Thank You!

It's been a busy few months since we last wrote.  We apologize for neglecting our blog with the Recorder Newspapers.  As you probably know, the Upper Raritan and South Branch Watershed Associations joined forces to become the Raritan Headwaters Association late this summer.  We've been very busy getting settled -- if you've ever merged a business (or a family, for that matter) you know that although there is much to celebrate, there is also much work to be done!

One of the many exciting things to emerge from our merger is a new web site, raritanheadwaters.org.  The site is fairly basic at this stage of the game, but it is taking shape nicely and over the next several months we will be expanding it greatly so that it can serve as a source for all types of information about water and natural resource conservation in this region.  One component that we have just initiated is a blog -- that's right, our new web site includes a blog of our very own!

We are indebted to our friends at the Recorder Newspapers for their community spirit and helpfulness to both citizens and organizations in the part of New Jersey.  They have long helped us connect with one another through their printed and on-line versions of community-based newspapers.  We thank them for hosting our blog during the last few years.  While we won't have a direct presence here any more, you can have no doubt that we'll continue to work with the good people at the Recorder Newspapers to make sure readers know about the good things we are doing across the watershed.  We invite you to visit our new web site and read our new blog there:  http://www.raritanheadwaters.org/blog/.

Summer Fun for Dogs and Their Humans

Schooner and Dory always enjoy
their visits to Fairview Farm!

The hot, muggy days of August can sap the energy and enthusiasm of everyone, including man's best friend.  During the new event that will be offered by the Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA) this weekend, dogs and their human companions will participate in a variety of special activities guaranteed to cure the daze brought on by summer’s haze!

Dog Days of Summer at Fairview Farm
Saturday, August 20th, 9:00 a.m. to Noon
Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve, 2121 Larger Cross Road, Bedminster
Register by calling Susan Brookman at (908 )234-1852, ext. 20

Dog owners from across the region frequently bring their pets to Fairview Farm to walk them and let them enjoy off-leash time.   The site, which is where URWA is headquartered, is a 170-acre former dairy farm that was donated to URWA in the 1970's.  The Dog Days of Summer event is being held to offer an exciting new activity to the dog lovers who are already familiar with the site, and we hope that the event will introduce Fairview Farm and URWA to dogs and their human companions who do not currently walk at our preserve.  The event will be more than simply a social event for dogs – we'll help participants learn more about river- and watershed-friendly practices so they can become better environmental stewards.  URWA is the environmental watchdog of the region, and we want to create a large contingency of civilian watershed watchdogs to help us in our work! 

After arriving at Fairview Farm and checking in, dogs and their owners will take a walk on the Waggin' Trail.  This path will feature a series of posted questions about canine outdoor etiquette and conservation practices. Each dog whose human correctly answers the questions will be designated an official Upper Raritan Watershed Watchdog and will receive a unique Watershed Watchdog bandana.  Participants who fall short will spend some time in a Dog-Gone Summer School (URWA’s Nature Classroom) where they will be able to learn the correct answers and achieve the Watershed Watchdog distinction.  Other activities will offer participants the opportunity to make paw-print art, find their way through the Dog Daze Maze, try an agility course made with recycled materials, romp in an off-leash play field and clean up at a self-service Shampooch Station.

Registration is $20 per dog ($10 for each additional dog in the family).  Proceeds will support URWA's water conservation education & advocacy program.  Each dog must be accompanied by at least one adult human. Dogs should be current on vaccinations, well socialized and leash-trained.  URWA also asks that dog owners bring doggie bags so that your dog 'leaves no trace' at Fairview Farm.  For more information about the Dog Days event or to register, please contact Susan Brookman at (908) 234-1852, ext. 20 or via email at sbrookman@urwa.org.

Reminding the Highlands Council that Its Job is to Protect Water!

URWA participated with a coalition of environmental groups who rallied outside the Highlands Council’s offices in Chester earlier this month to acknowledge the Seventh Anniversary of the passage of the Highlands Act, legislation that protects the land, natural resources and drinking water for 5.4 million New Jersey residents.

A key speaker at the rally was Senator Bob Smith, co-sponsor of the Act and chairman of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee who said “The Highlands Act is as relevant today as it was seven years ago…the Highlands Council, its staff and participating municipalities have come a long way towards balancing the goals of resource protection and planning for sustainable growth and development. I applaud them for what they have achieved and for their continuing efforts to protect the water supply that so many of us depend upon.”

Members of the environmental coalition took the opportunity to speak about their fear that Governor Christie is strategically weakening the protections of the Highlands water supply by verbally undermining the Regional Master Plan and making appointments to the Council that represent anti-Highlands sentiments.

URWA staff attended the rally to remind the Council that we are watching the conformance process and looking to them to stay focused on meeting the Highlands Act’s goal of protecting New Jersey’s clean drinking water.

Kudos to the DEP!

There don’t seem to be too many people with good things to say about governmental entities these days.  Taxes are high while the services they are meant to fund seem to be shrinking, thus fueling a great deal of taxpayer discontent.  While we ourselves often take issue with decisions that are made by elected and appointed officials, we are pleased to have good reason to salute the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for a step that its staffers recently took!

