Hike Into 2014

New Jersey's state parks will host "First Day Hikes" on the first day of 2014 as part of a national movement to kick off a healthier New Year.

There are 23 guided hikes, two mountain bike rides and a horseback ride and all are free (most are child-friendly and allow leashed dogs). Some "hikes" are more like "walks" so don't be frightened off if you're not in great shape.

A list of First Day events and descriptions, registration information and meeting places is online at  www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/first_day_hikes.html.

Some samples:

Early risers and true hikers can hit the trail at 8:45 a.m. for the Highlands Trail Hike from Spruce Run Reservoir in Clinton to Voorhees State Park in Lebanon Township - a 15-mile hike along rail trail, roads and rugged mountain paths.

Gentler walking at Island Beach State Park for a one-hour nature hikes at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Explore the ecology of the park and its unique history.

Hike history with the first hike of the day at 7:30 a.m. for a "real time" tour of the Battle of Princeton at the Princeton Battlefield Park and trace the steps of American and British troops at the exact time of day as the original battle in 1777.

There are also hikes at Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Waterloo Village and the First Day Nature Hike at Cheesequake State Park in Matawan.
One of my favorite Jersey places is the Pine Barrens and at 10 a.m. at  the New Jersey Conservation Foundation's Franklin Parker Preserve in Chatsworth there is a 3-mile hike exploring the reservoirs and bogs of this former cranberry farm, now a haven for birds and wildlife.


I wish I had my own horse to go to Kittatinny Valley State Park in Blairstown for its First Day horseback ride at 10 a.m. Nearby, walkers with only 2 legs can join the Paulinskill Valley rail trail hike in another section of the park at 10 a.m.

Happy Birthday Endangered Species Act

It was on this day in 1973 that the Endangered Species Act was signed into law.

Although there had been wildlife conservation laws in place for decades, by the late 19th century, the passenger pigeon was almost gone, the whooping crane population had plummeted, and many other species were being hunted into extinction. The causes were many - for food, for fashionable clothing, and sometimes just for sport.

In 1900, the Lacey Act was passed, regulating the sale of illegally captured or hunted wildlife across state lines. But the Lacey Act could only do so much; the passenger pigeon went extinct, and by 1941, there were only about 16 whooping cranes left in the wild. The whooping crane became the inspiration for the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, which set aside money to buy habitat for endangered species.

In 1970, the Department of the Interior proposed adding the sperm whale to its list of endangered species, and the Pentagon and Commerce Department protested because the Navy used sperm whale oil in its submarines.


In 1972, President Nixon - not known for environmemtal protection - outlined his environmental agenda to Congress.

"This is the environmental awakening. It marks a new sensitivity of the American spirit and a new maturity of American public life. It is working a revolution in values, as commitment to responsible partnership with nature replaces cavalier assumptions that we can play God with our surroundings and survive." 

He specifically asked for a new Endangered Species Act that would provide early identification and protection of threatened species, and treat hunting or capturing endangered species as a federal offense.

In 1973, the House and Senate versions were combined. The Senate passed the bill unanimously, and the House by a vote of 355 to 4.

Source: writersalmanac.publicradio.org

Help Save the Peregrine Falcon Webcam

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife Peregrine Webcam has been streaming live video from the rooftop nestbox at 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City for a number of years.

Even webcams can become endangered. Unfortunately, there is no longer funding available for the NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife to manage and host the Jersey City Peregrine Webcam.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ (CWF) hopes to replace the old analog system with a new digital high-definition camera and host the webcam. This will allow them to provide streaming video of the nestbox this coming season, but your support is needed to make this happen.

If you would like to help make that happen, you can make a donation,
visit conservewildlifenj.org/education/falconcam/

Since 2001, Nestbox News has chronicled the nesting activity, providing detailed information about each year's activity.

The Peregrine Project has always relied on public support. Much of that support is from The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, a non-profit organization which works closely with the division's Endangered and Nongame Species Program.

