That’s the main takeaway from a new report released earlier this week. The 2018 edition of the Living Planet Report, published by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London, found that the population size of some of the world’s vertebrate species had shrunk by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014.
Though tropical species have suffered the most, according to the report, the rash of wildlife decline hits home in the Garden State.
“It mirrors what we see in New Jersey,” said David Wheeler, the executive director of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
As one of the founding members of The Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey, Women & Wildlife Legacy Honoree Diane Soucy has been there to provide input for every important decision. Close to 130,000 songbirds, wading birds, waterfowl, hummingbirds, raptors, and other birds have been admitted to The Raptor Trust. From much of the bird rehabilitation, to the administrative matters like bylaws and thank you letters, to the countless personal sacrifices she has made over decades, nearly everything about the Raptor Trust has gone through Diane.
For over 50 years now, Diane has devoted her life to the rehabilitation of wild birds. She has inspired thousands of people who have called or passed through the doors of The Raptor Trust, looking for help with an injured or orphaned wild bird. For years, she and her husband, Len Soucy, were the sole providers of the Raptor Trust, financing all of the aviaries and supplies completely on their own.
Diane has handled more patients and been responsible for more successful bird releases in New Jersey than anyone else at the Raptor Trust. Before there were any standards for wildlife rehabilitation, Diane developed successful songbird diets and recipes, through trial and error, which have been shared, replicated, improved upon, and used for decades throughout the larger wildlife rehabilitation community. Diane has been there every step of the way at The Raptor Trust, working as the default secretary, behind-the-scenes adviser and manager. At a time when the phrase “wildlife rehabilitation” didn’t even exist, Diane and her husband were working to develop techniques which would later become the best practices in the field. Continue reading “Founding Member of The Raptor Trust Diane Soucy Honored for Legacy in Conservation”
Beth Styler Barry, River Restoration Manager for The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey, is the 2018 Women & Wildlife Leadership Honoree. Beth has selflessly devoted her professional career to keeping our waterways clean and habitable for wildlife. Beth has worked as a volunteer, member and Executive Director for the Musconetcong Watershed Association for over 15 years. Through all of this work, Beth guided a small organization to become a beacon for watershed associations and the poster child for small environmental nonprofits.
One of her key accomplishments has been the successful removal of five dams on the Musconetcong River. The removal of these dams opened the waterway to anadromous fish and improved the water quality for all forms of aquatic life. She currently oversees the Columbia Dam project on the Paulins Kill, which will be the largest dam removal in New Jersey to date. Continue reading “The Nature Conservancy’s Beth Styler Barry Honored for Leadership in Conservation”
As a senior zoologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, 2018 Women & Wildlife Inspiration Honoree, Sharon Petzinger has served as a dedicated champion for stabilizing the Golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera), an endangered species which has declined as steeply as nearly any songbird species in America. Sharon works tirelessly, visiting key sites, spending countless early spring mornings completing bird surveys, and promoting the program to the public. Sharon has helped to create contracts with 30 landowners to help stop the decline of this bird and has helped to establish over 350 acres of actual habitat specifically created to promote this species.
Volunteer Nicole Dion ready to conduct mobile acoustic survey
Across the country bat populations continue to decline due to the threat of White Nose Syndrome. Last year, to collect important population data to monitor population trends of New Jersey’s bat species, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF), in partnership with Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP), re-launched their Statewide Mobile Acoustic Surveys with new equipment and protocol. With all the kinks of a revamped project worked out, CWF entered their second year of this project. Continue reading “Acoustic Monitoring Drives Efforts to Save Bats”
Conserve Wildlife Foundation, in partnership with our sponsor PSEG Foundation, is proud to recognize the winners of our 2018 Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest. High school students from across the state submitted original social media campaigns showing why wildlife protection is so important in New Jersey. Our winners exceeded 10,000 likes on Instagram and Facebook.
Casey Finnegan of Toms River High School North was awarded first place and a $1,000 scholarship . Sedona Ryan, our second place winner from Haddonfield Memorial High School, received $500. Third place and $250 went to Kelly George from Toms River High School North.
The annual Species on the Edge 2.0 contest capitalizes on high school students’ expertise with social media platforms, and provides them with the opportunity to showcase their talent, creativity, and love of nature. The contest helps to develop students’ experience in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and their project management skills. Thank you to everyone who entered.
The contest is made possible through a grant from PSEG Foundation.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation today released a video featuring the range of nature programs available at Sedge Island Marine Conservation Zone and Island Beach State Park, from kayaking and fishing to birdwatching and diamondback terrapin releases. Edited by CWF videography intern Melinda Tibbitts and written by Executive Director David Wheeler, “Get Wild This Summer at the Jersey Shore” explores these unique ecosystems along the Barnegat Bay – with a special focus on the Sedge Islands Celebration Day earlier this summer!
“Northside Jim” Verhagen regularly monitors the peregrine falcon family that resides in and around a new nesting platform in the marsh to the south of the eastbound stretch of the Dorland J. Henderson Bridge. Early last week, after the sole fledgling, named Blue Bonnet, was found dead on the roadway there, he believes her parents, Bridgeboy and Jo Durt, demonstrated mourning. “They do a certain call,” said Verhagen. “Jo Durt landed on the pier with her mate, which is very unusual.”
Despite the young peregrine’s death, as Ben Wurst, habitat program manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, pointed out, “This is still kind of a success story.”
A new study investigates the habitat preferences of endangered Red Knots in their vast, remote Arctic breeding range. Credit: M. Peck for Phys.org
by The American Ornithological Society, via Phys.org
Rutgers University’s Richard Lathrop, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey’s Larry Niles, and their colleagues attached radio tags to 365 knots captured while migrating through Delaware Bay in 1999-2006. To learn where and in what sort of habitat the tagged birds nested, they then conducted surveys via small airplane across the south and central Canadian Arctic, a vast study area spanning from Victoria Island in the west to Baffin Island in the east.
The study shows that there are more than 74,000 square kilometers of suitable rufa Red Knot habitat across their Central Arctic breeding range—enough space for at least that many breeding pairs, assuming one square kilometer of territory per nest.
For over 50 years now, Diane has devoted her life to the rehabilitation of wild birds. She has inspired thousands of people who have called or passed through the doors of The Raptor Trust, looking for help with an injured or orphaned wild bird. For years, she and her husband, Len Soucy, were the sole providers of the Raptor Trust, financing all of the aviaries and supplies completely on their own.
The contest is made possible through a grant from 
