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Tags: edison wetlands association, wma 9
Posted in ecological restoration project, franklin parker small grants program, projects funded by conservation resources, recreation & aethestics
In 2011, CRI awarded this project $4000 through its Franklin Parker Small Grant program.
The Dismal Swamp Conservation Area Trails Project was conceived in 2003 by the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association (EWA). As the largest natural area remaining in this densely populated region of the state, the 1240-acre Dismal Swamp habitat enjoys a wide range of biodiversity, with nearly 200 species of birds sighted as well as a dozen threatened species. EWA has led the effort to preserve the Dismal Swamp since 1990, and has preserved approximately half of the area.
EWA continues to engage the public through mainstream media, blogs, videos, the web, and social media sites, as well as through public meetings, presentations, tours and cleanup events.Unfortunately, it has been historically difficult for the public to access this natural oasis. That changed in 2011 with the opening of the first fully public trail in the Conservation Area–Songbird Trail, a half-mile trail created, designed, and constructed by EWA in partnership with the Township of Edison. The trail currently offers hiking and mountain biking through an upland area crossed by waterways and adjacent to a public park and neighborhood. EWA has conducted cleanups, and installed security cameras, signs, kiosks, and benches. In the next few years, EWA will be hanging bird feeders, marking trees with identification tags, adding bike racks at trail heads, constructing bird blinds, and designing additional trails for future phases. They are also considering options for restoring native wildlife habitat.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails; Environmental education
Total Project Cost: $302,000
Status: While EWA completed the Songbird Trail, it offers additional opportunities for expanding side trails to incorporate the 70-acre South Plainfield Holdings, Adams Farm property, and General Pallet Factory tract. Funding is needed to help with upcoming projects, and ongoing outreach efforts.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: american littoral society, wma 13 (barnegat bay)
Posted in biological diversity, ecological restoration project, franklin parker small grants program, projects funded by conservation resources, water protection, filtration, & control
In 2011, CRI awarded this project $5000 through its Franklin Parker Small Grant program.
Oysters were once prolific in the lower-salinity waters of the BarnegatBay–Little Egg Harbor estuary, which contained approximately 12,800 acres of oyster beds. Their loss is primarily attributed to overharvesting, due to a lack of resource management and regulation. Historic oyster reefs served to filter and buffer freshwater nutrient inputs to the estuary. The bay has been degraded by eutrophication and the loss of aquatic habitat, such as tidal wetlands lost to development and shallow water areas lost to hardening of shorelines. Thus re-establishment of oyster reefs is an important adjunct to other efforts aimed at improving the bay, such as hard clam restoration, reduction in nutrient inputs, and softening shorelines.
This project will build upon oyster restoration efforts of the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program (BBSRP) by expanding the reef restoration site created in 2008. As part of the BBSRP, approximately 8,000 bushels of clamshell and 110,000 oyster seed were planted in December 2008 on a one-acre parcel within historic oyster habitat off Good Luck Point, at the mouth of Toms River, a major source of nutrient input to the bay. The area was selected by NJDEP as the best site among all other candidate areas surveyed in the bay for their oyster restoration potential following a site-selection process that included State-designated open waters.
A diver survey contributed by Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences confirmed bottom type and the suitability of the site for oyster restoration. The American Littoral Society contributed funds from the NOAA-Restore America’s Estuaries Partnership to the planting of the clamshell and ReClam the Bay volunteers reared the oyster seed in land-based nursery systems (upwellers). Oyster seed (a disease-resistant strain) was purchased by the Division of Fish and Wildlife from Rutgers’ Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory hatchery at the Delaware Bay cape shore. This was the first activity of its kind in the bay and serves as a model of how citizen organizations can work with state and federal agencies to improve the environment. Since 2008, an additional 360,000 oysters (cultchless and spat-on-shell) were planted on the reef.
Project goals:
Enhance benthic habitat in historic reef area with shell to support live oysters;
Engage the bay community in oyster restoration; and
Restore functional oyster reef to Barnegat Bay and build community support for and identity with the oyster as a critical component of a healthy bay.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality- filtration
Biological Diversity: Ecosystem restoration; Habitat- restore healthy reef habitat
Total Project Cost: $296,386
Status: The American Littoral Society has secured $130,560 in cash from the NOAA-RAE Partnership, and $128,759 in in-kind services, equipment, and facilities usage from several sources including scientists, trained volunteers, bayside landowners, and Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Science.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: ridge and valley conservancy, wma 1
Posted in franklin parker small grants program, land preservation project, recreation & aethestics
In 2011, CRI awarded this project $4000 through its Franklin Parker Small Grant program.
