Tag: NJDEP

by Rachel McGovern, Communications and Outreach Manager

Just off the coast of Island Beach State Park, you can find the Sedge Islands Marine Conservation Zone. This unique area is managed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and is home to a great number of wildlife species. Across this 1,900-acre preserve, one can find ospreys, rays, Northern diamondback terrapins, American oystercatchers, and many other incredible animals. Tucked away in this area is an island with a historic building that was once a duck hunting lodge but is now the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center.

Each year, winners of the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest are invited to the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center (often referred to as simply “Sedge” or “Sedge Island”) to spend a day exploring the salt marsh. The Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest is held annually for fifth graders in New Jersey. To enter, students submit an original art piece and essay centered around an at-risk New Jersey species of their choice. A panel of judges chooses a winner from each county in New Jersey. A trip to Sedge Island is one of the ways that we celebrate the winners’ achievements. Winners of the 2024 contest and their adult chaperones were offered a choice of dates to join us for a trip to Sedge Island this summer.

Continue reading “Species on the Edge Winners Explore Sedge Island”

by Christine Healy, Wildlife Biologist

It’s always fun to learn the collective names for groups of animals. For example, in the amphibian and reptile world, we have an army of frogs; a congress of salamanders; a bale of turtles; and a lounge of lizards. I wonder what quippy term could describe a group of herpetologists- the folks who spend their lives studying the armies, congresses, bales, and lounges? Perhaps… a partnership?

In that case, a partnership of herpetologists from as far south as Virginia all the way up to Maine descended upon Middletown, Connecticut last month. Not to cross some rare species off their life list (though coincidentally, I crossed two off mine), but rather to attend the annual Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) conference, hosted at Wesleyan University.

Continue reading “A Partnership of Herpetologists”

by Christine Healy

At quick glance, Pine Barrens tree frogs (PBTF), with their vivid green backs, deep purple sides, and vibrant yellow thighs, might put folks in mind of Central and South American rainforests. Based on their visage, they could, theoretically, be at home beside red-eyed tree frogs and poison arrow frogs – the poster children of amphibian diversity. They have occupied that spotlight themselves. In fact, in his 1983 Endangered Species series, American pop artist Andy Warhol chose to immortalize the PBTF in silkscreen as the lone representative of herptiles. But these tiny beauties do not favor the tropics. Occurring in three disjunct populations across the eastern United States including the Florida/Alabama panhandle, the Carolinas and, naturally, New Jersey, PBTF are habitat specialists. They reside in seepage bogs where the water is relatively acidic, due to the presiding vegetation. Sadly, as is the case with many animals reliant on very specific landscape features, habitat loss and fragmentation pose a concern for the persistence of this species, which is listed as threatened in New Jersey.

CWF is very excited to be partnering with NJDEP, Division of Watershed Protection and Restoration on a long-term study aimed at better understanding the effect of development on vulnerable species. We will measure abundance, adult health and survival, and larval growth of Pine Barrens tree frogs within a population impacted by encroaching construction to evaluate whether current wetland regulations, including buffer size, are sufficient for species conservation.

Continue reading “That’s a Wrap for the Pilot Season of a New Collaborative Project with NJDEP Focusing on Pine Barrens Tree Frogs”