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land stewardship policy

If you want to know what Stewardship is, read this!

By
January 5, 2012
funding, land ethics, land stewardship policy

What exactly should Land Stewardship mean to land managers in New Jersey?  What are some of the prevalent conservation threats and what are land managers doing to address these threats?  Anne H. Jacobson, Program Office at the Victoria Foundation, put together this excellent white paper on Land Stewardship.  It also includes information about existing funding sources for Stewardship.

Ms. Jacobson writes:

“Stewardship” is a broad term that goes beyond “management” (traditionally associated with farming and forestry operations) to encompass an environmental ethic:  the …… ongoing responsibility – in perpetuity – to supervise, enhance, maintain, and defend its properties.

Click here to download and read the entire white paper.

Excellent Opinion Article about New Forest Stewardship Bill

By
January 2, 2012
ecological restoration, forest management, land stewardship policy
Forest in the NJ Highlands affected by hemlock wooly adelgid

Forest in the NJ Highlands affected by hemlock wooly adelgid

For those interested in the new Forest Stewardship Bill and why I believe land stewards should support it, check out Anthony Mauro’s excellent piece in New Jersey Newsroom.  He writes:

The bills provide a means to facilitate natural processes through forestry practices. These intentional, human-induced activities can initiate the recovery of ecosystem health, integrity, and sustainability. If we are going to continue to prevent Mother Nature from freely using her methods to manage forests it is our obligation to safely and responsibly replicate her formulas.

This article nicely gets at an underlying question that is rarely articulated or discussed among the land conservation community at the policy level – how active of a role should we play in addressing conservation threats and opportunities on state lands? and should one of the tools we use be forestry?

Click here to read the entire article.

Deer letter

By
October 6, 2010
deer management, land stewardship policy

We posted the deer letter at deerinbalance.org.  You can find it by clicking here. If you haven’t already, there are instructions for signing-on.

Thanks to Jared R. and everyone else for their hard work on this issue.   I believe that overabundant white-tailed deer is perhaps the largest conservation threat to preserved natural areas in New Jersey.  This letter and advocacy surrounding it move us closer to working effectively with the State to address this problem.

NJ’s Invasive Species Policy – How it compares…

By
May 17, 2010
land stewardship policy, non-native invasive animals, non-native invasive plants

A friend just forwarded me an interesting report from the Environmental Law Institute called Status and Trends in State Invasive Species Policy, 2002-2009. I haven’t read through the entire thing yet, but it is good to see how New Jersey compares to ten other states that have invasive species councils. I am somewhat comforted by the fact that NJ has an invasive species council and a comprehensive invasive species management plan.   However, the report points out that:

New Jersey has made no significant changes
to its laws and regulations related to invasive
species in recent years.

In the absence of state level laws, regulations, and resources, non-profit conservation organizations and particularly the Central Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team (CJISST) have begun to do a great job carrying out some of the recommendations of the comprehensive invasive species management plan, particularly as it relates to new, emerging invasive species.  It is clear, however, that in order to really get a handle on this problem we will need state laws and regulations as well as resources that only state government could provide.

I’d love to hear your comments about the report after you get a chance to read it.

Tremendous Success in Trenton — And a Final Call to Action!

By
January 12, 2010
ATVs, forest management, land stewardship policy

I received this email late last night from NJ Audubon and thought it would be of interest to Stewardship Roundtable folks. Some great news on the Forest Stewardship Bill and ATV registration and a final push to try to stop a bad bill….

This evening the NJ Legislature took the final steps necessary to pass two pieces of legislation that New Jersey Audubon and many of you, our members, have been working on for years!

(1) Tonight the Assembly PASSED FOREST STEWARDSHIP LEGISLATION WITH OVERWHELMING BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT. This bill will help alleviate unnecessary harvesting pressure on qualifying wooded land in New Jersey, and therefore promote sustainable forestry and the many benefits resulting from healthier forests, such as cleaner water. Many of you emailed and phoned your Assemblypeople last week, and numerous legislators told us in the last few days that they’ve been receiving a lot of messages in favor of Forest Stewardship! Your efforts have clearly helped make a difference. The Governor is expected to sign the legislation into law in the coming days.

(2) Secondly tonight, both the Assembly and Senate passed legislation that ESTABLISHES REGISTRATION FOR OFF-ROAD VEHICLES AND APPROPRIATE PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL RIDING that damages our state’s fragile land and wildlife. Many of you have contacted your legislators more than once in favor of this legislation, and tonight’s success shows we’ve helped make a positive difference on this issue as well! We believe the Governor will sign this legislation too.

BUT NOW WE MUST MAKE A FINAL, URGENT **CALL TO ACTION** BEFORE THE CORZINE ADMINISTRATION ENDS ON JANUARY 19TH: PLEASE PHONE THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS — (609) 292 6000 — AND ASK HIM TO **VETO A4345 / S2985**. This legislation would postpone implementation of New Jersey’s Water Quality Management Planning Rules. These rules wisely ask county and local governments to plan to remove some of our state’s most environmentally sensitive land from sewer service areas that were established decades ago. New Jersey should not postpone implementation of these important rules, which should curtail urban sprawl into some of our most environmentally sensitive areas that protect our clean water, our steep slopes, and our threatened and endangered species. That is why we’re asking you to call Governor Corzine and request that he VETO A4345 / S2985 — so that Water Quality Management Planning Rules are allowed to go into effect as originally planned.

Thank you again for all that you have done to preserve our natural heritage and support prosperity in New Jersey. Tonight we recorded two big successes, and we’re hoping for one more — the Governor’s veto of A4345 / S2985. We look forward to updating you in more detail with our Trenton Flyway email shortly!

Sincerely,

Kelly Mooij, Director of Government Relations, New Jersey Audubon

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