Murray Grove Property Will Be Added to Forsythe NWR (06/15/10)

Link to TPL press release here.

Happily, one piece of bad news this morning is balanced with a piece of good news. For more information on the good work of The Trust for Public Land, visit www.tpl.org.

Murray Grove Property Will Be Added to Forsythe NWR

Contact: Matthew Shaffer, The Trust for Public Land, 415-495-4014 x316, email
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge image courtesy National Geographic

LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J., 6/15/2010: The Trust for Public Land today announced the purchase of a 242-acre wooded and wetlands property, one of the largest remaining unprotected bayfront properties on the west side of Barnegat Bay, in Lacey Township, Ocean County, N.J. In the next year the organization intends to transfer the property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an addition to the Barnegat Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation organization, has been working for the last year and a half to conserve the land, known as the Murray Grove property, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). TPL was able to assemble private funding and interim loan capital to finance the purchase of the property and will hold ownership until federal funding is available to complete the transfer to the refuge.

"Because of the critical importance of this property to the health of Barnegat Bay and the Forsythe Refuge, TPL assembled funding to purchase and hold the property until federal funds are available for adding it to the refuge," said Anthony Cucchi, New Jersey state director for TPL. "Our commitment to the richly wild and naturally significant Barnegat Bay is in its third decade, and we are grateful for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's stewardship of this important landscape."

The tidal salt marsh property is the top conservation priority for the Forsythe Refuge and would link three previous conservation additions to the Barnegat Division of the refuge, which TPL completed in 1994 and 1995. USFWS and TPL have been partnering to protect property at this refuge since 1991and have completed 25 separate transactions, adding more than 2,700 acres.

"The Service is pleased that TPL has been able to respond rapidly to land acquisition opportunities within the approved refuge acquisition boundary," said Steve Atzert, E.B. Forsythe Refuge Manager. "TPL has assured the protection of important natural capital and the continuation of valuable ecosystem services to fish, wildlife, and people, until the Service is able to obtain appropriated funding to purchase the properties and incorporate them in the National Wildlife Refuge System."

This new addition would create an 821-acre conservation area, protecting the marshes of Murray Grove and Stouts Creek, a complex of, pools, embayments, mud flats, and natural waterways including Hancy's Pond, Stumpy Pond Creek, Bony Creek, and Wire Creek Pond. State- and federally-listed threatened and endangered bird species-including peregrine falcon, bald eagle, northern harrier, osprey, red-shouldered hawk, American bittern, and grasshopper sparrow-have utilized the site for foraging or roosting.

TPL and USFWS are hopeful that federal funding for the $500,500 purchase price through the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act funding will allow for the conveyance of the land to the refuge in the coming months. The Act is funded from the sale of Federal Duck Stamps, which function as the federal licenses required for hunting waterfowl. TPL's acquisition of the property was enabled through a grant from the William Penn Foundation and other philanthropic support.

TPL and Forsythe Refuge managers identified the property as a priority for conservation in The Century Plan, a 1995 study of 100 top conservation priorities in the Barnegat Bay watershed.

The wetlands of the E. B. Forsythe Refuge are one of only 26 Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. All of the Barnegat Division of the refuge is within the Environmental Protection Agency Barnegat Bay National Estuary, one of only 28 national estuaries in the US. The entire refuge is designated a unit of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Network Reserve, one of only 52 in the US.

The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, TPL has helped protect nearly 3 million acres nationwide, including more than 24,000 acres in New Jersey. TPL depends on the support of individuals, corporations, and foundations.

134 acres once slated for development to be preserved in Mount Olive (6/14/10)

This is a second story for the preserved land reported on last week in the previous Confessions of an Acre Whore entry.


Located in western Morris County, this 31.1 square-mile township had a population of 25,934 as of 2007, as recorded on Wikipedia. This was a 7.2-percent increase of the 24,193 population reported in 2000. The township had its largest reported increase in population, 173 percent, in its 1970 census, when the township recorded a population of 10,394. The earliest recorded census figures for Mount Olive, in 1930, recorded a township population of 1,235.

By Minhaj Hassan

Story originally appeared on DailyRecord.com.

MOUNT OLIVE — Conservation groups have successfully negotiated a deal to preserve more than 100 acres of land that had been approved by the township for a residential development.

The Trust for Public Land purchased a 134-acre parcel in the Highlands region that was slated for the development of 16 single-family homes. The approvals were before the Highlands Act went into effect.

TPL will pay $2.65 million compiled from several groups to purchase the land and the Land Conservancy of New Jersey will own and manage the land as a watershed. The land contains streams that feed into the headwaters of the South Branch of the Raritan River, which provides drinking water to some 1 million Garden State residents.

"Conservation of drinking water sources is paramount to keeping New Jersey's citizens healthy," said Anthony Cucchi, TPL's director for New Jersey. "This land in the South Branch Raritan River headwaters was nearly lost to development, and we are grateful to our partners for working diligently together to meet this conservation challenge and protect and restore this important Highlands resource."

Some of the stream channels were disturbed when a road was installed and stream crossings were installed to make way for the previously approved housing project. However, efforts will be made to have the area return to the way it was prior to the construction. They include stream restoration, removing the crossing and detention basins and soil stabilization on the site.

Mayor David Scapicchio praised the land preservation deal.

