The Hackensack Meadowlands Issue of - Field Notes, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, New Jersey Field Office, 927 North Main Street, Pleasantville 08232. December 2002. An Activity report of field operations by the New Jersey Field Office. Image shows logo for Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with a small green map of the State of New Jersey.

The Hackensack Meadowlands is a complex of wetlands, forests, and fields along the lower Hackensack River. This unique area supports an astonishing number of raptors, ducks, geese, wading birds, other migratory birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. It is an oasis in the midst of one of the most densely populated areas in the United States. This 8,400-acre area is the largest remaining brackish wetland complex in the New York / New Jersey Harbor Estuary.

Unfortunately, however, the Meadowlands has problems. This mixture of land and water so rich in natural resources has been the center of a growing human population for the last 300 years. Consequently, development pressure, pollution, and ignorance have led to the degradation and destruction of this area, which threatens the health and vitality of fish and wildlife. But now there is an opportunity to save and restore the Meadowlands.

Contamination can be eliminated and cleaned up. Fill can be removed and areas restored to wetlands. Tidegates can be removed to restore a more natural hydrology. Lands can be acquired and conservation easements obtained to prevent over-development and provide wildlife habitat and public recreation opportunities. Invasive and exotic species can be controlled and areas restored to natural conditions. Citizens can work together to protect the integrity of the Meadowlands. Saving this unique habitat will require the cooperation and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders—municipal, state and federal agencies, local and national environmental groups, and the people of
New Jersey and New York. Taking the right steps now can ensure a future of clean water to our communities, flourishing plant, fish, and wildlife populations, and outdoor recreational opportunities for more than 14 million people.

Any environmental protection plan for the Meadowlands must recognize that government agencies alone cannot achieve sustained environmental improvements. The cumulative effects of the day-to-day decisions made by millions of people who live, work, and play in the Hackensack River watershed can greatly outweigh the environmental benefits of a particular government program. The approach for developing a long-term plan must be to operate both individually and collectively. Instead of simply controlling problems or mitigating the impacts of our actions on the environment, all parties must work to avoid problems from the start to improve the current condition of the Meadowlands. Through our cooperative efforts, each stakeholder and interest group, as well as all levels of government, have an opportunity and an obligation to help find a solution for making the Meadowlands an example of our collective commitment to natural resource stewardship.


Goals for the Meadowlands:

1. Improve conditions for all native plant, fish and wildlife species.
2. Clean up contaminated sites and reduce the effects of pollution on fish and wildlife resources.
3. Acquire, preserve, and restore remaining undeveloped tracts of land to key functioning parts of the Meadowlands ecosystem (e.g., removal or replacement of tide gates with structures that close only on extremely high tides to allow more normal tidal flow and fish passage). Preserve and restore vegetated wetland and upland corridors connecting both small and large tracts that are necessary to connect populations of less mobile species and increase the habitat value of formerly isolated tracts.
4. Control invasive and exotic species.
5. Enhance, restore, and maintain ecosystem integrity, including natural dynamic processes (e.g., successional patterns, natural disturbance regimes, hydrologic processes, nutrient cycles, predator-prey associations).
6. Increase public awareness and education about the Meadowlands and its regional importance through an expanded number of public access points within the Meadowlands, and by encouraging increased but ecologically responsible use of these public facilities.

Tasks to be Accomplished:

1. Develop long-term management options for fish and wildlife species and native plant communities.
2. Build a stakeholder coalition of agencies and citizens to spearhead the protection, restoration and management of the Hackensack Meadowlands. Define roles and responsibilities of groups and move forward on Memoranda of Understandings.
3. Prioritize sites for acquisition and begin protecting lands either through fee title or conservation easements. Seek funding for priority acquisitions. Contact landowners to identify willing sellers.
4. Identify contaminated sites, determine the source and extent of contamination, and estimate the costs of remediation options.
5. Identify sites with restoration potential. Begin collaborating with natural resource agencies, local universities and environmental groups to explore methods and timing.
6. Create opportunities for public use and education targeting urban populations that often have limited outdoor recreation options or experience.