May 13, 2002 - September 17, 2007 scroll down to review news stories |
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Partners for Fish and Wildlife
"Partnership Project with NJ Audubon and Verizion "
Wins Governor's Excellence Award |
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Poster
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On November 29, 2007, Verizon received the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for a project they have pursued in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's New Jersey Field Office’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife program and the New Jersey Audubon Society. The Verizon Center, located a mile upstream of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, is restoring 18 acres of uplands and 7 acres of riparian habitat. Verizon has also publicized the merits of voluntary corporate land stewardship.
Verizon news release...
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Ducks Unlimited in
New Jersey
Names Eric Schrading Conservationist
of the Year for 2007
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| Ducks Unlimited in New Jersey named Eric Schrading the 2007 New Jersey Conservationist of the Year. article...324KB PDF.. |
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Help Make a Home for New Jersey's Fish and Wildlfe
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The NJFO’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife program recently wrote an article for the New Jersey League of Municipalities Magazine. The article highlights how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can interact with municipalities across the State that want to create wildlife habitat. Many of the 6,500 acres of wetlands, 3,000 miles of grasslands and other uplands, and 50 miles of riparian and in-stream habitat the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program has restored since it’s New Jersey inception in 1991 have come from partnerships with municipalities. article...916KB PDF. |
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Environmental Education in America
Connecting People with Nature |
Issue XIV of Field Notes provides articles and information
on a top priority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
click here for the page to the
5MB web version
and the
Individual print version pages |
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Eric Davis Becomes the
New Jersey Field Office’s
New Supervisor |
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The Hackensack Meadowlands Initiative:
Preliminary Conservation Planning |
The Hackensack Meadowlands is the largest brackish estuarine complex in the
New York – New Jersey Harbor Estuary and among the largest in the northeastern
United States. The Meadowlands supports remarkable biodiversity. .... continued .....
The Hackensack Meadowlands Initiative: Preliminary Conservation Planning was prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide a foundation for enhancement and restoration of the Hackensack Meadowlands in Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey and to promote a vision for the Meadowlands. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s vision includes:
(1) a more natural estuarine ecosystem with healthy fish and wildlife resources;
(2) a cleaner environment (progressive reduction in acute and chronic contaminant effects);
(3) diverse wetland and associated communities that sustain local and regional populations of native species, including federal trust fish and wildlife resources; and
(4) public commitment to and diverse social benefits from the Meadowlands. .... continued .... |
The Hackensack Meadowlands Initiative:
Preliminary Conservation Planning
Prepared by:
New Jersey Field Office
March 2007
. . .click here to go to the page... |
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The New Jersey Field Office sadly reports the passing of Clifford G. Day, our Supervisor for twenty years. Under his leadership, the New Jersey Field Office initiated programs in environmental education and promoted the restoration of the Hackensack Meadowlands. On his watch, great strides were made in the protection of threatened and endangered species. A native of New Jersey, Cliff cared deeply for the ecological health of all the regions of his state, championing conservation of the Highlands, the Pinelands, and coastal wetlands along the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. His presence among us is sorely missed.
...Link to obituary |
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Eric Davis Becomes the
New Jersey Field Office’s
New Supervisor |
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Eric Davis (black shirt) with some of the Field Office staff.
Photo: Gene Niieminen / USFWS |
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The New Jersey Field Office has a new Supervisor: Eric Davis took over the responsibilities of the position on September 17, 2007. He comes to us from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Virginia Field Office, where he was an Assistant Supervisor overseeing Endangered Species and Federal Activities. Since the retirement of Clifford G. Day in early March, the Field Office’s three Assistant Supervisors, John Staples, Timothy Kubiak, and Eric Schrading, have taken turns serving as Acting Supervisor, as well as Eric
and Diane Lynch from the Regional Office.
Eric was born and raised in Greensboro, NC and graduated with a BA in Biology from Duke University. Following an active duty tour as a Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he graduated with an MS in Biology from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. His thesis involved work on Schweinitz’s sunflower, a federally endangered species, and restoring the Piedmont prairie ecosystem. His first biology job was at Marine Corps Base Camp, Camp Lejeune, NC, where he worked (in civil service) on wetland permitting,
wetland mitigation banking, NEPA reviews, cultural resources, and endangered species.