The Department has long offered interested parties the opportunity to review permit applications and other types of documents that are pertinent to its decision-making process.  Until a short time ago, all that information was sent out to people who requested it in hard copy format.  To our constant frustration, the Department did not utilize any type of system to select what it sent to whom – if you were on the list to receive copies of materials related to permit applications, you received information for every application under review in the State.  Even though we were really only interested in pending action in our region, we were routinely sent materials related to developments all across the state.  That used up tremendous amounts of taxpayer resources, both in terms of labor (staff time to copy, bind and mail the materials) and money (to purchase/lease and maintain the copy machines, purchase the paper upon copies were made and postage fees), not to mention the natural resources that were used to make the paper, transport the raw and finished products to the end users and ultimately, to dispose of them.  Several weeks ago, the DEP quietly made the switch to sending out electronic copies of these documents to interested parties. 

While there are obviously still expenses related to the distribution of this information, the expense to taxpayers and our natural systems is undeniably smaller.  The time it takes a staff member to distribute electronic documents pales in comparison to the time it takes to get hard copies ready for mailing, even if those documents must first be scanned.  Much of our review of the materials can be done without printing out the documents, and when we do feel the need to print something, we have the option to print just the pages of particular interest.  When we are not interested in a document that we are sent, we simply delete it from our computer files.

So, we send out a sincere pat on the back to the staff of the DEP for finally taking this step to reduce expenses while actually improving the service it provides to taxpayers!

Tick Alert!

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

A tick's friends - by David L. Harrison

a tick has

no

friends.

therefore,

my

story

ends.

Who hasn't' gone for a walk these past few weeks - with or without your trusty canine companion - and returned home only to execute a complete and thorough inspection on self and four legged friend? And I do mean thorough - armpits, behind the knees, neck, head, ears and stomach - and that's just the dog! And who does not know someone who has contracted Lyme disease?

If you find an embedded tick, it should be removed using the following procedure:
1. Use a tick removal tool to remove the tick.
2. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible using tweezers.
3. Remove the tick with a steady pull away from the skin. Do not yank or twist the tick which may break off its mouth parts. If you have broken off their mouth parts under your skin, consult your physician.
4. Take precaution not to crush or puncture the body of the tick. Do not get any fluids from the tick on you (if you do, wash with rubbing alcohol and then soap and water immediately.)
5. After removing the tick, cleanse your skin with rubbing alcohol and then wash with soap and water immediately.

Tick removal tools:
1. Tweezers: There are special tweezers to remove ticks that have a broad, flat set of jaws that closes automatically. You hold the tweezers with your thumb and forefinger and then you press on the end of the tweezers which will cause the jaws to open up. The next step is to clasp the tick completely between the jaws and turn the tweezers 2 or 3 times around. Only then can you gently pull the tick out of the skin.
2. Card: This is the one of the newest designs in tools to remove ticks. It looks like a credit card, but has grooves that come together in a point. These grooves need to be shoved underneath the tick. The last step is to shove the card further and that will automatically remove the tick. Another shape of this tool is the spoon. It works the same.
3. Freeze: This is another way to remove ticks that has recently been discovered. You have to have a tool called the Tickner to freeze the tick as follows: you spray a cold spray onto the tick by pressing the button twice which will make the tick freeze. Afterwards, you can easily remove the tick with the built-in tick remover.
4. Twister: This is the simplest and safest way to remove ticks from your skin. It is available in most pet shops and veterinary clinics. When you use this tool you have to put the tick between the V lift the hook very tightly and turn it. The tick is removed without leaving the mouthparts behind. The tick will remain on the twister so it won't fall on the ground.

Lyme disease, which is a tick-borne bacterial infection, has been reported in nearly every state in the United States, and is concentrated in the east coastal states, the north central states, and northern California. Additionally, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Wisconsin account for about 90% of all cases.  Lyme disease is the most common disease spread by ticks in the United States. More than 16,000 cases were reported by 45 states in 1996. However, because of considerable under-reporting and misdiagnosis, the actual number of cases is probably several times higher.

Ticks become infected with the Lyme disease bacterium by feeding on infected animals such as mice, chipmunks, and other wild rodents. Lyme disease is passed to humans and other animals when a tick infected with the bacterium bites the person or animal and stays attached long enough (usually more than 36 hours) to take a blood meal.

The tick that spreads Lyme disease has a 2-year life cycle and feeds once in each of its three life stages -- larvae, nymph, and adult. In the tick's larvae stage, it is tan, the size of a pinhead, and feeds on small animals like mice. During the nymph stage, the tick is the size of a poppy seed, beige or partially transparent, and feeds on larger animals such as cats, dogs, and humans. Adult ticks are black and/or reddish and feed on large mammals such as deer, dogs, and humans.

