Osprey at the Maurice River

Osprey taking off at the Maurice River Watershed - photo Jim Maddox via Flickr

New Jersey's osprey population, like osprey populations throughout the country, was in serious decline from the 1950s through the 1970s due to the effects of DDT and other widely used pesticides. However, in the past few years, the osprey population has finally climbed back to its pre-DDT levels. The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program has worked with volunteers fostering this comeback through nest management and the placement of nesting platforms.

The work of one group of volunteers, Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River, was recently highlighted on the Newsworks website, the online home of WHYY News and its network of journalism partners in Philadelphia, South Jersey and Delaware.

To read the story, view a slideshow and listen to an audio feature, visit newsworks.org

For more information on osprey in New Jersey, visit njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/raptor_info.htm

Applications Being Accepted for Watershed Ambassadors Program

New Jersey is looking for its next generation of environmental leaders, young people with a hands-on desire to improve their state and the quality of life for all of our residents. Some of those future leaders are likely to be found in the Department of Environmental Protection's AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors Program, which is now seeking recruits for its 2013 class.

Coordinators are currently accepting applications for the next group of AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors through Aug 17. There are 20 potential watershed management areas across the state where an ambassador can be placed. Ambassadors work with all sectors of society to improve the quality of New Jersey’s waterways, nurturing community-based environmental activities, and empowering State residents to make responsible and informed decisions regarding their watersheds.

“Individuals who are selected for the Watershed Ambassadors program go through a rigorous training program that prepares them to work in the environmental field, particularly in the area of water resources,” said Jill Lipoti, DEP’s Division of Water Monitoring and Standards Director. "Ambassadors have proven to be extremely valuable resources in assisting the State in fill water quality information gaps.”

The DEP began hosting this federal AmeriCorps program in 2000. AmeriCorps is a national service initiative that began in 1993 and is also known as the domestic Peace Corps. The organization recently announced grants for programs, nationwide. New Jersey’s Watershed Ambassador Program was a recipient and received $260,000 in federal funding for 2013.

Ambassadors are expected to complete 1,700 hours of service in a 10 to 12 month period. In return, they receive a living stipend of up to $12,100 over the course of the term; eligibility for health benefits during this period; and training prior to and throughout their term of service.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, have a Bachelor's Degree, and must have a valid driver’s license and reliable transportation to get to and from field sites.

In 2012, 20 individuals served as the DEP’s AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors. Current accomplishments to date include:

Nearly 600 visual and biological assessments completed:

• Second year implementation of a new protocol for assessment of 100 lakes and 20 climate change stations;
• 1,163 volunteers trained in the DEP’s visual and biological assessment protocols;
• 1,294 educational watershed demonstrations performed reaching 25,944 people;
• Engaged in community watershed projects generating about 7,000 stewardship hours;
• Served as captains for Governor Christie’s Barnegat Bay Blitz initiative;
• Serve as captains for Delaware River and Bay – Dash for the Trash Cleanups to commemorate National AmeriCorps Week

Interested applicants for the 2012-2013 Program should apply by August 17 online or by sending a resume and cover letter to the address on the website nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2012/12_0076.htm

Tracking New Jersey's Atlantic Sturgeon

Acoustic receivers in Delaware Bay track migration patterns of Atlantic sturgeon

New Jersey researchers are netting sturgeon and implanting them with acoustic telemetry tags, and the NJDEP is placing 18 acoustic receivers on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay to track their movements. Fishermen in the bay may notice the receivers; they're attached to white buoys marked "NJDEP Research."

The sturgeon family is among the most primitive of the bony fishes. There are shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon. The body surface contains rows of bony plates or "scutes" and they are typically large, long-lived fish. They can inhabit a great diversity of habitats from fast-moving freshwater riverine environment downstream and, for some species, into the offshore marine environment of the continental shelf.

Atlantic sturgeon are similar in appearance to shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), but can be distinguished by their larger size, smaller mouth, different snout shape, and scutes. Atlantic sturgeon have been aged to 60 years.

Understanding their movement in the Delaware Bay is important because Atlantic sturgeon is considered an "anadromous" species. This means the fish spend most of their time in marine waters and estuaries, then migrate into fresh water to spawn. Adults can grow up to 14 feet long, weigh up to 800 pounds.

