Off Road Vehicle Legislation Update

For those of you who read the Off Road Vehicle article in this newspaper on January 14th, we have some good news to report from Trenton. On one of his last days in office, outgoing Governor Corzine signed into law the Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Legislation. If you are one of the many that called the Governors’ office to voice your support for this set of much needed regulations, “Thank you”.

Following are some of the positive features of the new law as we understand it;

• ORV’s must be registered and display license plates.
• ORV’s must be insured like automobiles.
• The penalties for riding on public lands, and private lands without permission have been increased.
• Fines for a first offense will range from $250 to $500, second offense, $500 to $1,000, and subsequent offenses at least $1,000.
• Damage to natural resources on public lands that require restoration, such as areas of rare plants, would bring fines of five times the cost of restoration.
• If the accused rider is younger than 17, the registered owner will be held liable.

Senator Robert Gordon, D - Bergin, primary sponsor of the senate bill, said “The penalties provision in the bill will assist DEP in strengthening enforcement and paying for natural resources damages caused by illegal off road vehicle riding”.

On the negative side, one feature of the law stands out: None of the above mentioned provisions of the new law will go into effect until the State establishes, on state land, a riding facility for the legal ORV enthusiasts. It could take a long time to find a suitable location for such a facility, when the interests of the environmental community and affected neighbors are considered.

AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors: A Free Service, Here for You

My name is Jeremy Carlson and I am the AmeriCorps Watershed Management Area 8 (WMA 8) Ambassador for 2009-2010. I graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey with a B.S. in Integrated Science, a concentration in Business Administration, and a minor in Psychology. I am currently enrolled as an Environmental Management graduate student at Montclair State University. I am also a member of the NY NJ Trail Conference and volunteer my time as a trail maintainer in the Pequannock Watershed. 

WMA 8 consists of the North and South Branch of the Raritan River. This watershed area is important as it consists of the headwaters for the Raritan River. Due to the two branches of this watershed, I can be found at either of these two locations: Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA) in Bedminster or the South Branch Watershed Association (SBWA) in Flemington. 

AmeriCorps is a free service funded by state and federal grants, whose purpose is to engage members in direct service to address unmet community needs. Also known as the Domestic Peace Corps, AmeriCorps found its genesis in 1993 with the signing of the National and Community Service Trust Act by former President Bill Clinton. Seven years later, in September 2000, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Division of Watershed Management began hosting the AmeriCorps program to raise awareness about watershed issues here in New Jersey. Through this program, AmeriCorps members are placed in watershed management areas across the state to serve their local communities and to monitor watershed health via visual and biological volunteer monitoring programs. 

AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors work with and train community volunteers to monitor streams, and are also available to make presentations to community organizations and schools. These interactive presentations provide information about water and watershed issues in New Jersey and thus educate students and citizens about watershed issues and empower them to get involved in their watershed. 

Watershed Ambassadors work with all sectors of society to improve the quality of New Jersey's waterways and therefore improve the quality of life in New Jersey. Overall, as explained by the NJDEP, the program works to improve water quality by exploring relationships between people and the environment, nurturing community-based environmental activities and empowering residents to make responsible and informed decisions regarding their watershed. 

So, what is a watershed? What is non-point source pollution? How can I help protect my environment? Being a Watershed Ambassador, I am here as a free resource to answer these questions and many more. I can present free and fun educational programs about our watershed or other related topics to school groups, scout packs, community groups, fairs, or individuals. I am also able to organize free community volunteer programs such as: stream monitoring, stream clean ups, or tree plantings for those who are interested. These free and fun services can be tailored to accommodate different aged and sized groups. Did I mention that my services are free and fun? 

In just the past five years of service, AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors have accomplished: 

• Over 2,500 educational watershed demonstrations in schools, civic organizations and the general public. 
• Over 2,400 visual assessments and over 1,200 biological assessments on local waterways. 
• Generated over 32,000 hours of volunteer community participation. The members have formed over 100 sustaining partnerships between local, statewide and national organizations. 

The AmeriCorps members also participate in national service including Make a Difference Day in October, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January, and Youth Service Day in April. 

I feel that in donating my time as an AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassador, I am helping to make New Jersey cleaner and safer by educating people about the effects of point source and non-point source pollution. If you are interested or have any questions, please email me at JCarlson@urwa.org so we can make plans or discuss what can be done in your classroom or community group! I look forward to hearing from you! 

The AmeriCorps Pledge 

I will get things done for America -

to make our people safer,

smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together 

to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy, 

I will take action.

Faced with conflict, 

I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity, 

I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment 

with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member, 

and I will get things done. 

Jeremy Carlson 

AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassador, 2009-10 

Watershed Management Area 8 

North and South Branch Raritan River 

For more information visit: 

NJDEP - Watershed Ambassadors Program Website

Americorps' Website
URWA's Website

or email: JCarlson@urwa.org

Where'd Everybody Go?

There is something about falling snowflakes that seems to blanket the ground with silence. Hushed are all of the noisy crickets and spring peepers that fill warmer nights with sound. We know that many birds and insects migrate south for the cold winter months, some mammals hibernate, humans are buttoned up indoors, but where is everyone else?