The early stage of Lyme disease is usually marked by one or more of these signs and symptoms:
• Tiredness
• Chills and fever
• Headache
• Muscle and/or joint pain
• Swollen lymph glands
• A characteristic skin rash, called erythema migrans

Early symptoms can develop within a week to a few weeks of the tick bite.  Other symptoms can appear weeks, months, or years later.  A myth regarding the skin rash is that Lyme disease victims always get a rash when in fact as few as 30% of all people bitten show obvious symptoms of the disease, including a rash. When a rash does appear it is a red circular patch about 2 inches in diameter that appears and expands around the site of the tick bite.  The center may clear as it enlarges, resulting in a "bulls-eye" appearance.  The rash may be warm, but it usually is not painful or itchy.

The three stages of Lyme disease are:
1. Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, chills, headaches, stiff neck, muscle aches and pains and possibly a distinct rash.
2. Second stage symptoms occur weeks or months later and include severe headaches, encephalitis, paralysis of facial muscles, abnormal heartbeat, numbness, withdrawal, loss of confidence, lethargy, and other symptoms.
3. Third stage symptoms occur months or years later and include arthritis, fatigue and loss of memory. As the symptoms reach this stage of development the effects of Lyme disease is in most cases irreversible, and therefore early detection is critical for effective treatment.

You can reduce your risk by taking these precautions:
• During outdoor activities, wear long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks. Wear a hat, and tie hair back.
• Use insecticides to repel or kill ticks. Repellents containing the compound DEET can be used on exposed skin except for the face, but they do not kill ticks and are not 100% effective in discouraging ticks from biting. Products containing permethrin kill ticks, but they cannot be used on the skin -- only on clothing. And please remember - when using any of these chemicals, follow label directions carefully. Be especially cautious when using them on children.
• After outdoor activities, check yourself for ticks, and have a "buddy" check you, too. Check body areas where ticks are commonly found: behind the knees, between the fingers and toes, under the arms, in and behind the ears, and on the neck, hairline, and top of the head. Check places where clothing presses on the skin.
• Remove attached ticks promptly. Removing a tick before it has been attached for more than 24 hours greatly reduces the risk of infection. Do not try to remove ticks by squeezing them, coating them with petroleum jelly, or burning them with a match.

Life Cycle
EGG: A tick’s life starts as a very small egg.
LARVA (infant): A larva (plural: larvae) only has six legs instead of eight (like a nymph or adult) and normally does not carry diseases yet but it may pick up diseases from its first host (white mice or other mammals) on which it feeds for about four days. After its first feeding, the larva sheds its skin to become a nymph.
NYMPH (immature tick): A nymph has eight legs and can pass on diseases (if it got infected as a larva). A nymph feeds from a mammal. This second meal will last about six days. If the nymph is not yet infected with a disease, it can now get one from the second host. The nymph will then shed its skin and become an adult.
ADULT (mature tick): The adult female tick looks different from the male – she is larger. The adult tick feeds and mates with other ticks on large animals during the fall or spring. Afterwards, the female lays her eggs and dies.

Reproduction
A tick can reproduce in two different ways:
1.  Argasidae:  the ticks mate off-host when the female is not eating. This can happen before or after engorgement, which is enlargement by feeding.
2.  Ixodidae: the ticks mate on-host when the female is eating. Afterwards the female will engorge and drop off the host. This is the most frequent form of reproduction
The female then oviposits her eggs on a safe spot (normally a moist area). When it is warm, the female lay her eggs one or two days after fertilization. When it is cold, she can wait for months until she oviposits. When she eventually oviposits, she has about 2,000 eggs. Depending on the weather, she lays her eggs all at once or at intervals. After the oviposition, the female leaves her eggs and dies. The eggs usually hatch within two weeks, but may also take a couple of months.

Testing Ticks
Large brown ticks that are commonly found on dogs and cattle do not carry the Lyme disease bacterium. If you remove a very small tick and want to have it tested for Lyme disease, place it in a sealed plastic storage bag with a cotton ball moistened with water. Contact your health-care provider and local health department or send your tick to New Jersey Laboratories, which has developed a new procedure that allows for the early detection of the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Unlike other methods, this procedure identifies the bacteria in ticks in only a few days, which can make a huge difference in treating this life-threatening disease. Other clinical tests for diagnosing Lyme disease may take several weeks to months during which time the effects of the disease may become more difficult to treat. Place a label with your name and address on the ziplock bag and mail to:

NEW JERSEY LABORATORIES
1110 SOMERSET ST.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ 08901.

The test costs $60 and checks should be made payable to New Jersey Laboratories. Results are mailed approximately ten days after receipt. Multiple ticks from the same person can be tested as a single test. Simply place multiple ticks in a single zip-locked bag and indicate that they were on one person. If the tick was exposed to alcohol or other antibiotic agents, the tick must be tested using a DNA type procedure. The DNA test cost is $175.

As we have all learned, protecting oneself from tick bites is a serious matter in the prevention of Lyme disease. So, the next time you are walking at URWA’s Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve or someplace else, be sure to tuck in those trousers, roll up your socks, tie back your hair, don a hat and safely spray your clothes.

Proposed State Action Threatens the Environment



New Jersey's Department of Environmental
Protection is charged with protecting our
state's natural resources. 
Let's make sure it does its job!

