New Jersey Conservation Foundation

The New Jersey Conservation Foundation is the state’s oldest land preservation organization. They work to protect farmland, meadows, rivers, and endangered species. NJCF was a group that fought to protect the Great Swamp National Wildlife Reserve in Morris County from being developed into a major airport when that was proposed in the late 1950s.

NJCF is a voice for conservation in NJ politics. They offer a number of ways to donate and help their efforts.

Many of New Jersey Conservation Foundation's preserved properties are open to the public for hiking, bird-watching, bicycling, picnicking, nature photography and family outdoor activities. Some preserves have spots for fishing, kayaking, canoeing and other non-motorized water sports. Preserves are open during daylight hours.

To learn more about individual preserves, go to njconservation.org/preserves.htm

Since 1960, NJCF has been working to preserve mountains, fields, farms, streams, forests
and meadows, and has saved over 125,000 acres since then. (2014 - 17 minutes)

Protect the Palisades

I only became aware this week that New Jersey is celebrating its 350th anniversary. That's pretty good, considering the United States is only 238 years old. But that doesn't seem like much if you consider that the now endangered Palisades cliffs over the Hudson River are 200 million years old.

An update from Michele Byers at www.njconservation.org alerted me to the Protect the Palisades website.

The issue is that LG Electronics wants to build a 143-foot office tower that would rise high above the tree line, more than four times the height of existing buildings next to Palisades Interstate Park.

What continues to amaze people about the Palisades is that the view from the Hudson River north of the George Washington Bridge has remained unchanged over centuries. Pretty amazing for this most densely populated state in the nation that gets plenty of abuse for it.

It's certainly not the first threat to the Palisades. In the early 1900s, it was threatened by rock quarrying. Citizens fought then for preservation and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission was created. Before we had land conservancy groups very visible, prominent families of the day bought lands along the cliffs and donated them for conservation. Zoning for towns north of the GW Bridge wrote height restrictions limiting building to 35 feet so that the tree line of Palisades Interstate Park was maintained.

The National Park Service supports the low-rise alternative continuing and reminds us that the Palisades have the rare distinction of being both a "National Natural Landmark" and a "National Historic Landmark."


But in 2012, Englewood Cliffs granted a variance allowing the LG office tower, and opening up a larger area for more high-rise development. (The NJ Federation of Women's Clubs sued to stop the project, along with Scenic Hudson and the NY-NJ Trail Conference and it is a case that's still before the courts.)

Hopefully, the NPS and concerned citizens can protect our vista in the same way that the Grand Canyon, Yellowstons and Yosemite National Park are protected.

In a Star-Ledger editorial last summer:

LG spokesman John Taylor said the company has not ruled out a redesign, although it would be costly. Opponents of the current design, such as Michele Byers of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, said if the company lowers the building, they’ll get behind the project to expedite it and minimize costs. Taking the building down to a lower height would ensure the preservation of the Palisades and earn priceless goodwill for the company.

PROTECT THE PALISADES asks you to join in at 1pm on Saturday, March 8th around New Jersey and in NYC as people stand up and show LG how strong the opposition to their plan to build a tower on the Hudson River Palisades really is! Spread the word and sign up new supporters.

You can also follow Protect the Palisades on Facebook for updates.

NJ MAP

NJ MAP is a website created by the Geospatial Research Lab at Rowan University (GeoLab).  The objective is to brings our ever changing NJ landscapes into focus. It is data visualization and a way to show clues as to future growth and development patterns. The information will be useful to citizens, planners, and local decision makers.  It is also just plain interesting to look at your own hometown area and see how things have changed over the years.

All 565 of New Jersey’s municipalities have their own dedicated page on the site. You can access data and aerial photography specific to your community.

Check any town at http://njmap.rowan.edu/.

http://njmap.rowan.edu/growth/images/growth_nb.gif

Our New Jersey’s landscapes have changed significantly throughout our state’s history. Steady population growth and development has brought us wealth and growing cities and suburbs. And, yes, it has brought environmental problems sometimes.

I have read that land use experts who monitor development trends speculate that New Jersey may well be the first state to reach complete build out. That frightening prediction - that we will be the first state to reach a point where all parcels of land not protected through land preservation, regulation, or zoning will be developed - is not exactly a selling point for NJ.

Rowan’s GeoLab is asking for your help in order to update its information on growth since 2007. They invite you be a volunteer contributor by helping to identify post 2007 development growth in your area or any area of the state.

They are hoping that if they get enough volunteers, they can have results by early in 2014. You can enter data about that farm or woods that has been recently developed, or the new community parkland, shopping center or reserve.

Anyone can participate - log onto the GeoLab’s website and sign in to be a contributor. There are even some prizes for contributors.

Keep It Green

The NJ Keep It Green Campaign is a coalition of over 145 statewide, local and regional organizations ranging from sportsmen’s groups and environmental organizations to affordable housing and urban park advocates.

Their mission is to secure a long-term stable source of funding for the acquisition of open space, farmland and historic sites as well as the capital improvement, operation, maintenance, and stewardship of state and local natural areas, parks and historic sites in New Jersey.

