wellness activities and live entertainment throughout the whole day.
Features: Green Street Market • Children’s Stage • Organic Picnic Fare • Local & Regional • Craft Beers & Limited-Production Wines • Falconry & Wildlife Show • Musical Performances
All proceeds go to supporting the vital work of Riverkeeper, protecting NYC drinking water and the Hudson River.
The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has announced the opening of the application period for landowners to apply for grants through the Landowner Incentive Program (LIP).
Since 2005, the division has administered LIP through its Endangered and NongameSpecies Program and worked with dozens of private landowners from around the state to manage and restore habitat for threatened and endangered species on their property. This is a competitive program where the projects that provide the highest potential for our target targeted species are funded.
Trout, bass, walleyes, stripers and blues are biting, so we went shad fishing.
Fishing for the plentiful fish was hot until Sports Editor Frank DiLeo and I went looking for them Thursday after the Delaware River water temp cooled below the magic shad turn-on number of 50 degrees Wednesday night.
Shad bite best upriver during April's last week and all of May.
Steve Meserve, whose crew has been steadily netting shad at Lambertville, said Thursday morning they were still getting about two bucks to each roe, so he expects more good fishing ahead. Roe follow bucks upstream to spawn.
Interestingly, the Passaic River Paddle Relay is co-sponsored by the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners. That may sound like an odd sponsor, but it makes good sense as a way to support this important and much-abused NJ river.
It is a highly competitive canoe and kayak race and will be run tomorrow May 8, from 8 a.m. to noon.
You can watch from the riverside between the Nereid Boat Club in Rutherford and the Essex County Riverbank Park in Newark.
Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. is going to be paddling with the Essex County team.
Probably too late to register for this year (check out the PVSC site), but it's another good way to draw attention to the cleanup that has occurred on the Passaic.
Essex County's Presby Memorial Iris Gardens is a living museum that displays a rich variety of irises that bloom from mid-May to early June.Their activities and plant sale begins today. It was a Mother's Day tradition of mine for many years to take my mom there to wak through the blooms.
In 1927, the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens were established in the name of Frank Presby—a local resident known for his stewardship of the American Iris Society. These gardens were tended by curator Barbara Walther for more than five decades and are now maintained by a volunteer society, the Essex County Presby Memorial Citizens Committee.
Peak bloom season occurs from May 15 through June 6. During this time, the Bloom Room Gift Shop is open from 10am to 8pm seven days a week.
Seeing the non-profit organization that maintained the gardens struggling to survive, and in danger of having to sell the Walther House, the County of Essex formed an extraordinary partnership in 2009 with the Citizens Committee's Board of Trustees and the Township of Montclair. With $1.1 million in grants from the NJ Green Acres Program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund, Essex County purchased more than seven acres of land that make up the House and Garden complex; the adjacent 3 acres of Township land will be sold to the County for $1.
The County now maintains the House and grounds, and the Citizens Committee, maintaining ownership of the iris bulbs, continues to preserve the Gardens and records, build an endowment and expand their educational programming.
The property, consisting of the Walther House and Iris Gardens, is designated as a historic site by the National and State Registers of Historic Places and attracts thousands of people from around the world each year. The gardens contain approximately 8,000 irises in 3,200 varieties and produce nearly 75,000 flowers at peak season.
DIRECTIONS: The Essex County Presby Memorial Iris Gardens is located at 474 Upper Mountain Avenue in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Street parking is available on Upper Mountain Avenue (garden side) and Highland Avenue. Handicap parking is available on the Walther House driveway. Entrance to the gardens is free and open to the public from dawn to dusk daily all year round.
SCHEDULE
Friday, May 7 & Saturday, May 8 Plant Sale 10am to 5pm
Saturday, May 8 Bloom Room Gift Shop Open for Mother's Day 11am to 5pm
Saturday, May 29 Annual Family Garden Party 11am to 3pm
Saturday, October 16 Community Cleanup Day 10am to 2pm
Friday, October 29 Garden Aglow Sunset
Saturday, December 11 & Sunday, December 12 Historic Holiday House Tour 12 Noon to 4pm
Endangered Species Day is an opportunity for people young and old to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and everyday actions that people can take to help protect our nation’s disappearing wildlife and last remaining open space.
Protecting America’s wildlife and plants today is a legacy we leave to our children and grandchildren, so that all Americans can experience the rich variety of native species that help to define our nation.
Started by the United States Senate, Endangered Species Day is the third Friday in May.
Every year, thousands of people throughout the country celebrate Endangered Species Day at parks, wildlife refuges, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, libraries, schools and community centers.
You can participate in festivals, field trips, park tours, community clean-ups, film showings, classroom presentations, and many other fun and educational activities.
Find everything you need in the Endangered Species Day Toolkit, including a step-by-step guide to planning an Endangered Species Day event and materials to make your event fun and successful.
Every spring, blue skies in Michoacán, Mexico, turn orange as millions of monarch butterflies gather in the same ancient forests.
They are traveling from as far away as Maine, New Jersey, and Canada - up to 3000 miles. They weigh just a fifth of a penny. The millions of flapping wings are said to sound like falling rain.
Right now, the monarchs are leaving these forests, mating along the way.
This summer, four generations will be born and die, each living about a month before a "super generation" arrives. They will live seven months and, though they have never been to Mexico, they will somehow find their way, back to those same forests.
