Cherry Blossoms in Newark

Washington D.C. is famous for the thousands of cherry trees sent there as a gift from Japan (101 years ago, before the World Wars) as a gesture of friendship. But it is far less known that Branch Brook Park in Newark, New Jersey has more cherry trees than Washington D.C.  Every spring, residents and visitors can see the largest cherry blossom collection in the United States there.

Branch Brook Park, which runs through Belleville and Newark, has more than 2,700 Japanese cherry blossom trees that burst into full bloom during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival that features various events for visitors of all ages.

Bloomfest for 2013 is on Sunday, April 14 from 11am – 5pm at the Cherry Blossom Visitor’s Center in the park and is free.

In 1927, Caroline Bamburger Fuld donated 2,000 cherry blossom trees to the Essex County Parks system in memory of her late husband. There are now more than 4,300 cherry trees (600 more than D.C.).

Branch Brook Park is historically unique for being the first county park in the United States opened to the public. It was designed by the famed landscape architectural firm of Olmsted Brothers, a successor to Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York City.

Believe what you will about climate change, but the trees are blooming earlier the past few years. In fact, New Jersey's plant hardiness zone was changed in 2011 based on the warmer winters. In 2012, they started blooming around March 5. In 2010, after a warm spell at the end of March, the trees bloomed by April 1st. The National Park Service reported last year that the D.C. cherry blossoms peaked on March 20th (the third earliest since record keeping began in 1921).

So, it's not too early to think about a visit to the park on a nice, spring day!

Essex County Parks festival information
Branch Brook Park website
Branch Brook Park Alliance



GET TO THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

By Car
You may use the intersection of “Clifton Avenue and Seventh Avenue” for Internet mapping or GPS.

From New Jersey: Take Route 280 East to First Street/Exit 13. Turn left onto First Street. Turn right onto Orange Street. Turn left onto Clifton Avenue. Park will be on the left.

From New York: George Washington Bridge or Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey Turnpike South. Take Exit 15W for Route 280 West. Take Exit 14. Turn right onto Clifton Avenue. Follow above directions.


View Larger Map or get Driving Directions via Google Maps

By Train/Subway
Take NJ Transit or PATH Trains to Newark Penn Station. Board the Newark Light Rail toward either Branch Brook Park or Grove Street. For the Southern and Middle Divisions, exit at Park Avenue. Exit at Bloomfield Avenue to reach the Northern and Middle Divisions; the Northern Division is also accessible from the Davenport Avenue stop. The Branch Brook Park stop provides access to the Extension.

By Bus

A variety of bus routes provides services to Branch Brook Park. These include NJ Transit's bus lines #11. #27, #28, #29, #41, #72, #74, #90, #92, #93, #99 and #108. For schedule information, call 1-800-772-22221-800-772-2222 or visit www.njtransit.com.

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Osprey Return

Coley, an osprey at the Gateway National Recreation Area, has been tracked using an attached GPS transmitter. He has returned from his 2,600 mile migration and is back hunting, breeding and fixing up his place in Jamaica Bay after the winter's storms.

Read more about Coley and osprey at www.jamaicabayosprey.org

Opening Day for Trails

Opening day for trout fishing won't come in NJ until April 6th, but March 30 — the last Saturday in March — is Opening Day for Trails across the country.

So this is a good weekend to kick off spring with a hike or just a leisurely stroll or bike ride along a local trail.

We have posted a bunch of stories here about hiking and trails in New Jersey with lots of links to organizations that support trails here.

Endangered New Jersey Anniversary #4

Today is the 4th anniversary of this Endangered New Jersey blog which started on March 27, 2009.

Endangered New Jersey actually began as a website built in 1999 for the ThinkQuest website competition for students. The original site is still online and is outdated and "archived" and was built by three sixth grade students (including one of my sons) and two teacher-coaches (including me).

I maintained a revised version of that site for about ten years, but the updates were infrequent and so in in March of 2009, I set myself the task of starting a blog version of Endangered NJ. The blog format allows for more frequent updates, comments from readers - and free hosting for this non-profit effort.

This blog now has almost 600 posts on a broader scope of "endangered" topics and has attracted more than 100,000 views from around the world.

As a longtime volunteer for the NJDEP Wildlife Conservation Corps and the Speakers Bureau, I have had the chance to work on some projects all over the state, see how the state works at protecting threatened and endangered species and talk to citizens about those efforts. My hope is that this site spreads the word on that work and helps educate people in NJ and outside our state about our diverse species and habitats.