 Our State Department of Environmental Protection wants to be allowed to waive environmental regulations that it believes stand in the way of economic development.  If that strikes you as an odd idea, you are in good company.  As we noted in April when we first wrote about the proposed "Waiver of Department Rules," the DEP is charged with protecting our environment, and that's exactly what we think it ought to be doing.

Although the DEP has stated that its proposed rule was developed "through extensive consultation and meetings with environmental advocates, local government officials and the business community," it seems that the concerns of environmental advocates were set aside when the regulators put their pens to paper.  Not a single environmental organization in our state has voiced support for this proposed rule.  URWA has joined in with the many groups that have, in fact, called on DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and Governor Chris Christie to withdraw it from consideration by the Legislature.

Governor Christie's Executive Order No. 2 seeks to establish "Common Sense Principles" to govern New Jersey, and the DEP sites this as the impetus for the proposed waiver rule.  While we applaud the use of common sense in all matters of State governance, we think that it makes no sense to allow the DEP the discretion to waive its own rules regarding environmental regulations that protect our air, land and water. 

To read the proposed waiver rule, please visit http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/proposals/030711b.pdf.  The public comment period for the proposal has closed, but your voice can still be heard.  Please join with us to ask the Governor and the DEP Commissioner to withdraw this proposal, and ask your Legislators to refrain from supporting it if the proposal comes before them.  The natural resources of the Garden State should be protected for the long-term benefit of all, not sacrificed for the short term benefit of some.

Have You Seen This Plant?

The landscape across our watershed has greened up nicely in recent weeks.  The hot, humid temperatures of the last few days and the rain that fell yesterday will undoubtedly lead many of us to spend some quality time outdoors as we pull the inevitable weeds that emerge in carefully planted gardens over the next week or so.  In addition to removing uninvited sproutlings from your planting beds when the temperatures slack off a bit toward the end of this week and you can work outdoors without fear of heat stroke, we'd like to ask that you consider replacing ornamental specimens that were planted in prior years before we realized that they would get out of hand in this region.  There are a number of plants that have been added to gardens by well-intentioned nature-lovers that have inadvertently escaped into the surrounding countryside and now threaten native plant and animal communities here.  Over the next few months we'll discuss some of them, sharing information about why they really don't belong in this region.  We'll try to stay away from the well-known culprits and focus on some of the species that you might be surprised to learn are harmful to local ecosystems.

Miscanthus sinensis

Miscanthus sinensis (aka Chinese silver grass) is a tall, clump-forming, perennial grass from Asia that has been planted in yards and gardens here in New Jersey for several decades.  It is well adapted to growing conditions here and forms effective visual screens around swimming pools and patios and adds striking form to gardens as a speciman planting.  Unfortunately, it has breached garden boundaries and is becoming widespread across our watershed.  You can now see it growing now along roadsides, forest edges and in meadows. 

The silver white
midrib is evident

Miscanthus sinensis spreads by both seed and rhizomes.  It can form large, impenetrable clumps that displace native plants, prevent successional growth of trees and shrubs, and prevent movement of wildlife.  In addition, it is highly flammable and poses a wildfire hazard during dry spells. 

Zebra cultivar

There are over 50 cultivars of Miscanthus sinensis, so identification is not always easy.  You may recognize it by some of its other common names:  Maiden Grass, Zebra Grass, Porcupine Grass, Eulalia, Silver Feather, Chinese Silver Grass, Eulalia Grass and Japanese Silver Grass.   Miscanthus sinensis grows as high as 10 feet and its leaves are typically about 3 feet long and an inch wide with a silver white midrib and sharp tips.  Silvery to pale pink fan-shaped flowers appear in the late summer through fall.

It will take some muscle power, patience and possibly an herbicide to remove Miscanthus sinensis. Its ability to reshoot from pieces of rhizome makes control difficult -- its entire underground rhizome system must be killed in order to prevent regrowth. If you just have one or two speciman plants, digging them up now before they become large as the growing season prgresses is a good option. You'll need to monitor the ground over the next year to dig out any resprouting plants that appear. If you have a screen or border that consists of Miscanthus sinensis, your best bet may be to use a foliar application in the late spring or fall -- lower rates are required in the fall since translocation to the rhizome is occurring at that time.

Andropogon geradi

Andropogon geradi (Big bluestem grass) is a wonderful native alternative that can replace Miscanthus sinensis in your landscape.  Your garden center should carry it -- let the manager know you'd like to purchase more native plants and see if the store will order some for you.

For more information about Miscanthus sinensis and efforts to eliminate it from our region, please visit www.njisst.org, the web site of the New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team.

A Great Way to Celebrate Earth Day

Join URWA on Saturday to help clean up
a stream in your neighborhood!

It was 41 years ago this week that the efforts Senator Gaylord Nelson gave birth to the modern environmnetal movement.  The first Earth Day observance on April 22, 1970 brought together 20 million Americans, all of whom called for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.  In 1990 the Earth Day rallies went global, with an estimated 200 million people joining in the call to action to protect our environment.  Every year, Earth Day serves as a powerful focal point around which people from all walks of life demonstrate their commitment to a healthy planet.

