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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Harding Land Trust (HLT) plans to publish a Landowner Stewardship Guide as part of a new initiative to educate landowners about the conservation of natural habitats in the Great Swamp Watershed.

The Guide will  provide landowners with simple recommendations to improve habitat quality and ecological values on private lands.  Distribution will be targeted to owners of conservation properties and lands adjacent to preserved properties to reduce violations and promote consistent stewardship of resources.

The guide will be made available to other land trusts and conservation organizations who want to customize the information to their organizations’ needs.

This project will enable the Harding Land Trust to:

• Promote stewardship ethics and best management practices
• Draw on the experience and knowledge of conservation partners within the watershed
• Identify and address local stewardship needs in partnership with others
• Resolve issues through compromise and respect

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Outreach, Recreation and Aesthetics: Environmental Education- outreach materials to educate landowners about conserving natural habitats

Total Project Cost: $8,240

Status:  A draft of the guide is under development.

If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.

]]> http://www.njconservationexchange.org/landowner-conservation-guide/feed 0 http://www.njconservationexchange.org/developing-carbon-negative-crops http://www.njconservationexchange.org/developing-carbon-negative-crops#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:06:39 +0000 The Conservation Exchange http://www.njconservationexchange.org/?p=1748 In 2010, this project received a $6,500 grant from CRI, Elizabethtown Gas, and PSEG through CRI’s Carbon Sequestration and Restoration Grant Program.

The New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) is working with a group of farmers to  develop black oil sunflower seed as a specialty crop that can be sold as a Jersey Grown birdseed. As part of the project, NJAS trademarked a brand for the birdseed – S.A.V.E.^TM, Support Agricultural Viability and the Environment.  The project’s goals are to create a financially attractive niche crop for farmers and produce a “greener” birdseed with a reduced carbon footprint that uses product revenues to restore and manage 1 acre of grassland habitat for every 5 acres planted to sunflowers.

A significant component of the project’s attempt to reduce the crop’s carbon footprint is the use of biochar on the crops and restored grasslands.  Biochar is a charcoal-based compound that is exposed to beneficial soil microbes prior to its direct application to the soil.  The biochar is purported to help rebuild the soil’s organic layer, retain moisture, thus helping crops withstand drought, and harbor beneficial soil micorrhizae that can reduce the amount of artificial fertilizers and water that growing plants need.  By taking annual soil samples and sending them for testing, NJAS is measuring the impacts of the use of biochar on cropped soils and restoration sites. Because the biochar decomposes very slowly and is not washed or leached from the soil, its use can help “seed” excess carbon into the soil for decades or more.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- carbon-based research for sequestering carbon in the soil

Agricultural Production: Soils- soil enhancement; Local agricultural systems- promoting local birdseed crops

Biological Diversity: Habitat- create habitat for grassland bird species

Total Project Cost: $120,000

Status: Funding for the grassland restoration onsite has come from a number of sources: NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant – $52,000 (this includes the grassland restoration and start-up costs associated with initiating production of black oil sunflowers for birdseed), Merck, Inc. – $18,000 for grassland restoration, CRI/Doris Duke Charitable Foundation – $35,260 (for restoration of grasslands on Merck Tract for RPWHP project). $75,000 is currently needed for equipment, and to retain a project coordinator.

If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.

In 2010, CRI awarded this project $2,000 through its Franklin Parker Small Grant program.

The Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) has worked for 40 years to preserve and restore open space in Princeton, NJ. Its home base is Mountain Lakes Preserve, in the middle of 411 acres of preserved land, 300 of which are publicly owned. Sometimes called “Princeton’s Central Park”, this popular destination for hikers is well-situated for public outreach, being in the middle of the township, well connected to bike trails and bounded by three schools. A FOPOS-maintained system of trails allows easy access to all preserved lands. Preliminary plant inventories have been made of the complex of habitats, which vary in soil type and elevation from spring- or stream-fed wetlands to mature oak-hickory forest and upland meadow.

Though ten years of intensive deer control has greatly improved prospects for native flora, past farming and browsing pressure mean much work is needed to reintroduce native understory species. Invasive shrubs are pervasive, with Photinia villosa of particular concern, while invasions by herbaceous exotics such as lesser celandine and Lespedeza cuneata are in earlier stages.

Various initiatives to manage and restore the publicly held lands are underway through FOPOS, including the planting of a wet meadow, management for native flora in a spring-fed marsh (WHIP grant), restoring populations of native chestnut, butternut and hazelnut, deer exclosures to be built as mitigation for the dam and lake restorations, invasive removal by individuals and school groups, conversion of Mountain Lakes House landscaping from exotic to native, native seed collection and growing.

There is a need to integrate all these initiatives within the framework of a detailed ecological assessment and stewardship plan that will offer a comprehensive vision, identify priorities, partners and opportunities, and provide a plan for reaching a set of ecological and educational goals.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Biological Diversity: Ecosystem restoration- invasive plant removal, ecosystem-level management and planning, restoration of native wetlands and forest species

Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails

Total Project Cost: $22,600

Status: Approximately 15 acres of the property have been cleared of Photinia villosa. Further funding is needed to continue efforts to remove this species, as well as develop an  integrated ecological assessment and stewardship plan.

If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.

The 68.84 acre Thompson property is of critical importance to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed and its surrounding region.  It was purchased in July 2011 by the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (SBMWA) through the state Green Acres program, in partnership with Mercer County and Hopewell Township, with support from CRI. The tract now connects the Association’s formerly separate units into 930 contiguous acres. In addition to important habitat and resource protection, securing this land is also critical for completing an uninterrupted hiking trail between Hopewell Borough and Kunkel Park in Pennington.

Honey Brook, a tributary to the Category One waters of the Stony Brook, bisects the property. Approximately one third of the tract includes associated wetlands and habitat.  Honey Brook is also the feeder stream to a 4.5 acre pond, so the protection of this area is crucial from a habitat management standpoint.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality and quantity- protection of wetland habitat, groundwater recharge areas

Biological Diversity: Habitat- management of wetlands habitat

Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails

Total Project Cost: About $1.5 million

Status:  Purchase was completed July 2011.

If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.

In 2010, the New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) was awarded a Franklin Parker Small Grant to assist in the construction of a 2-acre wetland at the Elvin W. Georges Grassland Preserve.  The preserve is a 71-acre parcel that, in addition to wetland enhancement, is being planted in native warm season grasses.  Wetland construction began in late July 2011 and was completed by October.   By late November the wetland was already showing the transformation from a seep with non-native invasive vegetation to the beginnings of a functional wetland.  Insects, frogs and some birds began using the wetland nearly immediately.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Water protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality and quantity- protection and expansion of wetlands

Biological Diversity: Habitat- extend habitat for amphibians and migrating wetland birds; increase diversity of habitats on preserve

Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails; wildlife viewing

Total Project Cost: $16,300

Status: The wetland is complete.  This wetland restoration project was partially funded by NRCS and was designed by NRCS engineers.  The New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) obtained a WHIP grant that provided about $10,000 towards construction costs. Additional funding sources for the wetland included a NRCS WHIP grant and NJAS.

If you would like further information about this project, please contact Conservation Resources.