Hike the Batona Trail

 

Hike the Batona Trail

Saturday, April 6

 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Chatsworth, Burlington County

  

Franklin Parker Preserve photo by Mike Pavarini

Hike the newly-relocated section of the Batona Trail with Chris Jage, New Jersey Conservation Foundation's assistant director for South Jersey.

Hikers will explore new areas of the 9,400-acre Franklin Parker Preserve in the Pine Barrens. The hike is 8 miles long and briskly paced for the avid hiker.

The cost is $5 per person, and advance registration is required. Space is limited.

To register online, click here. 

For more information, contact Dolce Vieira at dolce@njconservation.org or 908-234-1225, ext. 126.

This event is part of New Jersey Conservation Foundation's Step Into Nature series of walks, talks and fun outdoor activities. For a full schedule of Step Into Nature programs, click here >>

Is Extinction Extinct?

This blog focuses on New Jersey species that are threatened or endangered. I don't spend much time on extinct species because - well, because they are extinct. They are gone forever.

Or are they gone forever?

The Carolina parakeet, Eskimo curlew, heath hen, Labrador duck and the passenger pigeon species have been lost forever from New Jersey and from the planet.

This month, National Geographic hosted TEDxDeExtinction, a daylong conference on species-revival science and ethics. They have also published a new cover story on de-extinction.

It sounds great that we might be able to bring back a species that we thought was gone. But the idea has opponents and supporters. Bringing back extinct species is a chance to redeem human sins, says one conservationist. An ecologist counters with a No, saying that "resurrection science" is a fantasy that harms species that need help now.


This video looks at how the red-breasted American passenger pigeon,
hunted to extinction a century ago, could be revived from museum specimens.


The arguments in favor of resurrecting species could be the same arguments for why we protect endangered species today: to preserve biodiversity, to restore diminished ecosystems, to advance the science of preventing extinctions, and to undo harm that humans have caused.

De-extinction is shocking in that we assumed extinction was irreversible and final. As with our own local success stories in NJ, such as the bald eagle, de-extinction gives us hope.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has its famous "Red List" of endangered species. It also has created more hopeful "Green Lists" of species that are stable and species that were in trouble and with protection are now doing better, as well as protected wild lands in the world that are well managed.

That heath hen(Tympanuchus cupido cupido) was once found in NJ and along the coastal plain from Massachusetts to Virginia in the south. They were very common during Colonial times, but unregulated hunting for food and sport caused this species to become extinct by 1932. It was hunted for both food and sport. By the time protection was considered, the population was limited to a small number on Martha’s Vineyard. Predation by goshawks and feral cats, disease introduced by domestic poultry, and inbreeding finally led to the species’ extinction.


MORE
Extinct species of New Jersey
The promise and pitfalls of resurrection ecology by Brian Switek
Resurrecting a forest, by Carl Zimmer
Will cloning ever save endangered animals? by Ferris Jabr

Starting Seeds in Your Garden State Garden

There are no guarantees about the weather, especially in New Jersey. But gardeners need to know when the best planting dates in the spring are for starting seeds indoors or in the ground.

The date of the last spring frost is the important date for those seeds to survive and to be started at the earliest possible time.

The best way is to keep your own records of your garden's conditions each year. But, there are many charts to calculate frost dates based on historical data. Other factors that can influence planting dates include the soil temperature, altitude and slope of your land, any nearby waters, and day length.

The Farmers' Almanac  is an old standby for this kind of information and their online tool offers you information based on your zip code.

It will tell you dates for plants with a long growing season that should be started indoors, and the seeds for plants sown in the ground. (When no dates appear in the chart, that starting method is not recommended for the particular vegetable.)

It even has information for planting by the Moon, if that's something you believe is important. By this it is meant the days when you plant. You don't have to plant at night!  Above-ground crops, like tomatoes, are planted during the light of the Moon (new to full) and below-ground crops (like carrots) are planted during the dark of the Moon (from the day after it is full to the day before it is new again).

For example, there is a 50% probability that you will be frost free after April 18 according to the data from the Little Falls climate station.

There is also a page for each plant type, so a page like the one for beans includes information on planting, pests, harvest, storage etc.