Besides his work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Eric is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves and recently graduated from the Naval War College in Newport, RI with an MA in National Security. He is slated to assume command of 6th Motor Transportation Battalion,headquartered in Red Bank, NJ, in June 2008. |
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Verizon Works with Partners in the Great Swamp Watershed |
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The Verizon Center in Basking Ridge, Somerset County, is a good example of a corporate entity taking a keen interest in land stewardship. This open area is currently covered with cool-season grasses, a strip of native warm-season grasses and wildflowers will be planted here. |
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife program at the New Jersey Field Office works with a variety of landowners to help create, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat and improve water quality. Many large corporate properties are found in ecologically sensitive and valuable parts of the watersheds of New Jersey. Corporate landowners through wise land stewardship can enhance the ecological value of their properties for the benefit of surrounding communities. The Verizon Center in Basking Ridge, Somerset County, is a good example of a corporate entity taking a keen interest in land stewardship. In collaboration with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program and the New Jersey Audubon Society, Verizon is restoring habitat on its property for the benefit of insect pollinators, amphibians, reptiles, and migratory birds through a variety of measures such as planting native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers; managing nonnative plant species; erecting nest boxes; digging a vernal pool; and creating turtle nesting habitat. The Verizon Center lies within the Great Swamp Watershed, an area shared by the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, several species listed by the State and / or the federal government as threatened or endangered occur in the watershed.
Link to the joint Verizon, New Jersey Audubon Society, and Partners press release.
Link to additional images of the project at Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
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The 82nd meeting of the Coastal Engineering Research Board in Long Branch, New Jersey. Fish and Wildlife Biologist, Stephanie Szerlag of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s New Jersey Field Office presenting on the collaborative partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to protect federally and State-listed species on New Jersey’s Atlantic Coast.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Coastal Engineering Research Board was established in November 1963 to provide policy guidance and to review plans and funding requirements for coastal engineering research projects.
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Stephanie Szerlag of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along with Mark Burlas of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Todd Pover of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife briefed attendees of the 82nd meeting of the Coastal Engineering Research Board on management of the federally listed piping plover (Charadrius melodus) and seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus) that occur as a result of beach re-nourishments along the New Jersey coast. The presenters stressed the importance of partnerships between the federal and State agencies and coordination with local beach managers and municipalities to assume a shared responsibility in protecting federally and State-listed species that are attracted to re-nourished beaches.
Both piping plover and seabeach amaranth have been seriously affected by habitat loss since the early Twentieth Century. Since 1997, piping plovers have been nesting on beaches nourished by the Corps in Monmouth County, New Jersey, producing chicks at an average rate only slightly below the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Atlantic Coast Population Recovery Goal. Seabeach amaranth has recolonized on the same beaches since 2000. Before then, the species was last recorded in New Jersey in 1913 and has drastically declined from original abundance and even been extirpated from other states along the Atlantic Coast due to human coastal stabilization practices. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program work with local municipalities to establish beach management plans to protect federally and State-listed species that occur on renourished beaches in New Jersey. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service participation is part of the New Jersey Field Office’s “Coastal Beach Management Initiative” to promote partnerships to protect federally listed species along New Jersey’s coast.
Held on October 12, 2006 in Long Branch, New Jersey, the meeting of the Corps-sponsored Board focused on “Challenges in Coastal Protection and Restoration.” The meeting was chaired by Major General Don T. Riley, Director of Civil Works and President of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Board. Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ6th) was also in attendance and opened the afternoon session on Thursday. |
Partners in New Jersey, from left, Biological Assistant Todd Pover of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, Fish and Wildlife Biologist Stephanie Szerlag of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s New Jersey Field Office, and Senior Biologist Mark Burlas of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York District.
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And The Winners Are . . . !