The Lightning Bug Hollow property consists of obtaining a conservation easement on two adjoining properties totaling approximately 202 acres in Hardwick Township. The properties consist of steep-to-rolling topography that culminates in a flat, developable plateau. An abandoned but not vacated township road - Butler Road – runs through both properties, giving access for development. The properties are completely forested, contain a small lake and numerous vernal pools that serve as critical wildlife habitat, adjoin Princeton Blairstown Center, and are in close proximity to Ridge and Valley Conservancy’s 360-acre Limestone Forest Preserve and the Bennett Farm, recently preserved by Warren County, creating a significant greenway.
The properties will remain in private ownership after the easement is placed on them. RVC and Hardwick will hold the easement, with the State holding a secondary right to enforce the easement. The easement will require public access via the Ridge and Valley Trial. Butler Road provides the missing link of the Ridge and Valley Trail, which will connect the Paulinskill Valley Trail and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails, creating a greenway
Total Project Cost: $850,000, including $31,500 for soft costs associated with obtaining the easement
Status: RVC has been in discussion with the Liberty-to-Water Gap Trail proponents, who would be able to use the Ridge and Valley Trail to finalize the connection to the Water Gap should the easement be obtained.
For more information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: d&r greenway land trust, wma 10
Posted in biological diversity, climate stabilization and/or air pollution mitigation project, ecological restoration project, projects funded by conservation resources
In 2011, this project received a $7,500 grant through CRI’s Carbon Sequestration and Restoration Grant Program.
The J. Seward Johnson Sr. Woodland Preserve is a 14-acre nature preserve located in Princeton, NJ. While the Preserve’s canopy trees are notably diverse, the shrub and herbaceous layers have been degraded by Princeton’s historic overpopulation of deer, and a resulting invasion of non-native plant species, including large populations of several emerging-invasive shade-tolerant shrubs, most notably Oriental Photinia. Through a 3-acre fenced exclosure, and planting of a native shrub understory comprised of 1800 shrubs, grasses, sedges, and wildflowers, D&R Greenway intends to guarantee the future carbon-sequestering capacity of the preserve. These plants will be sourced in large part from D&R Greenway’s own Native Plant Nursery, and will be custom grown for the site from local-ecotypic wild seed collections. 
D&R Greenway will also conduct Early Detection/Rapid Response surveys and eradications across the entire 14-acre preserve, removing thousands of stems of Oriental photinia and other emerging invasive plants, in partnership with the New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team. The innovative nature of this restoration, in a fragmented suburban woods burdened by emerging invasive species and a high deer population, suggests this project as an ideal model for future restorations in similar contexts region-wide.
Effectiveness of carbon sequestration will be measured by comparing a stem count of native saplings within the deer-excluded area to a similar three-acre area of the preserve, which will remain unfenced and unplanted, five years after planting. Saplings will be defined as tree species at breast height or above, less than 3” dbh. Amount of carbon sequestered will be based on biomass extrapolations for these saplings; the true carbon sequestration impact of these trees will be in the long-term, as they replace the existing canopy trees over time.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- reforestation
Biological Diversity: Ecosystem restoration- invasive plant removal and ecosystem management
Total Project Cost: $25,350
Status: D&R Greenway will be erecting fencing and controlling for invasives this winter, and planting during the 2012 growing season.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: d&r greenway land trust, wma 10
Posted in biological diversity, franklin parker small grants program, projects funded by conservation resources, recreation & aethestics
In 2011, CRI awarded this project $3325 through its Franklin Parker Small Grant program.