A clip from their table for the Little Falls zip code:

Crop	Start Seeds Indoors -	Moon-favorable Dates -	Start Seeds in the Ground	Moon-favorable Dates
Beans			Apr 18-May 2	Apr 18-25
Beets			Mar 28-May 9	Mar 28-Apr 9
Broccoli	Feb 20-Mar 6	Feb 20-25	Mar 28-Apr 4

Piping Plovers Returning to NJ

Piping Plovers   Image: wikimedia.org

Piping Plovers winter primarily on the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida, although some migrate to the Bahamas and West Indies. Piping plovers return to their breeding grounds, including New Jersey beaches, starting in late March or early April.

The piping plover became a Federally protected species under the Endangered Species Act and in 1984, New Jersey listed the species as "endangered" and it remains one of the state's most endangered species.

The piping plover is a small, stocky, sandy-colored bird resembling a sandpiper. When still, the piping plover blends into the pale background of open, sandy habitat on outer beaches where it feeds and nests.

Its name comes from its call notes, plaintive bell-like whistles which are often heard before the birds are seen.

Our Jersey beaches are also home to the Federally endangered roseate tern, the threatened northeastern beach tiger beetle, the threatened seabeach amaranth, the least tern, the common tern, the black skimmer, and the Wilson's plover.

Starting soon and running into early summer, you will see beach areas along our coast marked with signs warning about beach nesting birds.

Plovers go through nesting and courtship rituals. When a pair mates, they make a nest as a depression in the sand. They are usually located close to the dunes.

Sometimes the nest is lined with small stones or fragments of shell.

There are usually our eggs hatch which will hatch in a bit less than four weeks.

Piping plovers were once common along the Atlantic Coast in the 1800s. Unfortunately, there were hunted for their plumage which was used for fashionable ladies hats.

The population made a comeback after the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and peaked during the 1940s.

Since then, the population has declined again due to to increased development in beach areas, predators (including feral cats) and increaseed recreational traffic on beaches which includes humans and pets.

You can help protect beach-nesting birds by resspecting fenced in or posted areas. Don't approach piping plovers or their nests and if you're walking dogs on a beach that allows them, keep them  leashed.  Even leaving trash or food scraps on beaches can attract predators which may prey upon piping plover eggs or chicks.

This summer nesting may be affected by the destruction of the dunes because of Hurricane Sandy and subsequent storms

The downy young plovers will follow their parents and learn to forage for marine worms, crustaceans, and insects. As with the eggs, the young are well camouflaged on the beach - so much so that the eggs and young are sometimes stepped on by people walking near the dunes. Unfortunately, when predators or people come near, the young will freeze motionless on the sand. The parents will try to distract intruders away from the young and to themselves by feigning a broken wing.


If the young can survive that first month, they will be able to fledge and can fly to escape. are flying in about 30 days.

Because of dune damage, or predator and human disturbance, eggs may not hatch. Plovers will often re-nest in the same area. But these later hatchlings will not be flying until August and will need to start their southward migration by mid-September to wintering areas.

Sources:
http://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/caco/plover_slideshow.html
http://www.nps.gov/caco/naturescience/the-piping-plover.htm
Piping Plover 'Seashore Science' Document
The Threatened Piping Plover - a photo essay
Piping Plover Annual Reports

Trout Stocking and Opening Day

The stocking trucks from the Pequest Trout Hatchery started their spring pre-season distribution of this year's trout this week.

By year's end, approximately 600,000 trout will be stocked throughout the state, but the busiest day is always Opening Day, which this year is April 6, at 8 a.m.

The "production trout" average 10.5" but were kept company prior to opening day by some of the more than 6,000 three to eight pound breeder trout which are also being stocked. This spring, trout will be placed in 88 streams and 90 ponds and lakes throughout New Jersey. Those trout will be in addition to some of the 26,000 bruisers still in the water from stockings in the fall and winter. Fortunately for the state's anglers, trout remain available throughout the summer in many waters where the water remains cooler.

via  ww.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/

New Jersey has gained a reputation as one of the best places for trout fishing on the East Coast, partially because the average size of the trout stocked is larger than trout stocked in neighboring states. The state's Bonus Broodstock Lakes and the breeder stocking programs provide plenty of trophy size fish within a short drive from anywhere in the state.



Driving directions to some of the state's better know trout water access points can be found at www.njfishandwildlife.com/accesswater.htm. Anglers are reminded that access to locations along trout stocked streams may be available only through the good graces of private landowners. Please be respectful of their property and take care not to damage trees and shrubs. Leaving your fishing location cleaner than when you arrived helps maintain good angler-landowner relations and ensures continued public access to trout streams.