We invite you to celebrate Earth Day this weekend by spending a few hours cleaning up local waterways.  Clean water is something that many of us take for granted here in the lovely Upper Raritan watershed.  Our streams appear almost pristine and most of us drink water directly from our taps without being concerned about carcinogens and other polluntants that may taint drinking water in other parts of our state.  It might surprise you then, to learn that each year when we head out to survey local streams and collect trash from them that we gather up about 300 pounds of garbage at every site we visit!  We've found everything from tires and household appliances to construction materials and broken toys in the brooks, streams and rivers that flow through the countryside here.

We'd love to have your help on Saturday morning as we gather along the banks of streams in Far Hills, Bedminster, Branchburg, Chester and Peapack/Gladstone to collect garbage.  We'll start at 9:00 a.m. and we'll provide everything you need - work gloves, garbage bags and snacks - to make the morning a productive one.  We'll wrap up our work by about noon, so you'll have the rest of the day free to enjoy the great feeling that will come with knowing you've contributed tangible service to the Earth Day ethic!

For more information about URWA's stream clean-up efforts and to sign up to help, please call (908) 234-1852, ext. 12 or email Lauren Theis.     

The Bluebells are Back! Visit URWA's Burnt Mills Floodplain Preserve to See Them

Native to this region, Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
are a sight to behold at this time of year along the Burnt Mills
Fllodplain Preserve.

The Burnt Mills Floodplain Preserve was established on December 21, 1989 when Ken & Yvonne Schley and Anne & Floyd Stradling deeded three parcels of land totaling 11.32 acres to URWA. The parcels had been in the Schley family and were bequeathed to Ken and Anne in 1944 upon the death of their father, Kenneth B. Schley. A grist mill was built on the floodplain shortly after the Civil War, and was taken down by Mr. Schley after he purchased the property in 1928. Its ruins still sit on the site today, adding historical interest to the preserve.

The site, on the Lamington River near the confluence of the North Branch, supports diverse wildlife including great blue heron, long-tailed salamanders, red shouldered hawks, barred owls, and freshwater mussels, including the threatened triangle floater (Alasmidonta undulate — learn more about this mussel in the “Creature Feature” on URWA’s web site at www.urwa.org). Each spring, under a canopy of sycamore, black cherry and ash, Virginia bluebells carpet the forest floor – it is a sight not to be missed!


Lesser celedine, a highly invasive plant, threatens to crowd
out the native plants along the fllodplain preserve.



Unfortunately, another plant also awaits springtime visitors – the Lesser celandine, a small yellow buttercup-like flower, is an invasive plant that is spreading across the site. Lesser celandine spends much of the year underground as thickened, fingerlike tubers or underground stems. During the winter, leaves begin to emerge and photosynthesize in preparation for flowering. Flowering occurs from late winter through midspring, and afterwards, the above-ground portions die back. The plant spreads primarily through abundant tubers and bulblets, each of which is ready to become a new plant once separated from the parent plant. The tubers of Lesser celandine are prolific and may be unearthed and scattered by the digging activities of some animals, including wellmeaning weed pullers, and transported during flood events. It is difficult, but not impossible, to control invasive plants like Lesser celandine, and URWA is committed to stopping its spread.  We will soon form a "Friends of Burnt Mills Floodplain" group to help serve as stewards of this property, and one of the priorities for the group will be to combat the spread of Lesser celedine and encourage the growth of native Virginia bluebells.  Please contact us if you'd like information about the "Friends" group. 

The preserve has been part of New Jersey’s Green Acres tax exemption program since 1990, and as is the case with all of URWA’s preserves, the Burnt Mills Floodplain is open to our members and the public for passive recreational purposes. The preserve is used by fishermen, photographers, walkers, kayakers and people who simply enjoy observing the natural world.

Troubling News From Trenton

Two troubling discussions are underway in Trenton, one in the Assembly, and the other at the Department of Environmental Protection.  Both, if enacted, are bad news for the Upper Raritan Watershed and the rest of New Jersey.  

In the Assembly, bill A2486 would prohibit the DEP from adopting any regulation that provides for more than minimum federal environmental requirements. This measure was pulled on March 14th but it has strong advocates and we expect it will reappear.  If passed, this bill would affect rules about coastal dumping, air quality, stormwater, flood hazard and water quality planning, wetlands... the list goes on and on.  Federal standards are broadly written, and we need regulations that are tailored to the specific conditions in our state.

In March, the DEP announced it was proposing a rule that would allow the agency to supersede existing laws and regulations and allow it to approve waivers of strict compliance with its rules "to address situations where rules conflict, or a rule is unduly burdensome in specific application, or a net environmental benefit would be realized, or a public emergency exists."  The "waiver rule," as it is known, is an outgrowth of Governor Christie's "Common Sense Principles" for state agencies.  DEP Commissioner Bob Martin says it will maintain environmnetal protection as it cuts through the state's bureaucracy and red tape.  This might sound reasonable enough at first glance, however what this really means is that the DEP may give itself the authority to supersede both laws and regulations, and then decide on its own who needs to comply with its rules, and who doesn’t.   This makes a mockery of the regulatory process, and deprives the public of any meaningful opportunity to comment on individual waiver decisions.  The proposed rule is available online at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html.  A public hearing on the waiver proposal is scheduled for Thursday, April 14th at 3 pm, in the DEP's public hearing room at 401 East State Street in Trenton. Written comments may be submitted through May 6 to: Gary J. Brower, Esq., ATTN: DEP Docket No. 03-11-02, NJDEP, Office of Legal Affairs, 4th Floor, PO Box 402, Trenton, NJ 08625-0402.