The goal of this project is to promote native pollinators by the enhancement of nectaring and nesting habitat on a 7-acre portion of a 22-acre farm. The conservation value of the project is to reduce surrounding produce farmers’ reliance on European honeybees and to create early successional habitat to benefit species that rely upon this habitat type. After planting, interpretive signage along a trail through the created meadow will explain the importance of our native pollinators and providing habitat for them.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Biological Diversity: Habitat for native pollinators through the creation of a pollinator meadow
Outreach, Education, and Aesthetics: Environmental education- interpretive signage; Public access- hiking trail
Agricultural Production: Crop pollination
Total Project Cost: $7500
Status: Herbicide has been applied to an existing stand of overgrown shrub willows on the property, and dead stand has been cut down.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: north jersey resource conservation & development council
Posted in franklin parker small grants program, projects funded by conservation resources, water protection, filtration, & control
In 2011, CRI awarded this project $5000 through its Franklin Parker Small Grant program.
The River-Friendly Farm Certification Program publicly recognizes and rewards farmers who do an excellent job of managing their farms in an economically and environmentally sound way that protects and improves soil and water resources for future generations. The program provides the farmers free consultation to help identify resources concerns and choose best management practices. The program then helps the farmer find any available cost-share to help offset any financial burden in the installation of the conservation practices. Upon meeting all of the necessary criteria, a farm is certified as “River Friendly” and receives public recognition.
The criteria for the certification include soil loss management, nutrient management, pest management, riparian buffers, and irrigation water management. This recognition program is an incentive-based method for increasing adoption of conservation practices in the target watersheds. An additional benefit is that the program, through the signage and media coverage, informs the general public about sound contributions farmers make to protect and improve our soil, water and related natural resources.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality
Total Project Cost: $749,036
Status: The River-Friendly Farm Certification Program (RFF) is currently supported in the Raritan Basin until 2014. North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development (NJRC&D) serves six counties: Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Union, Warren. NJRC&D would like to expand RFF to fully serve all six counties. This project is requesting the funding for initial launch into new watersheds. After the funding for the initial launch is exhausted then NJRC&D will seek additional funds for continued support in the new expanded area. At some point the RFF program will reach a threshold requiring a business plan to maintain funding and acquire the necessary staffing and resource for a large service area. At that time NJRC&D will seek funding to help develop the business plan.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: new jersey conservation foundation, wma 08 (north and south branch raritan)
Posted in agricultural production, climate stabilization and/or air pollution mitigation project, land preservation project, NRD settlement candidate project, recreation & aethestics
The Hill & Dale Preserve is located in Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County. It provides magnificent and sweeping views of preserved farmland and distant mountain ranges, including Round Valley Reservoir.
The first 115 acres of the new Hill & Dale Preserve at the base of Hell Mountain were acquired by New Jersey Conservation Foundation. Conservation Resources helped facilitate a large grant to this project from a previously collected Natural Resource Damage Settlement. To read the press release, click here.
Project History
New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) has been looking for a preserve in its Black River Greenway project area that would host both natural and agricultural components representative of the region. This property meets their criteria. If NJCF could acquire this whole site, then they would intend to convert the lower agricultural land to an organic farming operation, while some of the more steeply sloping fields would be converted to conservation land for passive recreation. The hayed areas towards the top would likely be converted to warm-season grasslands, and would include hiking trails where visitors could enjoy distant views.