The Nature of Learning Environmental Art Contest |
The Nature of Learning’s lead teacher, Ms. Cathy O’Leary (left), and the NJFO's James Cramer (right),with the award winners from Stafford Township Intermediate School Nature of Learning program in Manahawkin, New Jersey. |
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| It was a very simple idea. Preparing a new issue of Field Notes, our magazine-style newsletter (this one focuses on Environmental Education), the NJFO’s supervisor, Cliff Day, wanted to include an essay written by a student. We decided that the best way to accomplish this was to hold an essay contest with the Stafford Township Intermediate School Nature of Learning program in Manahawkin, New Jersey. The Nature of Learning is a program, designed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, that allows field stations of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to partner with individual schools to promote Environmental Education.In consultation with The Nature of Learning’s lead teacher, Ms. Cathy O’Leary, we decided to broaden the contest and include more categories and recognition. This, we reasoned, would provide more motivation, reward more students for participation, and garner stronger support for The Nature of Learning’s goals. One of the features of the Stafford Nature of Learning program has been its partnership with HOFNOD (Hooked On Fishing—Not On Drugs)sponsored by the Future Fishermen Foundation. Every year, the entire fifth grade (over 300 students) from the Intermediate School is involved in this program, so the Environmental Art Contest (as we came to call it) targeted the fifth grade, asking the students to respond to their HOFNOD experience with an essay, a poem, or a multi-media illustration.For two days, Wednesday and Thursday, the 17th and 18th of May, fifth-graders were immersed in activities at the school and at Lake Manahawkin that focused on fishes and fishing. They had a few days to formulate their reactions in essay, poem, or illustration; by Friday, May 26, their efforts were delivered to the NJFO, and the staff began to pore over them. Somewhat to our surprise, there were more poems and illustrations than essays, and many of the entrees were excellent. Thus, selection of the “winners” became more enjoyable and more challenging at the same time. Together, several NJFO staff members pared the entrees down to a group of finalists. Then a panel of three judges (also from the NJFO) rated the finalists in each category. On Thursday, June 15, 2006, NJFO’s Jim Cramer and Gene Nieminen attended the awards assembly at Stafford Township Intermediate School. Leaders O’Leary and Ms. Debbie Seitz, initiator of the HOFNOD program at the school, assisted Dr. Cramer in presenting the awards. What had begun as a means of acquiring a student essay for the Environmental Education issue of Field Notes became a very effective tool for integrating environmental education into the total curriculum of Stafford Township Intermediate School. |
Partners Dedicate Fish Ladder at Lake Lenape Dam
Mays Landing, New Jersey
May 23, 2006 |
Lake Lenape fish ladder partners. |
Fish Ladder Provides Fifteen Miles of Foraging and Spawning on the Great Egg Harbor River |
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The fish ladder and species that will benefit from fish passage. |
Great Egg Harbor River Fish Restoration Project
Dedication Ceremony
May 23, 2006
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Jersey Field Office and Atlantic County welcomed its partners to a dedication ceremony on May 23, 2006 to celebrate the construction and opening of the Great Egg Harbor River Fish Restoration Project. The dedication ceremony was attended by partners, cooperators, interested public, and the media. This unique restoration project was initiated in the spring of 1998 as an idea to provide fish passage throughout the Great Egg Harbor River drainage. In Spring 2000, this fishway project was transformed from idea to commitment when the landowner, Atlantic County and the Township of Hamilton, agreed to proceed with the work.
The Great Egg Harbor River Fishway Restoration Project provides fish passage at the Lake Lenape Dam for migratory fish. The fish ladder will provide access to over 15 miles of spawning and foraging habitat for migratory fish. Species benefiting from this restoration project include American shad (Alosa sapidissima), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), white perch (Morone americana), American eel (Anguilla rostrata), and striped bass (Morone saxatilis), in addition to wildlife (e.g., raptors and wading birds) that use the Great Egg Harbor River.
In 1992, the Great Egg Harbor River was designated as a “National Scenic and Recreational River” under the National Wild and Scenic River System by the National Park Service. The Great Egg Harbor River is only the third river in New Jersey to be included in the system and is important for anadromous and catadromous fish, migratory birds, and other riparian wildlife. Wildlife that will directly benefit from the fish passage include osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the federally threatened bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), great blue heron (Ardea herodias), and a variety of other piscivorous birds. Improving migratory fish access into Lake Lenape and the headwaters of the Great Egg Harbor River will enhance the riverine ecosystem, improving recreational fishing and outdoor tourism in Atlantic County.
The project was developed and funded by cooperating agencies including: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Jersey Field Office; Atlantic County; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (Green Acres and Division of Fish and Wildlife); Fish America Foundation; and Great Egg Harbor River Watershed Association. It took an active partnership of agencies and groups committed to fish and wildlife conservation to plan and complete this important project. The dam is co-owned by Atlantic County and Hamilton Township. Agate Construction Company, Inc. installed the fish ladder.
