The Waackaack Creek Greenway provides habitat to a variety of shore birds, wading birds, crabs, and various fish species.  Great Blue herons, great egrets, red-winged blackbirds, fiddler crabs and killifish are in regular view onsite.  At nearby Natco Lake there is a heron rookery for Black and (state threatened) Yellow-crowned night herons. The area benefits from on-going monitoring by NJ Audubon who has been a strong advocate for preserving Waackaack Creek and surrounding habitat.

Funds are needed for the acquisition, maintenance and improvements of properties comprising the Waackaack Creek Greenway. For several years, Baykeeper has worked closely with the local communities to create the Greenway, which is now in various phases.  As Baykeeper moves to acquire the remaining parcels, they look towards establishing continuity amongst the sites with signage and trail linkages, as well as critical stewardship funding to ensure appropriate management of these sites for the future.

The project includes:

• funding for the previously acquired Bachstadt property to develop a Stewardship Plan,
• acquisition soft costs for the McNamee property,  and
• improvements and signage for the previously acquired Mahoras property.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- avoided deforestation

Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails

Total Project Cost: not yet available

Status:  The Port Authority of NY/NJ generously provided the majority of the acquisition costs for these properties.  Additional funding was from the Friends of Holmdel Open Space, NY/NJ Baykeeper, NJDEP Green Acres, Monmouth County, and Hazlet and Holmdel Townships.

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

From the 1930′s until 2003, this property was maintained as the Salem Country Club which offered both a 9-hole golf course and tennis courts. The club ceased active operation a few years ago and, with the cessation of mowing, is now emerging as early successional habitat. A section southwest of the golf course consists of farmland, wetlands and woodland with residential properties around it. The tree and shrub species in the golf course area are a mix of natives and exotics. Warm season grasses are beginning to establish themselves within the dominant carpet of cool season grasses in the old fairways and greens, and many tree seedlings are sprouting through the cool season grass carpet.

This property is bound to the west by the Delaware River, with about 600’ of river frontage. The scenic view along the Delaware River is spectacular.  Pea Patch Island and historic Fort Delaware (where the largest heron rookery north of Florida is located) can be seen, as well as Fort Mott State Park in New Jersey and the more industrial State of Delaware shoreline.  Immediately across the river on the Delaware side can be seen the entrance to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  A protective berm defines the property line along the river, and the brown sand beach is accessible during low and mid-tide periods.

The owners are long-time supporters of the Natural Lands Trust, and would like to see paths for public use mowed through the area, and have volunteered – even after the property is preserved – to assist with this task.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- reforestation

Biological Diversity: Habitat- grassland ecosystem restoration

Recreation and Aesthetics: Public access- hiking trails, access to waterfront

Total Project Cost: $500,000

Status: Immediately after purchasing the property in April of 2011, the landowners submitted an NJDEP Green Acres application to explore preservation funding options, and also contacted NLT staff.  A Phase One assessment was completed by the landowners, with no significant hazards found.  Assessment must be updated by NLT.

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

The project will directly restore forest on 40 acres of abandoned agricultural fields at the Hollystone Preserve, which is part of the Baldpate Mountain Ecosystem – the largest contiguous forest area in the Hopewell Valley.  The Preserve is co-owned by the State of New Jersey, Mercer County, Hopewell Township and Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space (FoHVOS).

The project area has been identified as an important forest conservation area by RPWHP. This project is an expansion of efforts previously funded by RPWHP, whihc included the restoration of over eight acres at the summit of Baldpate Mountain performed by FoHVOS and Mercer County in 2010.

The components of the project include:

Climate Stabilization and Air Pollution Mitigation: Carbon sequestration- reforestation

Biological Diversity: Ecosystem restoration- soil enhancement, restoring native plant ecosystem

Total Project Cost: $136,200

Status: Soil restoration will be conducted in late Spring 2012, followed by installation of deer fencing in Summer 2012. Native plants will be planted in Fall 2012 and Spring 2013.

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

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.  NJ DEP has identified an appropriate site and given the Littoral Society permission to conduct reef restoration at the site under the State’s existing permit. The Littoral Society has confirmed contractor costs for spring/summer shell plant.

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

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.

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. The field will be prepared for planting this spring, followed by a seeding with native sedges, grasses and wildflowers.

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.

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.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality

Total Project Cost: $749,036

Status: After posting the River-Friendly Farm Certification Program Expansion on The Conservation Exchange website, NJRC&D received a $5,000 grant from the Franklin Parker Small Grant Program to begin the launch in the Musconetcong Watershed.  The launch into this watershed was a perfect fit because it was adjacent to a current project area and the portions of the Musconetcong River are designated as a National Wild and Scenic River.

The expansion into the Musconetcong watershed has also evolved into a partnership with The Heritage Conservancy.  The Heritage Conservancy saw the River-Friendly Farm Certification Program as an ideal companion to their Lasting Landscape initiative in the Musconetcong River Valley.  Wanting to help with the expansion, The Heritage Conservancy is providing both financial and technical assistance.  Currently NJRC&D is forming the local committee that will be certifying farms and updating information material preparing for full scale outreach.  They are optimistic and excited because one farm has already signed up to participate, and they are looking forward to more after the official launch.

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

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.