The property has been of critical local interest for many years, and nonprofits and the local government have sought to preserve it for over a decade. The Garden State Greenways project identified the property as containing both Critical Resource: Agriculture and Grasslands, as well as providing a Critical Connector. Tewksbury’s Open Space Plan identifies parcels of greater than 30 acres in size (p.140) The plan proposes to carry out the Township’s policy to preserve open space by evaluating these parcels based on several criteria, including the following which the property meets: aquifer recharge, presence of freshwater wetland, unique wildlife and plant habitats, mature woodlands, headwater streams, steep slopes, aesthetic views and vistas, accessibility to the public, suitability for multiple types of uses, sustainability of the property’s intended use, and opportunity for preservation. The Township plan encourages preservation of large interconnected natural areas. Preservation of this property, nestled between the Township’s Hell Mountain Preserve and the Rothpletz farm, certainly meets this goal. The County plan recommends collaboration with nonprofits and others in the conservation of priority lands in conservation zones. The County Park Plan encourages protection of meadows of significant size (25 acres or more) to provide habitat to grassland bird species, and encourages 200 foot or larger buffers to streams, which would be afforded by preserving this property. Furthermore, the Hunterdon County Planning Board identified Hell Mountain as the area in Hunterdon County with the highest Natural Resource Score, based on its groundwater recharge, significant forest cover and significant habitat for rare plant species.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- avoided deforestation, grassland restoration
Water Protection, Filtration and Control: Water quantity- protection of groundwater recharge areas
Agricultural Production: Local food systems- organic agriculture
Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails
Total Project Cost: $7,100,000
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: conserve wildlife foundation, wma 15 (great egg harbor)
Posted in biological diversity, climate stabilization and/or air pollution mitigation project, ecological restoration project
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF) is planning to restore the 24-acre Shaw property, part of the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in Upper Township, Cape May County, NJ. Essential to this restoration will be the removal of Autumn olive and Phragmites, two invasive species that are prevalent in the wetland habitat. They also plan to remove debris from the property, do some minimal grading, and reforest the site with native trees and shrubs that provide food and cover to wildlife. They will focus on restoring early-successional and forested habitats to provide habitat for wildlife, especially migratory songbirds. The site will be monitored for at least three years following the restoration.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- reforestation
Biological Diversity: Habitat- scrub-shrub habitat for migratory songbirds; Ecosystem restoration- invasive plant removal
Total project cost: $204,050
Status: The CWF is seeking funding to carry out this project.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: new jersey conservation foundation, wma 20 (assiscunk crosswicks and doctors)
Posted in climate stabilization and/or air pollution mitigation project, land preservation project, recreation & aethestics, water protection, filtration, & control
This 20-acre property is a key link in the Allentown Historic Greenbelt and the Crosswicks Creek/Doctors Creek Watershed Greenway Plan, a plan devised by the Crosswicks Creek/Doctors Creek Watershed Regional Greenway Planning Group. It offers a scenic vista and gateway to Allentown and the region. The historic house is a community landmark that reminds citizens and visitors of the region’s history as a backdrop for Revolutionary War activity. A local citizens group is working to preserve a greenway commemorating the region’s historic legacy, referred to as the Allentown Historic Greenbelt, with this property featured as key to the integrity of the Greenbelt.
The property links with adjacent preserved lands, creating a greenway for healthier habitat. The land is identified in the Crosswicks/Doctors Creek Watershed Greenway Plan as well as the Township of Robbinsville’s Land Preservation Plan. The connected system of lands will create an opportunity for a trails network. With few wetlands, the property can support a variety of recreation activities.
The land buffers Indian Run, a tributary to Doctors Creek to Crosswicks Creek which outlets into the Delaware River through the Hamilton Trenton marsh. Flooding along Indian Run severely impacts the drinking water supply of Allentown Borough. Preservation of this land would help protect the drinking water supply from further degradation.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- avoided deforestation
Water Protection, Filtration and Control: Water quality- protection of wetlands, water supply
Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails as part of historic greenbelt
Total Project Cost: $4,075,000
Status: This property is under option with the private landowner. One appraisal has been completed, and a CMV is underway.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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Tags: new jersey conservation foundation, south jersey land & water trust
Posted in biological diversity, climate stabilization and/or air pollution mitigation project, land preservation project, water protection, filtration, & control
Maple Ridge is a 113-acre former golf course that straddles the Mantua Creek in Deptford and Mantua Townships, Gloucester County. The property serves as excellent wildlife habitat and helps protect the water resources of the Mantua Creek watershed. The site is just upstream from the Wenonah Ravine Natural Heritage Priority Site, a wooded ravine featuring a critically imperiled tree species. Preservation would help establish conservation linkages up and down the stream corridor. Successful preservation of Maple Ridge would provide a host of recreational, educational, economic and sustainable growth services to the region. It is well positioned for a park of regional significance in an area that has experienced significant growth in recent years. In fact, conservation efforts need to move quickly as the property has obtained preliminary local approvals for 123 housing units.
Ecosystem Services Provided:
Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- avoided deforestation
Biological Diversity: Preservation of critically imperiled tree species
Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality- protection of headwaters
Total Project Cost: $5 million
Status: Project partners include The New Jersey Conservation Foundation, the Friends of Maple Ridge, and the South Jersey Land and Water Trust. The Friends of Maple Ridge organization is exploring all potential funding sources from government grants to private fundraising. At this time, no funding commitments have been secured.
If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.
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