Please join URWA and tell our representatives in Trenton and the DEP that the environment and our health will inevitably suffer with regulations and rule changes like the these.

Take The Challenge: Plant a Yard in Your Yard

Now that Spring has arrived, the growing season will be here soon!  At URWA, we've become especially interested in supporting native pollinators in recent years.  In fact, the speaker at our upcoming membership meeting (Monday, March 28th at the Clarence Dillon Public Library in Bedminster at 7:00 p.m.) will feature Dan Cariveau, a Rutgers scientist who is investigating the outcomes of pollinator restorations implemented on private lands in New Jersey.

It makes a great deal of sense to include plants that attract and feed native pollinators in our landscapes at home, on school campuses, in public parks and our places of work.  Native pollinators (bees, butterflies, moths, birds and even bats are included in the long list of native animals that carry pollen and thus help fertilize both ornamental and commercial plants in our state) play a tremendous role in fruit and vegetable production, so they provide benefits to all of us who enjoy fresh New Jersey produce!  In fact,animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of about 90% of flowering plants and one third of human food crops.

If the concept or planting a garden patch specifically designed to attract and support native pollinators seems daunting, we have an idea for you.  Consider starting small -- how about planting just a yard in your yard?  By that we mean taking a one square yard patch of lawn and converting it to a garden for native pollinators.  Dig up the grass and plant a few varieties of flowers and shrubs that will bloom throughout the spring, summer and early fall months in your new little garden.  You have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting what plants to use -- of course you'll want to make sure they are native to our region.  An excellent resource to consult is Selecting Plants for Native Pollinators:  A Regional Guide for Farmers, Land Managers and Gardeners in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest.  This guide describes many native plants, what they look like, what conditions they need (sun,shade and the like), when they bloom and which pollinators they support.  using it will help you quickly select which plants you want to include in your "yard within your yard". 

Your new pollinator patch will undoubtedly provide you with a great deal of pleasure.  From the colorful flowers on the plants to the fascinating and often beautiful pollinators that visit them, you'll enjoy watching what goes on as the months go by.  In fact, we won't be at all surprised if you get hooked and decide to learn more about gardening with native pollinators in mind, sign up to participate as a citizen scientist in the Great Sunflower Project, and/or devote more yards of your yard to pollinator habitat next year!  

For more information about native pollinators and what you can do to support them, vjoin us on Monday evening at our membership meeting and visit one or more of the web sites we've mentioned already, or one of these below:

The Xerces Society
The Natural Resources Conservation Service

Another Habitat Transformation Project Will Soon be Underway at Fairview Farm

We will soon be removing some of the trees and other wooded plants at Fairview Farm to create a scrub-shrub habitat as part of our Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). Visitors will easily notice our work, as the transformation will occur in an area to the right of the driveway at the entrance to Fairview Farm. This portion of our grounds is currently dominated by eastern red cedar, and it also has a good mix of oaks, beeches, and pines. A scrub-shrub habitat is limited to 30% wooded flora, so many of the trees will be removed. Scrubland habitats are usually the result of a disturbance such as a fire, flood or strong wind. Our disturbance will be in the form of chainsaws and a bush hog.

The red cedars are our primary target for removal because of their abundance in the area (approximately 80% of the trees are eastern red cedar). There are also some invasive plant species present in this vicinity that will be removed to create a purely native habitat. The wooded vegetation will be replaced with a mix of grasses and forbs.

Creating a scrubland is an important project for URWA because this habitat is absent on Fairview Farm; therefore, a new niche will available for our wildlife to use. We might also entice new creatures to make Fairview Farm their home. Scrub-shrub habitats are great for song birds, game birds and many predatory birds. You can also expect deer, rabbits and other animals to use this habitat for grazing or hunting.

The red cedars that we remove will be turned into posts for deer fencing and trellises – we’ll even host a workshop on may 15th where you can make a garden tower for your garden, and we expect to have more than we need for use at Fairview Farm, so please let us know if you’d like to take some home after we’ve finished our project. The invasive plants will be removed and added to our brush pile and we’ll turn all the other wooded materials into wood chips.

They're Back! Woodcocks are Singing at Fairview Farm

Photo:  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The American Woodcock is a forest-dwelling shorebird that lives in much of the eastern United States.  It migrates to warmer climates for the winter and typically begins arriving back in our region as the temperatures start to rise in late February or early March.  The mixed habitats of forest and meadow at URWA's Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve attract a significant number of American Woodcocks each year, and in just the last week we've seen and heard them as we leave our office at the end of each work day.