Weeklong Bear Hunt Begins Monday in North Jersey

The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Fish & Wildlife today announced the state’s weeklong black bear hunting season will begin at sunrise on Monday morning and continue through sunset on Saturday, December 14 in portions of six North Jersey counties. The season runs concurrently with the six-day firearm deer hunting season.

DEP biologists anticipate the outcome of this year’s hunt to be similar to 2012, when 287 bears were harvested in hunting zones in Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties, plus a very small area of western Bergen County.

“We are prepared for another safe and professionally managed black bear hunt, which is just one component of the state’s comprehensive efforts to manage the bear population,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “Our goal is to reduce the number of black bears, to a sustainable number, while improving public safety by reducing bear encounters with people”

In addition to hunting, the state’s comprehensive policy includes a common sense mix of bear management tools, including public education, research, bear-habitat analysis and protection and non-lethal bear management techniques, and a bear feeding ban, all geared towards reducing bear-human encounters. The Division of Fish and Wildlife has partnered with Untamed Science to offer New Jersey teachers and students black bear education materials via on a new bear education website (http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearfacts_curriculum.htm).

The early results of DEP’s comprehensive approach, which was established in 2010 by the state’s Fish and Game Council, show a reduction in the estimated number of black bears living in North Jersey and a continuing decline in bear-human incidents. North Jersey has a robust black bear population, with scientifically calculated and conservative estimates showing some 2,500 to 2,800 black bears living in the hunting area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287. That is down from an estimated 3,400 bears in 2010.

Reported black bear sightings in North Jersey this year are down 21 percent, damage and nuisance complaints are down 20 percent, and Category One calls (dangerous bear incidents) are down by 3 percent, to slightly more than 100, through the end of October, compared to the same period in 2012. That follows marked declines in 2012 when reported bear sightings dropped 34 percent, damage and nuisance complaints declined 26 percent, and Category One calls fell off by 43 percent.

Black bears have been observed in all 21 counties in New Jersey, but the number of bears living outside of the northwestern portion of the state remains low, with no population data available.

Black bear hunting is taking place this week in portions of a 1,000-square-mile area north of Route 78 and West of Route 287. It is complemented by black bear hunts that occur each autumn in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York State, where 3,632 and 1,337 bears were harvested in 2012. Bears living in the North Jersey also traverse parts of neighboring states.

Nearly 7,000 hunters have obtained bear hunting permits for the upcoming New Jersey hunt, with a maximum of 10,000 permits to be allocated.

For information on New Jersey’s 2013 black bear hunt, including bear permit availability, and information on the 2010, 2011 and 2012 bear harvest results, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearseason_info.htm

Information on the numbers of bears accumulated will be posted on line at http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bearseason_info.htm on Monday evening, as soon as possible after the 7:00 p.m. closing of the five check stations. On subsequent days, postings will occur by 8:00 a.m. the next morning.

SOURCE: http://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2013/13_0110.htm

Snowy Owls Visit the Jersey Shore

It may be a bit cold for a lot of us to be on the beaches in New Jersey right now, but that doesn't mean others are not enjoying the uncrowded shore.

"Ran into this guy while walking the beach this afternoon," reports Ray Yeager - RTY Photography LLC. Snowy owls have been spotted along the shore over the past few weeks.    Read more.


The Raptor Trust, a non-profit bird rehabilitation facility based in Millington, describes the snowy owl, in this way:

When perched, the bird has a smooth, heavy appearance. Its head is rounded and lacks feather tufts. It has bright yellow eyes, a black beak, and thickly feathered legs and feet. The female is larger than the male, as in all owls, but the recognizable difference is that the adult male is almost pure white, while the female has dark, heavy flecking.

Jersey Give Back for Environmental Non-Profits

Via the Dodge Foundation blog, I discovered that they are highlighting this month organizations featured in their Jersey Give-Back Guide. This is an annual, seasonal project of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the guide features some of NJ's nonprofits in the hope that you might consider them in your year-end donations.