"The construction project had damaged neighboring properties," he said. "The Trust for Public Land took the initiative in making the project happen, and The Land Conservancy of New Jersey will be a good steward in returning the property to a natural state. The public will get the benefit of enjoying the property," he said.

Freeholder Jack Schrier, whose governing body contributed $1.6 million in open space trust funds toward the purchase, said the deal is further of proof the county's commitment to open space.

"Here is further demonstration of Morris County's two decades of preservation leadership, as we continue to help protect more critical water supply lands for the benefit of our residents," he said in a statement. "It all contributes to our high quality of life, so important to the Freeholders.

Minhaj Hassan: 973-428-6628; mhassan@gannett.com.

Mount Olive tract preserved as watershed resource (6/9/10)

I especially like that the housing project was already started and was stopped. I've seen parcels -- in Upper Freehold, Colts Neck -- that had been carved out, maybe a road paved, with no other progress for quite a while. This gives hope that these projects can be stopped, even if they've already been started.

Original Dan Goldburg story appears on NJ.com.

MOUNT OLIVE -- A strategically important property near the headwaters of the South Branch Watershed in Mount Olive that had been slated for development will instead be preserved, the Trust for Public Land and the New Jersey Land Conservancy announced.

That’s good news for many township residents and environmentalists who were concerned about how a residential development would affect the surrounding neighborhood and the Raritan River, which supplies drinking water to more than 1 million New Jersey residents in Morris, Hunterdon and Somerset Counties.

The $2.65 million purchase of the 134-acre tract, which sits on the border of Mount Olive and Washington Township in the Highlands region, was coordinated by The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit land conservation organization.

“Conservation of drinking water sources is paramount to keeping New Jersey’s citizens healthy,” said Anthony Cucchi, New Jersey state director for The Trust for Public Land, in a press release.

A portion of the property had been approved in 2004 for 16 single-family homes. As part of the development, a road was installed as were several stream crossings, detention basins and footings for an arch bridge.

The developers, Anthony and Golnaz Mortezai of Chester Township, were fined by the Department of Environmental Protection in 2006 after state officials said the destruction of wetland transition areas on the site led to severe soil erosion that caused streams running through the property to fill with silt.

The foundations for the 16 homes had been laid, said Terrence Nolan, spokesman for the Trust for Public Land, but the souring economy spoiled the development.

The Land Conservancy of New Jersey, which will manage the land as a watershed resource, plans to remove the detention basins, restore stream channels to their natural state and has been given $100,000 from the former owner of the property and the Trust for Public Land to begin remediation.

“The Land Conservancy of New Jersey is excited to have the opportunity to restore the disturbed streams and stop the erosion that has plagued this beautiful property so that it can once again provide clean drinking water,” said David Epstein, conservancy president.

The Morris County Preservation Trust Fund gave $1.65 million toward the project.
“Here is further demonstration of Morris County’s two decades of preservation leadership, as we continue to help protect more critical water supply lands for the benefit of our residents,” said Jack Schrier, freeholder and liaison to the county’s Preservation Trust Fund programs.

The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority contributed $500,000 and $460,000 came from two New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program grants.

“It’s a good piece to add to our open space inventory,” said David Scapicchio, Mount Olive mayor. “(We get) another piece of open space that the town can use but didn’t pay for.”

63 acres in Rockaway Twp. preserved as open space (05/05/10)

Original article appeared here.

By Colleen O'Dea

ROCKAWAY TWP. — The 63-acre Copper Beech tract on Lyonsville Road is now protected open space.

At their meeting Wednesday night, the Morris County Freeholders presented a ceremonial check for $1.95 million to The Trust for Public Land, which closed April 30 on the property adjacent to the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area. The total cost for the project was $2.15 million, with the remaining $200,000 coming from the state Green Acres program. The Morris County Preservation Trust approved the county funding portion last November.

"Morris County is a great place to live, and conservation areas such as Wildcat Ridge, Dixon's Pond, and Pyramid Mountain play a large part in the quality of life here," said Anthony Cucchi, The Trust for Public Land's New Jersey director. "The county's commitment to link these natural areas only strengthens the value of these areas, and the Copper Beech property will be a keystone for that effort."

Known as Copper Beech for the beech trees on the property, the land contains both water protection and forest resources according to the Highlands regional master plan and because it is in the planning area of the region, it was open for development. Johanson Holding Company owned the property.

"This is another exceptional example of our long commitment to protect our county's natural areas, especially those with this level of environmental significance," said Morris County Freeholder Jack Schrier, who is currently serving as acting chairman of the New Jersey Highlands Council and is the liaison to the county's open space program.

The land was a priority for protection for many years, and in 2005 the township open space committee asked the The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit conservation organization, to help preserve it. In 2008, with real estate values dropping due to the economic downturn, the trust and New Jersey Conservation Foundation worked together for a solution that included the foundation agreeing to manage the land.

"We are very excited to work with The Trust for Public Land in preserving this property," said Michele S. Byers, executive director of New Jersey Conservation Foundation. "This property provides another link in a network of preserved lands, which will ultimately lead to more trails for the public to enjoy."

Rockaway Township Mayor Louis Sceusi said township officials are grateful that the land is now protected: "I applaud and appreciate that in these difficult economic times, our county and The Trust for Public Land continue to recognize the paramount wisdom in preserving and protecting critical watershed property and our supply of clean water."

Colleen O'Dea: 973-428-6655, codea@gannett.com.