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As you tour the New Jersey Field Office's web site, you will discover that New Jersey is a state of surprises; although one of North America's most densely populated areas, it supports a tremendous diversity of natural resources such as:
Strategically located at a midpoint on the Atlantic Flyway, New Jersey supports the second largest concentration of migratory birds in North America. Congress has charged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with responsibility over federal trust resources such as migratory birds, inter-jurisdictional fisheries, some marine mammals, federally listed threatened and endangered species, and National Wildlife Refuge lands. Additional emphasis is given to the impacts from invasive and exotic species and Federal Superfund sites on native fish and wildlife populations. $1 million will protect more than 600 acres in southern New JerseyJanuary 29, 2013
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that a $1 million grant will conserve and restore coastal wetlands and their fish and wildlife habitat in Cumberland County. An additional $1.5 million will be provided by partner contributions. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will use the funds to acquire 603 total acres of land, with individual parcels of agricultural and forested wetlands and uplands, as well as some open water areas. The grant is part of $20 million that will fund 24 projects across the nation through the 2013 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants Program. Listing Determination for Red Knot
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s New Jersey Field Office has begun work on a listing determination for the rufa subspecies of the red knot (Calidris canutus rufa). The red knot makes one of the longest distance migrations known, breeding in the central Canadian Arctic and wintering primarily at the southern tip of South America in Chile and Argentina, with a critical spring stopover along the Delaware Bay or coastal Virginia. The red knot migrates along the United States Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida and along the Gulf coast during the fall. Several thousand red knot winter in the southeastern United States, primarily from the Carolinas to Florida, and in Texas. The red knot population has declined by almost 80 percent from 2000 to 2011.Learn more about the red knot on the FWS’s red knot webpage or visit the species profile page. The FWS first designated the red knot as a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2006 due to the high magnitude of imminent threats to the subspecies.Since that time, listing has been precluded by other, higher priority listing actions.In August 2011, the FWS will begin preparation of a Proposed Rule to list the species as either threatened or endangered. The FWS must also consider whether there are areas of habitat believed to be essential to red knot conservation. If prudent and determinable, those areas will be proposed for designation as Critical Habitat. The FWS has authority to designate Critical Habitat only within the U.S. and its territories. We anticipate that the Proposed Rule / Proposed Critical Habitat will be published in the Federal Register by late 2012 for public comment. To learn more about the steps involved in the listing process, download the FWS listing fact sheet or visit the FWS Listing and Critical Habitat webpage. The conservation of the red knot is important to the FWS, and we are moving forward with updating the status and threats assessment as we prepare a Proposed Listing Rule. The FWS welcomes all new information on the rufa subspecies that can be provided so that the rule will be based on the best science available. Review Finds Endangered Species Protection May Be Warranted for Two Bat SpeciesAn initial review of a petition seeking to protect the eastern small-footed and northern long-eared bats under the Endangered Species Act has found that the two species may warrant Federal protection as threatened or endangered.
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