Additionally information about this and other restoration projects in New Jersey is available through Eric Schrading, Supervising Biologist of the New Jersey Field Office’s Habitat Restoration Program. |
A New “Mini-Refuge” Is Born
April 17, 2006 |
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Julia Somers, Executive Director of the Great Swamp Watershed Association, presents Marvin Moriarty, Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Northeast Region, with the Great Swamp Watershed Association's logo. |
On April 17, 2006, New Jersey Field Office Contaminants Biologist Clay Stern attended a ceremony celebrating the beginning of restoration on a 23-acre “mini-refuge” within the 50-acre Conservation Area managed by the Great Swamp Watershed Association in Harding Township, Morris County, New Jersey. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is cooperating and sharing costs with the Great Swamp Watershed Association for the development of this “mini-refuge” as part of the Restoration Plan for the Asbestos Dump Superfund site. Just off Route 287, the Great Swamp Watershed Association Conservation Area is upstream of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and thus improves the quality of water entering the refuge. At least 88 species of birds, 15 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 110 species of plants inhabit the site.
The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the New Jersey Field Office started to develop the Restoration Plan for the Asbestos Dump Superfund site in 2000. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has a vested interest in the Asbestos Dump Superfund site. The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is not merely a close neighbor; since 1984, six acres of the refuge have been part of the Asbestos Dump Superfund site. The Restoration Plan, authored primarily by Mr. Stern, stresses land acquisition, invasive plant species control, enhancement of vernal pools, and restoration of wildlife habitat as well as public access.
The “mini-refuge” is part of the sixth and final action of the Restoration Plan—the Natural Resource Restoration Assistance Project. Through the Natural Resource Restoration Assistance Project the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has been able to help implement restoration on lands beyond Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge’s management jurisdiction. Restoration projects eligible for Natural Resource Restoration Assistance Project action must also be within the Great Swamp watershed, cost-effective, and protected in perpetuity.
At the ceremony, The Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Northeast Region, Marvin Moriarty, was presented with an abstract representation of a great blue heron, the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s logo. Later, he toured vernal pools and other sites restored using Asbestos Dump Superfund settlement funds. The ceremony also was attended by Harding Mayor John R. Murray; staff from Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the Great Swamp Watershed Association; and representatives from the Harding Land Trust, Harding Environmental Commission, and Morris Land Conservancy, among others. |
Coastal Program Completes
Batsto River Fishway Restoration Project
October 18, 2005 |
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| Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley on October 18, 2005 presents the NJFO with the Coastal America 2005 Partnership Award for the installation of a fish ladder on the Batsto River at Batsto Village, Wharton State Forest, New Jersey. From left to right: Lt. Col. Robert J. Ruch, District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District; Bradley Campbell, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Clifford G. Day, Supervisor, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New Jersey Field Office; John Paul Woodley, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works; Eric Schrading, Senior Fish and Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New Jersey Field Office; D.J. Monette, Native American Liaison, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Northeast Regional Office. |
Clay
Stern Awarded the
U.S.
Coast Guard Certificate of Merit |
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New
Jersey Field Office Contaminants Biologist Clay Stern
attended an award ceremony on June 20, 2005 in Philadelphia
to receive the U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Merit.
Mr. Stern serves as the Field Response Coordinator for
the New Jersey Field Office and was recognized for his
outstanding service to the Philadelphia Area Committee
and Sector Delaware Bay response efforts. He provided
critical, hands-on oversight for the wildlife recovery
and rehabilitation efforts, and adeptly directed the
coordinated efforts of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
and U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel, wildlife
rehabilitation contractors, and more than 200 volunteers.
....full
story...
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Congressman
Steven R. Rothman (NJ 9th)
Recipient of the
2004 North American Waterfowl
Management Plan Committee's Prestigious
National Great Blue Heron Award |
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Congressman
Steve Rothman's (NJ9th) acceptance of the prestigious
National Great Blue Heron Award from the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service's Northeast Regional Director Marvin
Moriarty on June 13, 2005 publicly acknowledged the
convergence of Mr. Rothman's efforts to conserve the
Hackensack Meadowlands with the goals of the North American
Waterfowl Management Plan. The Plan was first signed
in 1986 by the Canadian Minister of the Environment
and the U.S. Secretary of Interior. When the Plan was
updated in 1994, Mexico became the third signatory.
A third update in 1998 defined three thrusts: biologically
based planning would be refined through ongoing evaluation;
partners would define the landscape conditions needed
to sustain waterfowl and benefit other wetland-associated
species; and partners would forge broader alliances
with other communities and bird initiatives.... ....full
story...
