Why We Are Never
Finished “Saving” Land:
The Importance of Stewardship
The picturesque landscapes giving the “Garden State” its
nickname are critically threatened. Over 50 acres are lost to
development daily in New Jersey, a state ranked only 46th in
total landmass. Despite having one of the nation’s best-funded
land acquisition programs, the Garden State Preservation Trust,
New Jersey still struggles with the reality that developers
continue building on sensitive lands. If current population and
development trends continue, New Jersey’s state forests, parks,
and related preserves will provide the final refuges for the
state’s remaining wildlife. Will they adequately meet that
challenge? We cannot allow natural habitats to continue
degrading to the point where species disappear. The integrity of
our natural ecosystems is adversely influenced by development,
changes in management techniques, non-native species and
overpopulation of native damaging species. Tell
me more.
Since 1897, New Jersey Audubon Society has been advocating
for the protection of New Jersey’s wildlife and unique natural
habitats. NJAS has an active stewardship program that promotes
effective stewardship on both private and public lands
throughout the state. For more information on NJAS’ stewardship
program please contact
Troy Ettel, NJAS Director of Conservation and Stewardship.
To learn more about our work on Grasslands or to learn how you
can become involved in habitat restoration on your own land,
check out the following links:
New Jersey Audubon Society is committed to maintaining and
restoring habitat for New Jersey’s flora and fauna. Through
targeted outreach to private landowners, NJAS’s stewardship
program has been successful in its mission to foster
environmental awareness and a conservation ethic among New
Jersey’s citizens while protecting New Jersey's birds, mammals,
other animals, and plants, especially endangered and threatened
species. Our program objectives are:
- Focus habitat protection and stewardship efforts on areas
of broad state significance. Critical areas include:
- Wetland and riparian areas.
- Grasslands, shrub-scrub and other early successional
habitats.
- Large forest tracts.
- Migratory and wintering habitat.
- Wildlife dispersal corridors.
- Key breeding areas.
- Marine
habitats.
- Promote active management and stewardship of habitat on
public and private lands to improve, create and enhance
habitats for native wildlife and plants.
- Expand NJAS sanctuaries for conservation of birds and
threatened and endangered species and habitat. This will be
accomplished by donation and/or purchase where and when
appropriate, and in ecological priority areas such as those
identified by the Important Bird and Birding Area (IBBA)
program.
Read about our activities in
stewardship, conservation planning, ecological forestry and
landowner outreach:
- Stewardship on New Jersey Audubon Society
Sanctuaries
- Franklin Township
- Atlantic City Airport
- Raritan Piedmont Habitat Partnership
- New Jersey Habitat Incentive Team (NJHIT)
- Conservation of Important Birds Areas (IBA)
- Hovnanian Sanctuary
- Pinelands Important Bird (IBA) Forest Stewardship
Workshop
- Agricultural Heritage and Habitat
Conservation Plan for Harmony Township, Warren County, NJ
- Raritan Piedmont Habitat Partnership
- Franklin Township, Somerset County
Outreach Program
- Mannington Township
Upcoming Conservation Incentive
Workshops
1) Come to a FREE Workshop to learn about Conservation
Incentive Programs!
Learn how to get PAID for conservation on your land while
improving habitat for birds and other wildlife!
Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2008
When: 7:00 – 8:30pm
Where: Ware Agricultural Bldg., 51 Cheney Road,
Woodstown, NJ 08098
For more information, contact
Beth Ciuzio at 609-861-0700
2) Join us for a FREE Forest Management Workshop and
Bird Walk to learn about Forest Stewardship!
Learn about forest management techniques for endangered
plant and animal species. Participants will learn about the
forest stewardship plan for New Jersey Audubon Society’s
Hovnanian Sanctuary, with a bird walk to follow the
presentation.
What: Forest Bird Talk and Walk
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008
When: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Where: Rancocas Nature Center, 794 Rancocas Road, Mount
Holly, NJ 08060
Volunteer Opportunities
Are you looking for an opportunity to make a real difference
for wildlife and wildlife habitat? Do you enjoy being outdoors
and getting your hands dirty? Then we have the job for you!
NJAS is looking for volunteers to assist with re-vegetating a
two mile stretch of the Mannington Meadow, located in the
Mannington Township of Salem County. The site is part of one of
NJ’s Important Bird Areas. Habitat
restoration is just one of the strategies identified in the
Mannington Meadows IBA Conservation Plan.
Click Here to
download the Plan as a PDF document (this file is 2.5 MB and
may take several minutes to download). Over the next two years NJAS will work with public and
private landowners that boarder the meadow to restore native
vegetation to the area. If you are interested in helping out on
work days in which we will plant trees and shrubs, please
contact
Elizabeth Ciuzio via email or at (609) 861-0700, ext 24.
We are also seeking volunteers and students to assist with
monitoring of habitat projects and potential threats to
Important Bird Areas. If you are interested in habitat
monitoring, please download
our internship opportunity document or contact
Elizabeth Ciuzio via email or at 609-861-0700 ext. 24.
Click Here For Common Questions About Implementing
Conservation Programs
Click Here For Helpful Links
Why We Are Never
Finished “Saving” Land: The Importance of Stewardship
New Jersey lacks a cohesive, integrated vision of land
stewardship that will address water quality protection and the
habitat needs of threatened and endangered species on public
lands. Unfortunately, New Jersey has been very active in
preserving lands but highly inactive in determining what becomes
of these lands after preservation.
The idea that Nature is incapable of sustaining itself
without intervention by humans is troubling. The unfortunate
reality is that human civilization has deprived many natural
systems of their ability to self-regulate. Fire suppression,
river damming and channelization, ditching, diking, and draining
wetlands have suppressed restorative ecosystem processes like
flood and fire. As forces that shape ecosystems fade away,
plant and animal species dependent upon habitat regeneration
also disappear. As habitat diminishes in extent, remnant patches
become increasingly fragmented and isolated from each other. Of
the ecosystems experiencing declines greater than 98% in eastern
North America, 5% are grasslands, shrublands, and barrens and
another 24% are shrub communities. These habitats are early
successional, meaning that in the absence of periodic
disturbance, i.e. fire, they will succeed into forested habitat.
That is not good news if you are a northern pine snake,
Henslow’s sparrow, or frosted elfin butterfly, all of which are
threatened or endangered in New Jersey and dependent on
grasslands or barrens. In fact 28.6% of all birds listed as
threatened, endangered, or special concern in New Jersey are
dependent on early successional habitats. Even if large acreages
were purchased exclusively for these species, they would still
disappear, along with their habitats, without active management.
Acquisition alone is clearly not enough for them.
The introduction of non-native species and the explosive
increase in deer is also wreaking havoc on New Jersey’s natural
resources. Over 42% of plants and animals listed under the
Federal Endangered Species Act are threatened by predation from
or competition with exotic species. Non-native, invasive plants
out-compete native species, rapidly overtaking a habitat, and
altering the soils and groundcover of ecosystems. The result is
a reduction in species diversity and complete alteration of the
native plant and animal community. This problem is exacerbated
by the fact that many native plants are favored as browse by
deer over exotic plants. While deer are an important part of
the ecosystem, populations have gone unchecked. The result is
an overpopulation of deer and the loss of the native forest
vegetation. Ground- and shrub-nesting birds such as the
Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler and Wood Thrush are examples of
birds that suffer habitat loss at the mouths of deer.
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