SOURCE: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/trtinfo_spring.htm

Pequest Open House and Sportsmen’s Flea Market This Weekend

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has announced that the Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center's Exhibit Hall will be reopening for the annual Open House, March 23-24, 2013. 

The Exhibit Hall has been closed for almost a year for renovation and the installation of new exhibits. Educational programming and scheduling and the self-guided trail will not be affected by the Exhibit Hall closure, as programs take place mostly outside and in the auditorium. Hunting and fishing licenses, which were sold in the Exhibit Hall, are now available at a newly constructed visitors services area in the Pequest lobby. 

The Pequest Natural Resource Education Center has informed and educated countless visitors for more than 25 years. School children, hunters, anglers, and members of the general public all come to the facility to learn about the Pequest Trout Hatchery, trout, the geology of the region, native wildlife and New Jersey's natural resources. 

Some of the exhibits at Pequest were 20 to 30 years old and in need of restoration and replacement. This exciting renovation will include new exhibits, interactive displays, and hands on learning opportunities for children. It will also allow education staff to increase program offerings in an engaging and user friendly environment.

Volunteers Needed for Pequest Open House

The Pequest Open House and Sportsmen’s Flea Market is March 23 -24, 2013 from 10-4 daily.

This annual event attracts more than 10,000 visitors a year and with this being our 30 year anniversary of the hatchery, we are expecting a very large crowd.




We rely on the volunteers to help make this event the success it is.

Assistance is needed for the following activities:

• Kids Fishing in the Education Pond (for kids 8-16 years old)
• Kids Fishing in the Kiddie Trout Tank (for kids 3-8 years old)
• Kids Craft and Activity Tent
• Parking
• Monitoring Visitor Attendance
• Grounds Maintenance

If you can assist us with any of the above activities, please email Jessica Griglak at jessica.Griglak@dep.state.nj.us

Be sure to include the following information

1. Activity you will be assisting with
2. Day(s) you plan on assisting
3. Start and end time for each day if assisting on multiple days

Harbor Seals Visit NJ and We Visit Them

Just last week a commenter on this blog asked where to see harbor seals in New Jersey. Although there is no designated hot spot for seal watching, they are spotted at this time of year all along our coast and in some rivers.

This week the staff at the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission even spotted one on the rowing docks at River Barge Park along the Hackensack River.

2010 visitor at the Hoboken Terminal  via media.nj.com/hobokennow_impact/

"People say they see them from time to time, but I've been here the last five years and this is first I've seen one," said Jim Wright, a communications officer with the commission.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center becomes involved when seals are injured or stranded, but finds that most reports of sightings are healthy animals.

This year the generally mild weather has kept seals away from our waters. Normally, they will need to venture south in the Atlantic Ocean toward NJ in the winter in search of food. It is not that rare that they will even go up rivers like the Hackensack. Their preferred catch is herring and mackerel.

If you're in search of a more reliable spotting, you could go to Adventure Aquarium in Camden   When I visited a few years ago their were three gray seals and three harbor seals. Both species are native to New Jersey.

Seaquin

At the Jenkinson’s Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach, seals are part of the 300 species that were able to ride out Superstorm Sandy. Seals and other air-breathing animals such as monkeys and penguins can handle no power situations, and the staff was most concerned for the animal in their tanks that require water that is filtered of waste and freshly re-oxygenated. The aquarium reopened on February 1st for this year.

In fact, they are having a Seal-abration this Saturday, March 16th from 2-3:30pm for the birthdays of their harbor seals: Luseal, Coral, and Seaquin! You and your kids can celebrate with crafts and cake while you watch the seals get a special birthday snack. Pre-registration is required and is for ages 5 and up for $15 per person. The aquarium is located at 300 Ocean Ave. in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ(732.892.0600 ext. 130 and jenkinsonsaquarium@comcast.net)

Assistance Available to NJ Farmers and Forest Landowners to Protect Two Species

bog turtle

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is informing the public about a program providing technical and financial assistance to support habitat for the bog turtle and golden-winged warbler in New Jersey.