There are an estimated 250 million monarchs that winter in the Mexican preserve. The number is impressive, but 15 years ago, the number was nearly one billion. One problem is that the giant fir trees where monarchs huddle for warmth are being cut down.
Without cover, millions of butterflies often freeze to death. In typical years, about 15 percent will freeze, but this past winter's bad weather killed more than 50 percent.
Despite 140,000 acres being set aside by the Mexican government as a preserve for the monarch butterflies, more than 100,000 trees are cut down each year within this zone. Much of this is by residents who use the wood for fuel, building and to clear for crops.
Mexico recently lost nearly 7 percent of its forests. That is an area twice the size of New Jersey. A majority of that loss is from illegal logging.
The deforestation also destroys watersheds which can cause dangerous mudslides.
Ecolife Foundation is one organization working to replant trees and educate residents in the area by supplying them with efficient stoves to reduce their use of wood as fuel. Ecolife is pledging to plant a million new trees over the next three years.
The fall monarch butterfly migration.can be observed in New Jersey. Cape May County is a prime location to watch this phenomenon, Stone Harbor Point being an active spot.
The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife and Trout Unlimited are hosting the first Coldwater Conservation School for youth between the ages of 11-15 years old. This program will run June 24-27 at the School of Conservation in Stokes State Forest.
Volunteers are needed to help make this program great. We need help every day that we will be at the School including setting up, registration, dorm sitters, chaperones, program assistants and monitors, fly tying, fly fishing and other free time monitors, etc.
Because we will be working closely with these youths, there are several forms that need to be filled out and returned to the Division of Fish and Wildlife by April 30.
If you are interested in helping part of a day, one day or all four days, please contact Jessica Griglak, School Director, at 908-637-4125 or via email at Jessica.Griglak@dep.state.nj.us, so that she can get you the required paperwork to fill out.
Greenbrook Sanctuary is a special-use nature preserve maintained by the Palisades Nature Association. The Sanctuary is 165 acres of woodland on top of New Jersey’s magnificent Palisades.
Less than 5 miles north of the George Washington Bridge, off U.S. Route 9W, it an oasis of solitude and natural beauty, minutes away from one of the noisiest, most densely populated areas in the world.
In the wildest, most secluded acres, trees rise 100 to 130 feet and are often over 200 years old.
Hikers feel hundreds of miles and years away from the cities in such primeval forests. Greenbrook members who enjoy hiking the 6.5 miles of trails in the sanctuary are encouraged to post their observations of flora and fauna on a bulletin board in the parking lot. These listings often alert fellow members to some of the more interesting sights on this portion of the Palisades.
Spring is a great time to visit. In March, the pond, bog, and swamps fill with the egg masses of wood frogs and spotted salamanders. Afterwards, the voices of the spring peeper, pickerel frog, and bull frog fill the spring evenings with mating songs. The dominant reptiles are eastern garter and northern water snakes, and painted and snapping turtles. Rarely, copperhead snakes, five-lined skinks, milk and black snakes, and musk turtles are seen.
In early spring, before the trees produce their leaves, the sanctuary experiences a parade of colorful wildflowers springing up from the forest floor, and the fiddleheads of twenty species of native ferns uncoiling from the dead leaves.
By late summer and fall, an amazing variety of mushrooms, shelf fungi, and slime molds can be seen.
The sanctuary is largely an oak forest, especially along the cliff edge where red oaks, hickory, and black birch dominate. In cooler, moister, more fertile coves, sugar maple, beech, dogwood, and tulip trees are common. Swampy, poorly drained areas are covered with red maple, sweet gum, elm, tupelo, hornbeam, pin oak, ash, and willow. Common shrubs are maple-leaf viburnum, witch hazel, laurel, blueberry, wild azalea, poison ivy, grape, and, in wet areas, spicebush.
A five-acre pond with small adjoining bog increase the great diversity of this sanctuary. The 250-foot Greenbrook Falls is one of three major streams which drain the area and tumble down the ancient diabase cliffs into the Hudson River.
Views of these waterfalls, the Palisades and Highlands to the north, and the densely populated cities across the Hudson, are possible from several promontories which look down 350 feet into the river.
Looking more for fauna than flora? Over 250 species of birds have been identified in the sanctuary. During the migratory seasons it is not unusual to observe eighty species in one day, including twenty varieties of colorful warblers and, in the fall, thousands of hawks (and an occasional eagle) soaring along the cliffs. Among the more exciting nesting birds are great horned owl, broad-winged hawk, pileated woodpecker, ruffed grouse, wood duck, scarlet tanager, rose-breasted grosbeak, worm-eating warbler, and indigo bunting.
Common mammals include the nocturnal raccoon, red fox, striped skunk, gray squirrels, chipmunk, muskrat, cotton-tail rabbit, and the secretive white-footed mouse, short-tailed shrew, and common mole. Deer, opossums, weasels, flying squirrels, and red bats are also occasionally seen.
Today is International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day, so get your sunflower seeds at the ready to sow around your neighborhood.
More than 5000 people are taking part around the world across North America, Europe and Asia. In fact there are now so many people signed up at their Facebook page that they reached the maximum.
And then, on May 2, people will share photos and reports of what happened on Facebook group, their own pages and in a Flickr photo group.
For more on this see our other posts on this movement:
in the Gulf of Mexico are of particular concern in this disaster as they are listed on the Endangered Species List.
gather in the same ancient forests.
