Posts Tagged 'south jersey land & water trust'

Maple Ridge Preservation

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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.

Hardy Property

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Posted in biological diversity, land preservation project, water protection, filtration, & control

The South Jersey Land and Water Trust (SJLWT) and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) are working cooperatively to preserve this remarkable property overlooking the tidal Oldmans Creek in Salem County.  An approximately 39-acre property, the landowner is offering to subdivide about 31 acres of woodlands to sell for fee to the SJLWT as part of the SJLWT’s newly established Oldmans Creek Preserve.  The proposed 30-acre preservation area is a hardwood forest of Beech, Hickory and Oak on 2,900 feet of the Oldmans Creek shoreline.   The tidal marshes along the property are rich in wild rice and are important habitat for migratory waterfowl.  The property includes a tributary stream with deep ravines and high bluffs overlooking the Oldmans Creek.  The property has good biological diversity, many specimen trees and a largely intact native plant community.  It’s one of the largest unprotected, forested riparian buffers remaining on Oldmans Creek and serves as an important bald eagle foraging site.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality- protection of tidal marshes, riparian buffers

Biological Diversity: Habitat- protection of native plant communities and migratory waterfowl habitat

Total Project Cost: $155,000

Status:  NJCF is  negotiating the terms of an agreement, and will need funding soon to cover the cost of the survey.

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

Mullica River Watershed Natural Resource Inventory

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Posted in biological diversity, franklin parker small grants program, projects funded by conservation resources, recreation & aethestics

CRI awarded this project $2000 in 2010, and $2000 in 2011, through its Franklin Parker Small Grants program.

The South Jersey Land and Water Trust (SJLWT) has been conducting stream assessments in Southern New Jersey, in a partnership with the Rutgers Water Resources Program, for the past 4 years. They have held numerous workshops to train residents how to visually assess the health of a stream using the USDA’s Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP). SJLWT staff and trained volunteers have assessed over 350 stream segments in Southern New Jersey.

For this project SJLWT will work with the Waterford and Evesham Township Environmental Commissions to train volunteers and do stream assessments in the Mullica River Watershed in these two municipalities. The data will be added to the Townships’ Environmental Resource Inventories and to the Rutgers database. Also, invasive species populations such as phragmites, Japanese knotweed and Japanese stilt grass will be recorded. The SJLWT will perform macro invertebrate assessments and chemical testing at a few designated locations.

To complement the stream assessment workshops, the Environmental Commissions and the SJLWT will organize a Bio Blitz Day in May of 2011 at Atco Lake.  They will invite area students and residents to the 60-acre Atco Lake/ Camden County Open Space property to see how many plant and animal species could be identified. At the lake they will demonstrate macro invertebrate assessments and chemical testing of pH, dissolved oxygen,  phosphorus and nitrates using a Hach testing kit.

Ecosystem Services Provided:

Water Protection, Filtration, and Control: Water quality- stream health assessment

Biological Diversity: Habitat- inventories of species diversity and populations

Outreach, Recreation, and Aesthetics: Environmental education- workshops, volunteer training

Total Project Cost: $4000

Status: In 2009 SJLWT staff completed assessment of the Oldmans Creek Watershed and that data, with other information, was used by Rutgers to produce an Oldmans Creek Watershed Restoration and Management Plan. With $2000 funding from the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority, SJLWT is currently assessing the Big Timber Creek Watershed in Camden County.

Photos courtesy of Michael Hogan

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

MacKannan Property

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Posted in completed projects, land preservation project, NRD settlement candidate project, projects funded by conservation resources

Located within the large farming region of the Delaware Bay watershed, the MacKannan property is in close proximity to preserved farmland as well as prime agricultural lands ripe for preservation. It is threatened by the wave of development crossing the region. Acquisition of this property serves to establish a preservation foothold in the area of the Oldman’s Creek watershed and Raccoon Oldman’s Farm Belt, an area under increasing development pressure. It will likely encourage preservation of additional contiguous properties along the creek and in the surrounding area.

Conservation Resources was granted $159,200 from an NRD Settlement to fund the MacKannan property acquisition. This project provides excellent groundwater recharge and natural resource protection, and is a good nexus to the type and location of natural resource damage that allegedly occurred.

In this settlement, CRI worked with South Jersey Industries, the NJDEP Office of Natural Resource Restoration, and non-profit partners to identify this project.

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