The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Working Lands for Wildlife Partnership (WLFW) connects federal assistance with farmers and forest landowners to restore and protect priority habitat areas.  It is offered as part of the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (see http://www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip/ for information).

golden-winged warbler

The WLFW was developed by USDA with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help America's farmers continue to work their land, while ensuring the recovery of "at-risk species" that would benefit from targeted habitat restoration. In return for voluntarily making habitat improvements on their lands, the federal government will provide landowners with regulatory certainty that they will not be asked to take additional conservation actions.

Applications submitted to NRCS by Friday, April 19, 2013, will be considered for funding this year.

For a map showing the priority areas and for additional information about this program, visit the NRCS website at http://www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip/WLFW.html.

A NRCS news release regarding this program can be viewed on their website at http://www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov/news/newsrelease.html#Forest_Landowners_can_help_improve_habitat .

Spring Rains and Night Journeys

Next Wednesday is the first day of spring, and then April showers, and May flowers. But the spring rains of March are what get the frogs, salamanders, and toads to emerge from their winter burrows to get started on their spring season.

Amphibians like the spotted salamanders, wood frogs, spring peepers, and others are ready to move to breeding pools and lay their eggs. We call those "vernal pools" because they fill with rainwater, snowmelt, and rising groundwater in early spring. These pools will be gone as spring changes to summer advances.

The pools drying out is a good thing for the amphibians because these pools cannot support fish, which are normally predators for the amphibian eggs and young.




The best conditions for the amphibians are warm (40ºF or more) nighttime rains. The journey to the pools occur under the safety of darkness and rain which helps protect from other predators like owls and raccoons.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been partnering with NJ’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) since 2002 to protect early-spring breeding amphibians like the wood frog, spotted salamander, Jefferson salamander, and spring peeper during their annual migration.

Bog Turtles in NJ

A newly hatched bog turtle in northern New Jersey
Photo Credit: Rosie Walunas, USFWS

Bog turtles were federally listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1997, primarily due to habitat loss and degradation. At only four inches long, bog turtles, (Glyptemys [Clemmys] muhlenbergii), are the smallest turtles in North America.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a bog turtle status review in 2011 to determine whether populations have increased, remained stable, or continued to decline.

The Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in New Jersey works in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the Service’s local Ecological Services Field Office, private landowners, and farmers to protect bog turtles and their habitat.

Turtle collectors covet bog turtles because of their beauty and scarcity. Some may not even know the turtle is federally protected. Service Special Agents monitor Internet trading sites for potential bog turtle sales and known bog turtle sites for signs of poaching. Law Enforcement and biologists work with local farmers to enhance bog turtle habitat and protect existing bog turtle nests. The federal Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program provides money to farmers to undertake wildlife habitat improvements on their farms. This program has been utilized by the Service and farmers in New Jersey to enhance and protect bog turtle habitats.

In addition, the Endangered Species Act provides enforcement for protecting turtles and the means to take action against those who harm them.

Source: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/ 

Endangered Species List Will Be Finally Updated

The shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum)  is one of NJ's endangered species
Photo credit: Noel Burkhead, USGS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has built up quite a backlog of species that have an undecided fate both in the natural world and as far as their status on the Endangered Species list. There are more than 250 species that need a determination regarding their status under the Endangered Species Act.

Unfortunately it took a federal judge to get the agency moving. There was a settlement of two lawsuits in 2011 by conservation activists, and now a judge has pushed the wildlife service to decide on all by 2018 and an agreement to act by September on the fate of 97 species.

According to The New York Times, USFWS has also finished preliminary work on more than 550 other potential candidates for the endangered-species list.

Fortieth Anniversary of NJ Endangered Species Law

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife released a rehabilitated bald eagle at a Morris County golf course on March 4. 2013 to draw attention to the 40th anniversary of the state’s endangered species protection law. The annual state income tax check-off provides critical support to efforts such as this.

“The health of our wildlife populations is a good indicator of the overall health of the environment,” said Division of Fish and Wildlife Director David Chanda. “Since the enactment of the Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act of 1973, we have had many success stories in New Jersey, such as the return of the bald eagle from nearly being wiped out in New Jersey to more than 110 pairs successfully raising a record 165 offspring in 2012.”

To mark the anniversary and draw attention to the income tax check-off, the Division of Fish and Wildlife released a four-year-old male bald eagle that was rehabilitated by the nonprofit Raptor Trust. The eagle was found in January with a severely dislocated wing on a roadside along the Oak Ridge Reservoir in Morris County. The release took place at the Morris County Park System’s Berkshire Valley Golf Course.