Reptiles have always been a mystery to me – how do heterothermic animals, without warm rocks or sun for basking, make it through to spring? Some of them will do the normal burrowing below the frost line to just barely avoid freezing temperatures. However, I recently learned in an article by Rick Lathrop (Rutgers University) that some reptiles, like Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) actually allow themselves to freeze when the temperature is low enough! Now this isn’t just reducing their body temperature by a few degrees - these are frog ice cubes we’re talking about! The usual problem with living cells freezing is that the expansion of the water will cause them to rupture, killing the cell. Rana sylvatica’s skin dehydrates first and then freezes. This cues the liver to send out sugars via the bloodstream to other parts of the frog’s body, acting as a sort of antifreeze and protecting its vital organs from damage. Wood frogs can go through waves of freezing and thawing throughout the winter, allowing up to 70% of their body to freeze for as long as a few weeks!



Thousands of years of natural selection and adaptation have given animals in North America a multitude of ways to survive cold winters. Sometimes, however, nature doesn’t cooperate. There has been a recent, and quite sad, occurrence in a member of the local ecosystem, which has rendered members of this species unable to survive the winter. Little brown bats, big brown bats, small-footed myotis, Eastern pipistrels and Indiana bats are the six species of bat that winter in New Jersey. These small mammals hibernate in habitats called hibernacula, created by abandoned mines, tunnels or caves (the largest being the Hibernia Mine in Rockaway Township, NJ). Unfortunately for these creatures, a cold-loving fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome has decimated their population by interrupting their hibernation cycles, a condition that was first noted in early 2007. Little understood but undergoing further research, White Nose Syndrome is believed to cause irritation to the bats’ snouts, waking them up from hibernation mid-winter, when there isn’t a sufficient insect population for them to feed on. (The photo below depicts some Little Brown Bats with White Nose Syndrome, and is by Al Hicks; New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation)

Even the animals that are active in the winter and have a consistent food source still have to make changes to survive the cold months. Many birds that winter in New Jersey, including Blue Birds, Dark Eyed Juncos, House Finches and Downy Woodpeckers, among others, have techniques to preserve body heat and find food when the temperatures drop. Black Capped Chickadees can be seen gathering and hiding seeds, berries and plant matter throughout the winter. They will hide each item in a different spot, and can remember thousands of hiding places. Since shivering can use up energy stored in fat reserves, Black Capped Chickadees will often enter a state of torpor, a short term reduction of body temperature and a slowing of the metabolism. They will go into torpor on the coldest winter nights, preserving their energy stores for foraging the next day. They usually will sleep in smaller tree cavities than they would in the summer, and will fluff up their feathers to insulate their bodies. When you see a ruffled looking Chickadee on your feeder in the morning, you’ll know that she was probably stuffed into a very small cavity with her feathers as puffed up as possible!



On cold winter nights I sure am glad to have a warm, comfy bed and electric heater, but you can sleep soundly knowing that the rest of the little creatures out there have methods of their own for keeping warm!

Here are some links to learn more about these winter survivors:
 

Black Capped Chickadee
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax.aspx?family=39
 

NJ Bats and White Nose Syndrome
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/

NY/NJ Trail Conference Trail Walker, Jan/Feb 2010 Edition
http://www.nynjtc.org/trailwalker/2010/jf10.pdf

Act Now to Protect Water Supplies and Public Health

Our State Legislature is set to vote on bills S2985/A4345 and S3137/A4347 that, if passed, will seriously delay implementation of important rules that URWA and others worked hard to establish to protect water supplies and public health.

S2985/A4345 delays the implementation of the NJDEP's Water Quality Management Planning rules until April 7, 2012 - three years after the original deadline. These rules require that appropriate environmental analysis and planning, through updated wastewater management plans, be done prior to granting a sewer extension. The rules require counties and municipalities to direct development and redevelopment to areas that will not damage our water sources or precious habitat. Most counties have received between $100,000 and $200,000 in state and/or federal stimulus funding to develop plans to comply with the rules, and many have nearly completed this work. Bill # S2985 / A4257 will postpone the deadline until 2012. The work that counties and municipalities have done will be out of date by then, so the planning work will need to be redone -- all that funding will have been wasted and our water and environment will be worse off. The Water Quality Management Planning rules are a critical measure for protecting the state's water supplies and must not be delayed.

S3137/A4347 extends the "Permit Extension Act of 2008" until December 31, 2012, rather than July 1, 2010, as provided by current law. This bill would automatically extend many permit approvals at the state, county or municipal level without regard to environmental impacts or subsequent changes in rules or zoning. Extending permits beyond their original intention threatens public health and natural reources across the State. Continuation of the Permit Extension Act will grandfather many bad projects in urban areas, undermining the revitalization of our cities and suburbs and impeding economic recovery in New Jersey.

URWA has joined with many organizations to call upon our State Legislators to vote "NO" on these two bills. We encourage all of our members and friends to do the same.

To read the text of these two bills, please visit the New Jersey Legislature web site at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ and type in the Bill Number (for example, S2985) in the Bill Search area on the main page of the site.

Our Watershed is Represented by the Following State Legislators:

District 16 (parts of Morris and Somerset Counties)
Senator Christopher Bateman (908) 526-3600
Assemblyman Peter J. Biondi (908) 252-0800
Assemblywoman Denise M. Coyle (908) 218-4059

District 23 (parts of Hunterdon County)
Senator Michael J. Doherty (908) 835-0552
Assemblyman John DiMaio (908) 684-9550
Assemblyman Erik Peterson will be seated in January. No phone number is available at this time.

District 24 (parts of Hunterdon and Morris Counties)
Senator Steven V. Oroho (973) 584-4670
Assemblyman Gary R. Chiusano (973) 584-4670
Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (973) 584-4670

District 25 (parts of Morris County)
Senator Anthony R. Bucco (973) 627-9700
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (973) 539-8113
Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt (973) 895-9100

If you would prefer to email your Legislators rather than call them, please visit http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/SelectMun.asp and follow the instructions.