This bird has a fascinating courting ritual that takes place on warm mornings and evenings in the late winter each year. The male woodcock begins his “peenting call” at sunup and sundown. To attract a female, he first struts in circles on the ground and then takes flight, circling and whistling 100 feet high. The whistling turns into a high pitched twittering, ceasing suddenly as the lovesick bird flutters to the ground, only to begin the dance again. The woodcock is so caught up in his romantic ritual that the observer can get close to this otherwise evasive bird!

The sights and sounds of the woodcocks are truely enchanting, and we'll host a special "Woodcock Watch" program at Fairview Farm this weekend to help bird enthusiasts become more familiar with them.  On Sunday, March 6th, we invite you to join us from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Fairview Farm (2121 Larger Cross Road in Bedminster) for a chance to see and hear them.  There is no cost to attend this program, but we ask that you call (908) 234-1852, ext. 16 to register.

Of course, we can’t guarantee a sighting, but the sunset at Fairview Farm alone is worth the visit and if the “Singing Field” is quiet you can listen to the sounds of the evening! Sunset will occur at 5:51 p.m. so everyone should plan to arrive no later than 5:30 to park your vehicle and walk to one of the fields while there is still light in the evening sky.

For more information, please contact Susan Brookman at 908-234-1852, ext. 20 or email sbrookman@urwa.org.







Think Summer! Nature Day Camp Registration is Underway



During a session of URWA's 2010 summer
day camp, Jake Ballard of Bernardsville,
Gretchen Almendinger of Hillsborough and
Ayaan Kahn of Bridgewater take a break from
their stream studies to smile for the camera.



URWA hosts a variety of summer day camp programs at our Fairview Farm headquarters on Larger Cross Road in Bedminster and at the privately owned Pleasant Valley Mills Farm in Mendham. Registration for the 2011 summer season is now underway!

Formerly the site of a dairy operation, Fairview Farm’s 170 acres of fields and forests have been managed as a wildlife preserve since the land was bequeathed to URWA in 1973 by the estate of Mrs. Roberta Zuhlke. Children ranging in age from 3 to 10 enjoy unique outdoor learning experiences there. With nature as their informal classroom, the youngsters spend many fun-filled hours investigating the terrestrial and aquatic habitats that make up the preserve. The day camp leaders who guide the programs and the high school students who assist them help each child develop a genuine appreciation for the out-of-doors and learn how to protect our natural environment.

Alison Gause of Chester gathers eggs
at Pleasant Valley Mills Farm.

Pleasant Valley Mills Farm lies along the banks of the North Branch of the Raritan River. It includes the site of an historic grist mill, meadows, wooded slopes and a barn along Roxiticus Road where families have stopped for years to enjoy the rare sight of a sow and her piglets. Each day begins and ends with farm chores for the children who participate in URWA’s camp there as they learn how to care for chickens, sheep, ponies and a friendly donkey. The day campers also swim in the North Branch, collect water samples as they investigate water quality in the river, plant an organic garden and enjoy visits from craftsmen such as a ferrier, bee keeper, sheep herder, fly fisherman, chicken expert and herbalist.

For information about the day camp sessions that will be offered this summer, please visit our web site at http://urwa.org/education/naturecamp.html. Alternatively, you may request that a nature day camp flier and registration form be mailed to you by calling us at (908) 234-1852, ext. 12.

Hoot!

Winter, especially this particularly snowy winter of 2011, tends to shut people indoors. We wait for the temperatures to rise, the snow to melt, and for the earth to come back to life with the greening of spring. However, winter is the best time of year to observe certain New Jersey wildlife, most notably owls!

Empty canopies, stark white backgrounds and nights glowing with the moon’s reflection off the snow are ideal for owl spotting. New Jersey plays host to eight species of owls, some of which are only found here in the winter. The most elusive of the group include the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scaniaca), Saw Whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus), Barn Owl (Tyto alba), Long- and Short-Eared Owls (Asio otus and Asio flammeus). These owls are less commonly found for multiple reasons, including their choice of habitats inconvenient to finicky humans, and their erratic travel schedules (some appear in New Jersey only every few years, when their prey populations up north become more scarce). More commonly found owls include the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) and Barred Owl (Strix varia), and the owl most common to New Jersey is the Eastern Screech Owl (Otus asio).

The Eastern Screech Owl is a year-round resident of New Jersey. It is relatively small, about 7 to 10 inches tall and with a wing span of 18 to 24 inches. This owl has two color phases or “morphs,” meaning it can be gray or red.

A screech owl’s call sound more like a whinnying horse than a screech, as its name implies. You can hear them from dusk to dawn in New Jersey’s woodlands, parks, suburban areas, in wetlands and near fields. They are opportunistic hunters, aiding in their ability to adapt to many habitats. They are able to grab large flying insects right out of the air, but seem to favor small rodents such as deer mice and moles. Other prey include small fish, snakes, frogs and spiders.