This work is guided by the belief that every New Jersey resident deserves well-maintained, accessible neighborhood parks, wildlife areas and historic sites. Our communities rely on these areas for a high quality of life, livable neighborhoods and sustainable economies.

One of their recent successes was in working for the passage of the NJ Yes vote this past November to continue investing in preserving our land, water and history for the benefit of citizens today, and for future generations.

A majority of voters, voted to continue funding to the state's highly successful preservation programs. The Yes vote was bipartisan, winning in eight counties carried by Republican Chris Christie and seven counties carried by Democrat Jon S. Corzine.

Funding for the Green Acres Program, the Farmland Preservation Program, and the NJ Historic Trust will now continue for the next two years, giving New Jersey time to identify a long-term funding source for these programs.

In the meantime, the $400 million in approved funding will:

* Preserve sources of clean drinking water
* Protect water quality in our rivers, lakes and streams
* Preserve wildlife habitat, working farms, historic sites and natural areas
* Invest in our ecological resources that save on the high costs of degradation, protect New Jersey's multi-billion dollar outdoor tourism industries, and create jobs restoring natural and historic landmarks.
* Cost each household less than $1 per month
* Require continued full public disclosure of all spending
* Leave a legacy for future generations.

You can follow NJ Keep It Green on Facebook.

D&R Greenway

D&R Greenway Land Trust is central New Jersey's non-profit land preservation organization, founded in 1989 through the collaboration and vision of four organizations: the Stony Brook - Millstone Watershed Association, Friends of Princeton Open Space, Regional Planning Partnership, and the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission.

They were originally named the Delaware & Raritan Greenway, but they changed their name in 2004 to better reflect their preservation work as a Land Trust, and because their work expanded beyond the focus on the Delaware & Raritan Canal.

I actually heard about them because of a poetry event they offered recently called "Living Among Giants, Seeing the Forest for the Trees." It's one of a number of public programs they offer at at the Johnson Education Center.

They cover a lot of ground. Their operating region consists of over 1,500 square miles, encompassing portions of the Delaware, Raritan and Millstone River watersheds and the Delaware & Raritan Canal. This includes Mercer, Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Burlington and Monmouth counties.

Recently, they have also worked at preserving preservation of farmlands in Salem County in the area of Mannington Meadows.

Since 1989, D&R Greenway Land Trust has preserved 223 properties. The total acreage preserved as of February 1, 2010 is 14,320.69 acres valued at $316,177,653.

Hudson Farm Greenway in Sussex County

A recent report in The Star-Ledger reports good environmental news for Northern New Jersey.

A 222-acre tract in Byram Township (Sussex County) has been preserved for $4.2 million with an agreement that included the Land Conservancy of New Jersey, Green Acres program, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Byram Township and the Sussex County Open Space Committee.

The Conservancy was part of a four-year effort to permanently save the Hudson Farm Greenway tract for natural and recreation purposes, including ballfields and trails.

The Hudson Farm Greenway tract includes mature forest, Johnson Lake, existing hiking trails and a scenic ridgeline that overlooks Cranberry Lake. It creates a greenway corridor that Johnson Park with Allamuchy State Park. The nearby Highlands Trail may also be re-routed through the new greenway.

New Jersey preserved 332 acres of hiking, natural, agricultural lands in the past year including:

First Time Fen: 54 acres, Green Township - greenway linking the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area to the Pequest River Blueway.

Mayapple Hill Extension: 11.2 acres, West Orange - now part of South Mountain Reservation.

Lake Iliff Access: 13.5 acres, Andover Township

Pompton River Walk: 0.43 acres, Pequannock

Polowy farm: 140 acres, Frelinghuysen

New Village Road Natural Area: 109 acres, Greenwich Township

Miller-Kingsland Historic Park: 2.81 acres, Boonton

Horseshoe Lake Athletic Complex: 0.63 acres, Roxbury

The Nature Conservancy in NJ

Since 1955, The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey has protected more than 56,000 acres.

Their first project preserved 500 acres of one of New Jersey’s last old growth forests at Hutcheson Memorial Forest in Somerset County.

The Chapter now focuses on species and natural communities at risk in three program areas across the state. The program areas have projects in the Skylands, the Delaware Bayshores and the Pine Barrens.

In the Pine Barrens, they have safeguarded nearly 3,400 acres at four nature preserves.

These special places include the 520-acre Oswego River Preserve which spans diverse natural communities, Forked River Mountain Preserve, 1,740 acres linking neighboring protected lands to form an impressive greenway, and the Berkeley Triangle Project, a donation from a developer of nearly 4,500 acres, now protected and open to the public.

The Pinelands, which are not barren at all, spans more than one million acres. It is the most extensive undeveloped area on the eastern sea-board between Boston, Massachusetts and Richmond, Virginia.

The region harbors the largest example of pitch pine barrens on Earth as well as globally rare pygmy pine forests. These fire-shaped landscapes rely on natural fire regimes or ecologically prescribed burns to survive.

Mixed pine and oak forests and Atlantic white cedar swamps also thrive here, as well as many threatened plants and animals including curly grass fern (Schizaea pusilla) and pine barrens treefrog (Hyla andersonii).