The one that caught our environmental eye first is the Bayshore Center at Bivalve which was founded in 1988 to “motivate people to take care of the history, the culture and the environment of New Jersey’s Bayshore region through education, preservation and example.” 

They have restored the 1928 Delaware Bay Oyster Schooner AJ Meerwald as a sailing classroom and created the Bivalve Center which is their Maurice Riverfront home. There, the restored 1904 Bivalve Shipping Sheds and Wharves serve as a maritime center of national significance, homeport to the MEERWALD and the Delaware Bay Museum & Folklife Center . New Jerseyans can experience the heritage, ecology and ship-building and fishing history of the Delaware Bay.

The Bayshore suffered severe economic and ecological damage from Hurricane Sandy, but it was not designated as a region to receive federal assistance, so our private support for the Center at Bivalve helps people living throughout Bayshore area of south Jersey.

You can make a donation to the Center via the Dodge "Jersey Give-Back Guide" at JerseyGivebackGuide.org, and if you click on the Environment category, you will find the Bayshore Center at Bivalve and also:

• City Green
• Clean Ocean Action
• New Jersey Conservation Foundation
• Student Conservation Association

Oyster Farming in NJ

I didn't know that oysters love to eat algae. In fact, that is all they eat.

They take in cloudy water, filter out the algae and other forms of phytoplankton and push out crystal clear water. That sounds like a pretty good deal for our water. A juvenile oyster can filter 25 gallons of water a day and an adult can double that.

I discovered this in an article in NJ Monthly that was not so much about the environment as it was about the 40 North Oyster Farm and providing oysters for dining.

13-week-old oysters in Matt Gregg's gloved hand need to triple in size
before they go to market      Photo by Eric Levin

A century ago, the Delaware Bay alone produced more than a million bushels of oysters a year, but harvests fell to an annual average of 36,600 bushels in the 1990s.

There has been a comeback and over the last decade the yield has averaged 72,000 bushels a year.

An oyster farm provides clean water and Essential Fish Habitat which increases the sunlight reaching down, which in time also means in a place like Barnegat Bay that eel grass that serve as an incubator for baby fish increases.

Matt Gregg is the founder of 40 North Oyster Farm in Mantoloking, the northernmost oyster farm in the state at 40 degrees north latitude. At the University of Rhode Island, he majored in marine and coastal policy, minored in aquaculture and fisheries, and was inspired by Mark Kurlansky’s book The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell. 40 North seeded its first beds in 2011.

Our Jersey coastline was once plentiful with oysters. The state had an industry that boomed until greed and overfishing and later parasitic shellfish diseases destroyed the oyster beds in the 1950s and again in the 1990s.

Most of the oystering in New Jersey is now on the Delaware Bay with a dozen sites. That means you can eat a Jersey-raised Wellfleet, a Chincoteague, a Cape May Salt, a 40 North or any other Eastern Oyster. Let's also give a thank you to the Eastern species to Rutgers. The disease-resistant Rutgers oyster was developed by the late Harold H. Haskin (who has the Shellfish Research Laboratory in Port Norris named for him).

The 40 North farm was another victim of Superstorm Sandy. With their boat destroyed,  they couldn’t get their gear out of the water in time and the oysters got covered with mud and slowly died.

He has since partnered with New York restaurateur Chris Cannon who is turning the Vail Mansion in Morristown into Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen, set to open next spring. Cannon is looking to use Jersey farms, breweries and purveyors to supply the restaurant. cannon gets a stake in 40 North and the farm gets a cash infusion.

I have never been a real fan of eating oysters. I was told to chew, not gulp, but I still have not developed a taste for them. Maybe I need to develop a palate for the merroir of the kinds of Eastern Oyster that New Jersey offers. Maybe an oyster tasting in Morristown next spring?