Watershed Association Helps Bernardsville Map Shade Trees

Communities across the nation recognize that a healthy and expanding tree canopy improves the quality of life for their residents. In addition to making streets, neighborhoods, parks and commercial areas more attractive and improving property values, shade trees lower energy costs as they help keep homes and other buildings cool in summer months. They provide privacy, emphasize views, and screen out objectionable views. They improve air quality by removing dust and other particulates and by absorbing carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen. They buffer high winds, absorb and filter stormwater runoff and stabilize soil. They provide food and shelter to native wildlife.

The Bernardsville Shade Tree Advisory Committee was created several decades ago by the Borough Council, whose members understood the value of the community forest long before it became fashionable to “go green”. The committee has been working ever since to promote effective stewardship of shade trees.

As part of the team now working to help Bernardsville achieve certification through Sustainable JerseyTM, the committee is responsible for recommending a municipal Tree Canopy Goal with a defined, measurable outcome in relation to historic data. Unfortunately, the committee did not have the type of data necessary to begin developing such a goal, so it turned to the Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA) for assistance.

URWA has been utilizing computer-based Geographic Information System technology to create, edit, analyze, manage and display spatial data for nearly two decades. The organization frequently works with municipalities, private landowners and conservation groups to analyze scientific data and produce maps to help them protect and preserve important natural resources.

For the Bernardsville tree canopy project, URWA’s GIS Director Melissa Mitchell provided an analysis of twenty years of data from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Land Use-Land Cover files. Ms. Mitchell then used the information to generate maps that depict the forest cover that existed in Bernardsville in 1986, 1995 and 2002. These “snapshots” and the data from which they were created have given the Shade Tree Advisory Committee the tools it needs to craft a goal for the expansion of tree canopy and measure progress toward the goal over time. Louis Matlack, the committee member who secured the pro bono assistance from URWA, has drafted a goal statement that will be considered when the committee meets on March 18th.

Start Thinking Summer (Camp)…

What better thoughts could be drifting through your head on a grey winter day than hopping on rocks to catch tadpoles in the warm summer sun?  Or finding a cicada, freshly emerged from its underground slumber, stretching its wings on a dewy morning in July?  Or watching a snapping turtle’s slow downhill descent back to the cool pond, after laying her eggs in the green grass near the barns?  Well, I don’t know about you, but just thinking about the summer goings-on of Fairview Farm is like soul-food for my cold, cabin-fever stricken self.

While these thoughts might seem way too cheerful and exciting for a February afternoon, they will be reality in just a few short months for all of the lucky nature explorers and adventurers that attend URWA’s Nature Day Camp program!  What a great time to start planning all of the scavenger hunts, stream walks, water races and nature crafts that we have in store!  This year will be full of all new activities for our campers, including raising monarch caterpillars, mushroom hunting and orienteering activities.  Probably the most exciting part about this year’s camp will be the free exploration time we’ve set aside for campers to tromp through the streams, forest and meadows with URWA’s trained Naturalists, looking for whatever nature has in store for us!

We are so excited to have expanded our day camp to include a session especially for “big kids” ages 10-12.  This is our new Pleasant Valley Mills Farm Camp, which will be at the farm of the same name along Roxiticus Road in Mendham.  In addition to the Day Camp Educators, every day we will be learning from the farm’s operators about how they take care of their animals and farmland.  We will also be exploring the habitat surrounding the farm which includes part of Patriot’s Path and a beautiful section of the North Branch Raritan River!  This is something brand new for URWA and we are sure that it will be so much fun!

One of URWA’s Nature Day Camp Educators this year is Suzanne Skrzenski, a graduate of East Stroudsburg University with a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Biology. After college Suzanne worked at South Mountain YMCA Residential Camp in Wernersville PA as an outdoor educator for 3 years, and completed a full term of service in the Americorps Watershed Ambassadors program through the NJDEP.   She is now a substitute in the Phillipsburg School District and a swim coach at East Stroudsburg University.  She was one of URWA’s Nature Day Camp educators last year and we are so excited to have her back for another fun filled summer program!