Screech owls breed from March through May, and have elaborate courting rituals, including unique calls, dancing, and even wink at each other! Once a partner is found, they will mate for life. Nesting is done in tree cavities, anywhere from 7 to 50 feet off the ground. They do not build a nest, but use natural sawdust at the bottom of the cavity for cushioning of their eggs, which are incubated almost exclusively by the female while the male hunts for food.

Next time you find yourself wishing for spring, try to remember the interesting winter life of New Jersey’s owls. Make some hot chocolate and go for a night hike along the stream in your backyard, or in your neighborhood park, especially in the first few hours of darkness. Open your ears and listen for the whinnying call of a Screech Owl - you may find the quietude of winter is actually full of life, once you take a closer look!

Resources:
http://www.njskylands.com/ecobirds_owls.htm
http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Megascops&species=asio
Owl Facts: Focusing on NJ’s Owls published by The Raptor Trust

Hooray for the New Fertilizer Bill

Our state has kicked off 2011 on a high note by passing the nation’s most far-ranging bill to regulate the content and use of lawn fertilizers. Fertilizers are packed full of nutrients, in particular phosphorus and nitrogen, which are a primary cause of pollution for our state’s rivers, lakes and bays.


Who doesn’t want a green lawn? We all do, but overuse and misuse of fertilizers cause way more harm than good, and this bill will go a long way towards improving water quality and restoring balance to our state’s delicate aquatic ecosystems.

Signed into law in the first week of this year, the bill bans phosphorus from lawn fertilizers while requiring that 20 percent of the nitrogen in them be slow release, so that more of the fertilizer stays on your lawn and out of local streams. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus, washed into streams through stormwater, produce algal blooms that reduce oxygen levels in water, threatening fish and other aquatic life. Throughout our nation, fertilizer runoff is causing dead zones - in the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, Peugeot Sound, Great Lakes and in New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay, there are areas where oxygen starved waters are virtually void of fish and other aquatic wildlife.

Application of fertilizers is also limited and regulated in the new bill, with homeowners banned from applying fertilizer before March 1st or after November 15th or at any time the ground is frozen. Professional lawn-care companies must now be trained and certified by the State if they want to apply fertilizer. Fertilizer cannot be applied, except under certain circumstances within 25 feet of a water body and never before or during a heavy rainfall.

While state retailers can continue to sell the existing fertilizer for the next two years, homeowners can start protecting New Jersey’s ecosystem right now by self-regulating their fertilizer use: Do bother to read the labels, don’t over-use fertilizer, and don’t apply it on frozen ground or near waterways.

Right here in the Upper Raritan Watershed region, stormwater runoff is our greatest threat to water quality. When URWA’s Staff and Volunteer Monitors come across a degraded waterway, it is typically caused by animal wastes, a failed septic system or overuse of fertilizer. We, as citizens of the watershed can each make a difference. Keep livestock and manure compost out of the stream buffer, clean up after your pet, maintain your septic system and please don’t abuse the use of fertilizers in your own yard. New Jersey’s new fertilizer bill presents a wonderful opportunity to protect our state’s most precious resource - WATER.

Road Salt: Helpful and Harmful

Are you disturbed by the whitish-gray coating on shrubs along our roadsides each winter? Does it bother you to come across heaps of road salt hovering over a stream bank?  Snow is in the forecast for later this week, so now is a good time to give some thoughtful consideration to how we clear it from roadways and sidewalks in order to allow everyone to move about safely after a winter storm.

Road salt, which is composed primarily of sodium chloride, degrades vegetation, aquatic ecosystems and water quality. There is no single solution to reducing road salt contamination of local waterways and groundwater. It will require a combination of approaches including:

• more efficient application of road salts using computerized trucks, driver training, and accurate weather information to more accurately time road salt applications
• better storage practices utilizing sheltered storage facilities with stormwater treatment and control
• management practices to reduce losses during transfers
• management of equipment washwater to minimize releases
• locating “snow dumps” away from rivers and groundwater recharge areas, and collecting and treating snow dump runoff
• use of environmentally friendly road salt alternatives, such as calcium magnesium acetate, in sensitive areas
• education of homeowners and business owners about the environmental impacts of road salt
• policy changes such as moving away from bare pavement policies for secondary roads
• lower speed limits on roadways immediately following snow storms
• renewed emphasis on plowing

Some communities within our watershed have taken significant steps to reduce the amount of road salt they use to clear roads.  Chester Township stands out as one example:  the community's Department of Public Works uses a pre-wetted rock salt application process, using beet juice to keep the salt from blowing and bouncing off roadways after it has been applied.  The salt stays on the road longer and therefore allows the community to use less of it, saving money and reducing the negative environmental impact of traditional road salt application methods.  Other communities in New Jersey have begun exploring ways to lessen the amount of salt they apply to roads, and we encourage everyone to support these efforts.  Find out what products and methods your local government uses to keep the roads clear and let us know if we can help you as you ask them to consider approaches that will prove to be less damaging to our environment.

When it comes to clearing your own driveway and sidewalk, the old-fashioned shoveling method is the most benign way to move snow from your pathways.  If you feel you must use rock salt, please apply it sparingly -- a little bit goes a long way -- and be sure it does not run off into nearby wetlands or streams!