New Jersey will probably never make a comeback as a producer of caviar from sturgeon, but the Atlantic sturgeon have a chance to return in greater numbers.

Shortnose sturgeon were federally listed in 1967 as an endangered species but in some systems abundance may be increasing to levels that would allow reconsideration of their endangered status. Some locations, such as Saint John River, New Brunswick, Canada, support significant numbers of shortnose sturgeon.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that New Jersey's Atlantic sturgeon population would be listed as "endangered" under the Federal Endangered Species Act effective April 2012. Currently, NJ has only one other fish species listed as endangered - and it is also a sturgeon, the shortnose sturgeon.

Stock abundance of Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons steadily declined throughout the 20th century as a result of overfishing and habitat destruction. Fisheries for Atlantic sturgeon existed until 1997 when a moratorium was declared from Maine to Florida.

For more information about Atlantic sturgeon and the new tracking project, go to njfishandwildlife.com/news/2012/sturgeon_research.htm or http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2012/01/31_atlantic_sturgeon.html

Jersey Caviar

Sturgeon docks at Caviar/Bayside. Rutgers Collection, ca. 1930.

You probably associate caviar, salted sturgeon eggs, as a delicacy from Russia. It was the "treat of the tsars." But New Jerseyans may be surprised that our state was once famous for its own caviar.

If we go back to the late 1800s, the Delaware Bay and Delaware River were one of the most productive sturgeon fisheries, helping make the United States the world's top caviar exporter.

At the mouth of the Stow Creek in Cumberland County, was a place known as known as Caviar (or Caviar Point) that had a processing plant and railroad spur for sending the caviar north through the Pine Barrens to New York City. During the fishing season, approximately 400 fishermen lived in the nearby cabins and houseboats, with access only to a store, post office, and train station.

Atlantic sturgeon, a bony, prehistoric-looking fish, were placed on the federal endangered species list and NJDEP monitors migration patterns in our waters. But back in 1895, they were shipping 15 train cars of caviar and smoked sturgeon every day out of NJ.

Despite Atlantic sturgeon being plentiful, between the females that were slaughtered to extract the eggs, increasing demand on a slow-maturing species and overfishing, the fishery and the caviar business crashed in the early 1900s. A sturgeon can live until it is over 60 years old and they breed anywhere from once a year to once every 5 years.

The town of Caviar became known as Bayside and caviar disappeared from New Jersey's industries.

But Atlantic sturgeon were not eliminated from the Delaware. Although the estimated 300 to 500 adult females that spawn there is a very "endangered" population when compared to the estimated 180,000 breeding sturgeon believed to be in the bay prior to 1890.

Sign Petition Today to Protect whales and dolphins

A petition has been traveling the Net recently to stop the Navy from killing or deafening whales and dolphins by underwater testing. According to the U.S. Navy's own estimates, the use of high-frequency underwater sound for testing in Hawaii, off the California and Atlantic Coasts, and in the Gulf of Mexico will deafen 15,900 whales and dolphins and kill 1,800 more over the next five years.

Whales and dolphins depend on sound to navigate and live.

The Navy is required to include comments from the public on their Environmental Impact Statement, so your signature and comment on this petition could help stop this program and save the lives of these ocean creatures.

The deadline of Tuesday, July 10.

The petition now has more than 410,000 signatures, so let's move to to the 500,000 mark!

Yes, I'll post on Facebook right now, asking my friends to sign!

I'm not on Facebook, but I'll share the petition a different way.

School Greens: Garden in the Sky

Students from the School Greens Club at North Star Academy in Newark are on a mission to educate their school and community about healthy eating and more sustainable sources of food. But first they have to educate themselves.

Nature in a New York Minute's Kelly Rypkema follows these enterprising teens on their journey from the farm and kitchen of Stone Barns Center to the grand opening of their own rooftop garden in the middle the biggest city in New Jersey.





"Nature in a New York Minute" is a video series that showcases the wildlife, plants, and geology of the city environment.
NatureMinute.com

Facebook.com/NatureMinute

@KellyRypkema

NJ section of 2900-mile biking path opened

A new New Jersey section of a 2900-mile biking/pedestrian path, the East Coast Greenway, is now open.