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The
NJFO Conducts the
Fourth Stakeholders Work Session for the Hackensack
Meadowlands Initiative |
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Cosponsors
of the June 13, 2005 Work Session held at the
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's Pavilion
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Clifford
Day
U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service
New Jersey Field Office
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Lynne
Dwyer
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
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Leonard
Houston
U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers
New York District
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Martin
McHugh
New Jersey Division
of Fish and Wildlife
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Robert
Ceberio
New Jersey
Meadowlands Commission
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June 13, 2005, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's
New Jersey Field Office sponsored the Fourth Stakeholders
Work Session for the Hackensack Meadowlands Initiative
at the headquarters of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission
in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, continuing the series of work
sessions held by the New Jersey Field Office since October
2000. Seventy representatives of governmental agencies,
environmental groups, elected officials, and researchers
met to discuss partnering for remediation, restoration,
protection, and management of the Meadowlands ecosystem,
which comprises some 5,400 acres of wetlands in Bergen
and Hudson Counties and is an important stopover for migratory
birds on the Atlantic Flyway....full
story... |
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NJFO and Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Launch the
NRRA Project on 24 June 2005 |
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On Friday June 24, 2005, the NJFO in close cooperation
with the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge launched
implementation of the Great Swamp National Wildlife
Refuge Watershed Natural Resource Restoration Assistance
Project (NRRAP) at the Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed
Management Committee's tenth anniversary celebration.
The event was held at the Refuge's future visitor center.
A red maple, planted in honor of Congressman Rodney
Frelinghuysen (NJ11), will become more of a focal point
in the site layout as development of the visitor center
progresses. The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
is a member of the Ten Towns Committee.
...full story...
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On
March 23, 2005, staff from the New Jersey Field Office
presented a certificate of appreciation to
Mantoloking
Borough for its efforts in protecting the plant
seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus
pumilus), which is federally listed as threatened
under the Endangered
Species Act.
From left to right Public Works Director William Heckman,
Coastal Engineer Robert Mainberger, Mayor William Dunbar,
New Jersey Field Office Branch Chief John Staples, and
New Jersey Field Office Fish and Wildlife Biologist Wendy
Walsh. MORE.....
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Nature of Learning students from Stafford Intermediate
School (in Stafford Township, Ocean County) sighted a
great blue heron, a peregrine falcon, black ducks, wood
ducks, a great black-backed gull, and a cormorant as well
as many vultures and other animal species during a field
trip to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge's...
full story... |
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The
New Jersey Field Office Helps To Purchase Land for
Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
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The
New Jersey Field Office partnered in 2004 with other
federal agencies, environmental and charitable foundations,
and Harding Township, Morris County, to purchase 65
acres for Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge with
Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR)
funds. At the same time, the partners were ...
full news article ...
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May
16, 2003
Service
Recognizes Pine Hill Golf Club For Conservation Work
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New
Jersey Field Office Endangered Species Biologist Lisa
Arroyo presented Mr. Eric Bergstol, President of Bergstol
Enterprises and CEO of Empire Golf Management, with
a plaque ....
....Click to see below...
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Stone
Harbor Update
April 18, 2003
Stone
Harbor Borough has completed the habitat creation portion
of its restoration at Stone Harbor Point. The new piping plover
habitat even survived recent coastal flooding. We hope this
translates into success for nesting plovers; six pairs have
been spotted setting up nesting sites, including some within
the restored area. Sedge Island has been prepared as a permanent
receptacle for the dredge spoils, and transfer should begin
by the end of April. All dredge spoil removal at the Point
should be finished by June 8.
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March 25 , 2003
Stone Harbor Dredge
Spoils on
March 25, 2003
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March 14 , 2003
Stone Harbor Re-creates
Piping Plover Habitat
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February 11, 2003
Stone Harbor Must Remove
Dredge Spoils and Re-create Piping Plover Habitat
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January
8, 2003
On January
8, 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice through the
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey filed
a complaint with the New Jersey Federal District Court
initiating an enforcement action against the Borough
of Stone Harbor ...
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August 27, 2002
U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Director Steve Williams Tours
the
Hackensack Meadowlands
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May 13, 2002
New Jersey Field Office
Receives Coastal America Award
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to New Jersey Field Office home page
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Full
Article with Illustrations ...click
here...
Registration
and Agenda
9
and 10 October, 2003
The
NJFO Initiates A Scientific
Symposium on the Hackensack
Meadowlands
On
the 9th and 10th of October
the first Meadowlands scientific
symposium was conducted at the
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's
Environmental Center in Lyndhurst,
New Jersey. Initially proposed
by the New Jersey Field Office,
the Symposium was organized
by Hudsonia Ltd., the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (New York
Division), the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, and the Meadowlands
Environmental Research Institute
(MERI), a joint partnership
of the New Jersey Meadowlands
Commission and Rutgers University.
