As land stewards and land managers, we should support the new Forest Stewardship bill, S1954/A4538. If passed, this bill would be a huge step to better management of our state-owned lands. It dovetails well with both the recommendations of the Pinelands Forestry Advisory Committee, which I helped to draft, and the new Forest Stewardship Assessment Law for private lands.
For over 10 years, I have been trying to demonstrate how the science of Forestry can help us address our land management challenges in New Jersey. In the early 2000s, when I was working for New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF), we did one of the first ecological forestry demonstration projects in New Jersey at the Dorothy Preserve in Estell Manor. We created open woodland habitat for state threatened red-headed woodpeckers and restored an Atlantic white cedar swamp We thinned (logged) about 40 acres of forest to actually create the woodpecker habitat and then used the proceeds from the woodships produced by the thinning to help pay for this habitat creation. Logging (or more correctly, the practice of Siviculture) is an essential tool in the land stewardship toolbox, especially where the landscape is too fragmented for natural disturbance, such as hot wildfires, to be safely utilized.
For several years after the thinning at Dorothy Preserve, we planned to conduct a series of prescribed burns to reduce the woody shrub layer – essentially converting it from a woody shrub layer to more of a herbaceous layer ideal for rare Pine Barrens Plants. The final part of this innovative plan was to selectively herbicide about 10 acres of what had been a degraded Atlantic white cedar swamp and enclose it with an electric deer fence to promote Atlantic white cedar regeneration. Atlantic white cedar is a critical habitat type that has been declining throughout its range for decades.
All of this activity was part of scientifically-based Forest Stewardship Plan developed by NJCF and a forestry consultant, so I was excited to learn that the state was going to try to do the same exact thing – write Forest Stewardship Plans that would create habitat and pay for themselves through the proceeds of implementing the plan. This was the exact model we were promoting at NJCF and the very definition of ecological forestry – being able to create critical habitat and produce a sustainable forest product. By the way, the pine chips that we harvested went into making high-quality paper for self-adhesive postage stamps.
Ecological Forestry in the Pine Barrens
Since that time, demonstration projects have been done by other conservation organizations, notably NJ Audubon at their Hovnaniain Sanctuary in the Pine Barrens. Among other goals, New Jersey Audubon’s Forest Stewardship Plan focuses on using Silvculture to create habitat for rare snakes. Another example, this time in the Highlands, was an excellent Forest Stewardship Plan developed for a large portion of the Newark Watershed lands. One of the main recommendations in the Newark plan was to create additional golden winged warbler habitat through Silvicultural treatments. Golden winged warbler populations have seriously declined in New Jersey and throughout their range. The plan was developed by a forestry consultant in partnership with NJ Audubon and Conservation Resources. It involved significant community and scientific input. Flowing from all of these forest stewardship initiatives, The Forest Guild held a workshop in 2010 in New Jersey for land managers promoting the concept and science behind ecological forestry.
As you know, my on-the-ground land management activities now take place on a smaller scale in the Highlands at Schiff Nature Preserve. Forest Stewardship Plans are a great way to determine conservation threats and opportunities and present best practices as to how to address these.
For example, using our Forest Stewardship Plan as a guide, Schiff Natural Lands Trust is actively addressing the issues of overabundant deer through an aggressive deer management program; we have one of the most active prescribed burning programs on non-profit properties in the state; and we are addressing the threat of emerging non-native invasive species through work with the New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team. Our Forest Stewardship Plan also focuses on maintenance of critical habitat we have for a state threatened plant (S1) and animal species and as well as species of special concern.
I believe our state lands should have Forest Stewardship Plans. These plans would help us to determine what natural resources we actually have, what the conservation threats are to these resources, and help us to figure out creative ways to address these threats. S1954 / A4538 would create some of the first Forest Stewardship Plans on state land.
However, there are several things about the bill that some environmental groups are finding problematic. After reading the bill, I very respectfully disagree with them on several key points. You can read the bill here if you are interested in having a look yourself.
- The bill protects ecologically sensitive areas: The bill states:
…that forest harvesting activities are not conducted in Natural Heritage Priority Sites, natural areas, or sensitive ecological areas unless the department determines that the site would benefit from forest harvesting activities. Furthermore, the bill requires that forest harvesting activities be conducted in accordance with the New Jersey Forestry Wetlands Best Management Practices.
- Forest Stewardship Plans address rare species: The bill also references the Forest Stewardship Assessment Law as to specifically what should be contained in a Forest Stewardship Plan. Those of us who have written Forest Stewardship Plans understand that the fine details are where many additional ecological issues are considered including the presence of rare plants or wildlife and how management activities will affect these species. The point of a Forest Stewardship Plan is to identify and address prevalent conservation threats including non native invasive species and white tailed deer. The plans aren’t about harvesting timber, although that could be a by-product of Siviculture. Like at the Dorothy Preserve, Hovnanian Sanctuary, and the Newark Watershed, Forest Stewardship Plans can apply the practice of Siviculutre to actually enhance habitat for rare species.
- The program would fund itself, not the operations of the State Park Service: Money generated through this program won’t be used to generally fund the State Park Service, but rather would be used to write and implement Forest Stewardship Plans. Any additional revenues would be given to the State Natural Lands Trust, to be used for restoration projects “to increase biodiversity, or to enhance habitat for rare, threatened or endangered flora on lands” held or managed by the state. There is even a “poison pill” provision that ensures that revenue generated from the program is used only for this purpose, thereby helping to prevent the focus of the program to generating significant amounts of revenue for State Parks operations.
- Forest Stewardship Plans would require Public Input: The bill also requires public input into the actual Forest Stewardship Plans. Forest Stewardship Plans are necessarily site specific, so conservation threats and opportunities are going to be unique. It is impossible to say that a particular management activity, including Silviculture, is appropriate until a plan is developed. The bill is explicit that plans be developed through a public process including public notice, public hearing, and comment period.
- Current state of land management on state lands: The state has the authority to conduct land management activities already, including logging, but they are not required to use Forest Stewardship Plans to guide these activities. As we know, the DEP doesn’t have the resources to write Forest Stewardship Plans themselves. Critically, this bill address this funding issue by calling for a project manager to write and implement the Forest Stewardship Plans with DEP and use the revenue from Silviculture to pay for them. In an ideal world, the DEP would have the funding and staff to write plans themselves, but given the current fiscal climate in Trenton it is doubtful we will see an increase in DEP staffing anytime soon. Other state agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, hire outside consultants to do planning and implementation work. DEP should also be able to hire outside consultants to do this work with proper controls.
- A Project Manager would work with DEP: It should also be noted that the bill doesn’t explicitly state that the project manager be a for-profit entity, so non-profit conservation groups with adequate qualifications could conceivably become the project manager. I am also certain that there are a set of land management professionals at DEP that would be involved in both writing the administrative rules related to this bill and overseeing the Forest Stewardship Program. Even given the limited budgets and staffing cutbacks, many of these land management professionals have been quietly doing extremely impressive land management projects on a small scale and I trust them to look out for the public interest.
I believe that this is our best chance yet to begin to responsibly manage our preserved landscape. The alternative to this bill is to continue to do nothing to address conservation threats on preserved lands and watch many of the living natural resources we paid to permanently protect from development continue to disappear.