Lauren Theis is URWA’s Stewardship Program Manager and will be the second Nature Day Camp educator for 2010.  She graduated from Cook College (Rutgers University) with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, and has been active in teaching extracurricular dance, art and Spanish classes in Mount Olive Township.  Just like Suzanne, Lauren completed a one-year term of service in the Americorps Watershed Ambassadors program through the NJDEP.  Since then, she has been organizing educational programs with scouts, families, volunteers and schools in our area through URWA’s Natural Science program.  She is so excited to be a part of Nature Day Camp this year and can’t wait for all of the adventures in store!

We hope you will join in the fun at URWA’s Nature Day Camp this year!  We invite you to stop by any time to explore Fairview Farm’s 170 acres of wildlife habitat, 5 miles of trails, bird and butterfly garden, and Nature Classroom.  If you have any questions or would like to sign up, visit URWA’s website at www.urwa.org, call Lauren Theis at 908-234-1852 x12 or email ltheis@urwa.org.

New Jersey Creates Plan to Keep Harmful Plants from Spreading

Last month the New Jersey Invasive Species Council completed a four-year effort to develop a plan to deal with the tremendous ecological and economic problems caused by the spread of invasive, non-native plants and animals across New Jersey. The threats posed to our state by invasive species are real: New Jersey suffers over $290 million in losses every year as a result of impacts from agricultural weeds and other pests. About 30 percent of the plants now growing in our state are not native. Plants including purple loosestrife and garlic mustard, which are widespread across our region, crowd out native plants and alter the composition, structure and function of ecosystems. Water chestnut and Eurasian water-milfoil are literally choking many lakes, ponds and streams right here in the Upper Raritan watershed.

The New Jersey Strategic Management Plan for Invasive Species provides practical, science-based recommendations to delineate control measures for troublesome species, utilize an early detection/rapid response methodology to prevent the establishment of new invasive species, and restore natural and agricultural systems that have been damaged. Furthermore, the plan calls for better public education and improved coordination among government agencies and neighboring states.
This plan needs our support! The Upper Raritan region offers areas of extraordinary natural beauty, wildlife habitat, agriculture, and it provides clean drinking water for all of us who live here and more than one million residents in other parts of New Jersey. To protect and preserve the natural systems on which all this ecological and agricultural productivity is based, we must stop the spread of invasive plant and animal species. URWA recognized this fact a few years ago and recently co-founded the Central Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team with the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space. The Strike Team represents our state's first comprehensive effort toward invasive plant management through a public-private partnership that is pooling its expertise and resources to reduce the spread of invasive plants. In its first year alone, the Strike Team detected 978 emerging invasive plant populations and eradicated 251 of them in the Highlands and Piedmont regions. The Strike Team’s 160 trained partners and volunteers also made presentations to civic groups, business associations and local leaders, reaching over 500 citizens with the message about stopping these plants before they degrade natural habitats and threaten biodiversity. The NJ Department of Environmental Protection cites our Strike Team as a model for what can (and should) be done state-wide.
Happily, implementation of the Strategic Management Plan for Invasive Species will be budget-neutral over the next two years. All of the near-term recommendations it makes can be accomplished by staff already in place and resources that are available now. These recommendations call for the State of New Jersey to implement such common-sense measures as:

• Establish a permanent NJ Invasive Species Council
• Establish ongoing communication channels between NJ and neighboring states
• Pre-screen all new plants proposed for introduction to NJ
• Prohibit the sale of invasive and potentially invasive plants
• Fully implement the statewide deer management program
• Apply Early Detection/ Rapid Response methods to prevent new infestations

Of course, these steps will not resolve all the problems related to the spread of invasive species, but they’ll go a long way before additional staff and resources will be required over the longer term. Please encourage Governor Christie and his Cabinet to implement the NJ Strategic Management Plan for Invasive Species. And, do your part – as you plan your spring and summer landscaping projects, make sure you do some research and avoid invasive or potentially invasive plants. You can get lots of great information about the plants that threaten our state and the ones that truly belong here on our Strike Team web site (www.cjisst.org).

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.