Two hundred and fourteen participants
were presented with data from
scientific research in the Hackensack
Meadowlands through twenty-one
oral presentations and twenty-nine
poster displays. New Jersey
Senators Jon Corzine and Frank
Lautenberg sent letters of support,
and New Jersey Field Office
Supervisor Cliff Day introduced
U.S. Representative Steve Rothman.
Rothman spoke to the assembled
academics, expressing his own
commitment to the protection
of the Meadowlands and thanking
them for their efforts toward
making his dream a reality.
Dr. William Mitsch of the Ohio
State University and perhaps
the nation's best-known environmental
scientist regarding urban wetland
restoration, delivered the keynote
address: "Urban Wetlands
and Large-Scale Wetland Restoration:
Lessons Learned."
Symposium presentations ranged
from the historical ("Three
Centuries of Human Use and Modification
of the Hackensack Meadowlands")
through the archeological ("The
Use of Historic GIS & 3d
Modeling to Reconstruct the
New Jersey Meadowlands")
to physical science ("Hydrogeomorphic
Functional Assessment Model
on the Tidal Hydraulics of the
Hackensack River"). The
Commission also provided attendees
with a boat trip on the Hackensack
River or a tour of reconstruction
sites in the Meadowlands. Publication
of selected papers is planned
in the near future.
Cosponsored by 21 environmental
and governmental organizations,
the Symposium attempted to build
momentum for the protection
of the Meadowlands by demonstrating
its value as a resource for
scientific study. The Symposium
proposed to "provide a
forum for a diverse group of
scientists to exchange information
about their research in the
Meadowlands and to disseminate
their findings to the environmental
communities at large."
Two questions underlying all
the presentations were "how
can urbanized landscapes successfully
retain open space for wildlife
habitat?" and "how
can urban/industrial communities
reduce or eliminate the effects
of contaminants in the environment?"
The search for answers to these
questions and the fact that
the Symposium has made so much
useful data available to the
scientific community will almost
certainly create an impetus
for future Meadowlands symposia.
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to New Jersey Field Office home page
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U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service
Recognizes Pine Hill Golf Club
For Conservation Work
| Lisa
Arroyo (pictured center)
presented a slide presentation
on swamp pink and the efforts
of the Conservation Management
Group to restore and enhance
this species at the Pine
Hill Golf Club |
On
May 16, 2003 during a report
on the progress and future plans
of the Pine Hill Golf Club Conservation
Management Group, New Jersey
Field Office Endangered Species
Biologist Lisa Arroyo presented
Mr. Eric Bergstol, President
of Bergstol Enterprises and
CEO of Empire Golf Management,
with a plaque honoring the Pine
Hill Golf Club for continuing
work in conserving and protecting
the federally threatened plant,
swamp pink. The management group
is a consortium formed by the
Pine Hill Golf Club, the Borough
of Pine Hill, the Pine Hill
Environmental Commission, the
Camden County Soil Conservation
District, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, Trout Unlimited,
and the New Jersey Division
of Fish and Wildlife. Restoring
and improving Mason's Run, which
not only supports swamp pink
on its riparian areas, but is
the last remaining native brook
trout (Salvelinus fortinalis)
stream in southern New Jersey,
has been a high priority for
the group since its inception
in 2001.
In
Camden County, Mason's Run provides
habitat for two colonies of
the federally threatened swamp
pink (Helonias bullata).
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service became involved in the
restoration project when the
Pine Hill Golf Club, having
recently acquired some of the
property, needed a State wetlands
permit. Through coordination
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection,
and the Pine Hill Golf Club,
the Conservation Management
Group was formed to restore
and enhance habitat for swamp
pink and native brook trout.
Recent monitoring funded by
the group revealed one swamp
pink colony of 25 plants and
another of 82 plants. Both colonies
will be monitored annually to
ensure health and growth. The
smaller colony has been protected
by fencing, and a stormwater
filter is be installed just
downstream of Mason's Run's
headwaters near Clementon-Erial
Road. The other colony, located
on a secondary tributary, will
require a smaller, separate
filter. Trash removal and monitoring
will be ongoing. With care,
both colonies have the potential
to become very robust. Since
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