The Endangered Wildlife Fund check-off is located on Line 59 of Form NJ-1040. Taxpayers are provided the option of contributing $10, $20, or an amount of his or her choosing, toward protection of threatened and endangered species.

The state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act was signed into law on December 14, 1973, two weeks before President Nixon signed the federal Endangered Species Act.As a result of the state law, the Division of Fish and Wildlife established the Endangered and Nongame Species Program to carry out the work necessary to restore and maintain these species.

New Jersey currently lists 37 species as endangered, including the bald eagle, red knot, piping plover, bog turtle and eastern tiger salamander. Thirty-two species are listed as threatened, including the yellow-crowned night heron, osprey, wood turtle, and northern pine snake.

Check-of funds go to support wildlife conservation programs and are used to match or leverage funds from the federal government’s State Wildlife Grants program. The sales of Conserve Wildlife license plates also help fund the program.

“Donating a small portion of your tax refund to the Endangered Wildlife Fund will go directly to help safeguard our state’s rich fish and wildlife heritage and habitat for future generations to enjoy by supporting research and monitoring, improving management on public and private lands, combating invasive species, addressing wildlife disease problems, and protecting native habitats” said Kelly Mooij, Vice President of Government Relations for the New Jersey Audubon Society.

In addition to the New Jersey Endangered Wildlife Fund, taxpayers may choose to designate contributions to other worthwhile programs. Details are included in the Form 1040 instructions. Contributions to any of these check-off funds will reduce your refund commensurately.

• The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is encouraging those interested in the bald eagle release to view a video that shows not only the actual release, but also footage of the bird at The Raptor Trust - go to http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2013/03/dep_releases_rehabilitated_bal.html 
• Additional information about the restoration of New Jersey’s bald eagles, ospreys and peregrine falcons, is available at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/raptor_info.htm.
• For more on the Endangered and Nongame Species Program, including facts on species that the program works to protect, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/ensphome.htm
• For a webcam of an eagle nest at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, visit: www.ustream.tv/channel/eagle-cam. This nest has successfully produced young every year since observations began in 2005.

Sandy Hook Opens May 1

Fishing off beach at Sandy Hook

It was good to see that there was another sign of spring and of recovery of the beach areas at the Gateway National Recreation Area which includes NJ's Sandy Hook with the issuing of a Spring Guide with listings of programs.

The Sandy Hook Unit will open on May 1st. Three beach areas, (B, Gunnison and North Beach) will open on Memorial Day weekend. The repairs to the wastewater treatment plant will not be finished by this date, so some beach areas may be serviced by temporary restroom facilities. The repairs to the ferry service and bike path at Sandy Hook may not be completed by Memorial Day weekend.

Established in 1972, Gateway National Recreation Area offers more than 26,000 acres of marshes, wildlife sanctuaries and recreational athletic facilities, miles of sandy beaches; indoor and outdoor classrooms; picnicking and camping areas, as well as historic structures and military installations, airfields, a lighthouse, and adjacent waters around New York harbor. The park offers urban residents in two states a wide range of recreational opportunities year round. With more than nine million visitors a year, it is the third most visited national park in the country.

Information about all of Gateway's public programs: www.nps.gov/gate/

Wildflowers in the dunes

Report Local Amphibian Crossings This Spring

Spotted salamander halfway across a road   (conservewildlifenj.org)

Every spring, vernal pool breeding amphibians migrate from upland wintering habitats to their spring breeding pools.  Many of these ancestral migratory paths are bisected by roads, creating a barrier that not only disrupts natural migration and fragments habitat but often proves impenetrable, limiting gene flow and disconnecting populations.

Conserve Wildlife NJ's Amphibian Crossing Project works to protect these migration corridors through coordinated volunteer rescue efforts that move amphibians safely across the road during these annual mass migration events.  Currently, our efforts are focused on select sites in northern New Jersey but we want to expand our database to document these migratory paths across the state.

They do ask that you only report known crossings and do not attempt to locate more by driving around on rainy spring nights. Increased vehicular traffic will increase mortality of amphibians during their annual spring migration.

If you would like to report an amphibian crossing near you, please email them the following information:

1. Location of the crossing marked clearly on a map
2. List of species seen crossing or DOR (dead on road)
3. Date(s) of occurrence and any other pertinent information you may have

Slideshow of volunteer crossing photos

ConserveWildlifeNJ.org/blog/2013/01/11/report-local-amphibian-crossings-during-spring-migration/