Sometimes called the urban Appalachian trail, more than a million people a year pass along some of the East Coast Greenway. It is a 2900 mile biking and walking path that runs from Key West, Florida to the Canadian border.

It crosses dozens of cities and towns on sidewalks, old rail lines roads and roads. A two mile stretch between Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey is officially open. It may not be the greenest or prettiest or widest stretch, but it's an important link.

The New Jersey portion of the Greenway covers 97 miles between Pennsylvania and New York. It passes through bustling urban areas — Trenton, New Brunswick, Newark, and Jersey City — as well as quiet suburban settings and more rural landscapes than one might expect. The route is currently 55% on traffic-free paths, the second highest percent of completed trail in any Greenway state. The route includes the ECG’s longest completed trail segment – the D&R Canal Towpath, which is 34.3 miles long.

The concept, which originated in New York City twenty years ago, is one of the largest public projects being developed in the country.

Between the end of the D&R Canal Towpath and the northern end of the New Jersey route in Jersey City, travelers alternate between park paths and interim on-road sections. 

A ferry is used to cross the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, and the bike/ped friendly Calhoun Street Bridge crosses the Delaware River between NJ and PA.

Trail Status and Plans

Download a NJ Trail Map (pdf)
Publications
NJ Partners and Supporters
More information on biking and trails in New Jersey

Watch a VIDEO REPORT: NJ section of 2900-mile biking path opened | Fox News

Hudson River Loop Walk

The FreeWalker group had 80 or so walkers who participated in the June 9, 2012 walk along the Hudson River.  After a welcoming from the Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy (and donuts and coffee compliments of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts), they set out on a 28 mile walk.

This loop offers views for the entire walk on both the New Jersey and New York sides and plenty of interesting detours - Burdetts Landing and the High Line to name just two.

Thanks to the progress on the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway on the Jersey side and the well established Hudson River Greenway on the New York side, it's now possible for pedestrians and cyclists to complete a loop, except for the use of the PATH train from downtown World Trade Center to Exchange Place Jersey City.

The incomplete areas around Edgewater were navigated though detailed explanations provided by the Conservancy and maps and guidelines provided by the FreeWalkers.

This 28-mile walk was so successful that they hope to repeat it again next year.

Of course, you can explore the route yourself and the website http://www.hudsonloop30.org has all the information you need.

Old pier pylons near Hoboken

Making Hummingbird and Oriole Nectar

A post from The Zen Bird Feeder on "Birdfeeding on a Budget" gives instructionson how to make hummingbird and oriole nectar quickly at home with two simple ingredients every kitchen has: white granulated sugar and water.

Stores sell boxes of sugar to make into nectar and pre-made nectar, but you can save money by just making your own. Making your own nectar also removes the temptation to purchase RED nectar, which is not needed to attract hummingbirds and could very well be detrimental to birds.

HUMMINGBIRD NECTAR
The ratio to make hummingbird nectar is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.

Easy Conversion Chart
To Make Water Sugar
1 cup nectar 1 cup 1/4 cup
2 cups nectar 2 cups 1/2 cup
3 cups nectar 3 cups 3/4 cup
4 cups nectar 4 cups 1 cup

1. Warm the water in the microwave (it doesn't need to boil - just warm enough to dissolve the sugar).
2. Stir in sugar to dissolve.
3. Cool.
4. Fill feeders.
5. Store remainder in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or use for oriole nectar "starter" (see shortcut below)

ORIOLE NECTAR
The ratio to make oriole nectar is 1 part sugar to 8 parts water.

Easy Conversion Chart
To Make Water Sugar
1 cup nectar 1 cup 2 tablespoons
2 cups nectar 2 cups 1/4 cup
3 cups nectar 3 cups 6 tablespoons
4 cups nectar 4 cups 1/2 cup

Shortcut to oriole nectar:
1) Start with a batch of hummingbird nectar from recipe above.
2) Double-up on the water only.

NECTAR TIPS

Store prepared nectar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Change nectar and clean feeders every 4-5 days whether the nectar is being consumed or not.
Change nectar and disinfect feeder immediately if you see black spots in the feeder.
Change nectar immediately if you see cloudiness in the nectar.