Help Golden-winged Warblers Thrive in Sparta Mountain WMA

Comments on the Sparta Mountain WMA Forest Stewardship Plan are due Tuesday, March 1, 2016

by Emily Hofmann, Environmental Education Intern

Photo by New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
Photo by New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

Wildlife in the Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) need your help! Submit your comments on the new Forest Stewardship Plan by Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

 

Conserve Wildlife Foundation supports the new Forest Stewardship Plan for the Sparta Mountain WMA located in Sparta Township, New Jersey. The original Forest Stewardship Plan was introduced in 2009. The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with New Jersey Audubon, recently updated and expanded upon the plan. The new revisions show a commitment to creating healthier forest habitat for wildlife, while abiding by the strict guidelines provided by third-party certification, along with agency regulations.

 

The new ten-year Plan, drafted by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and New Jersey Audubon Society, and conducted under an existing Forest Stewardship Plan for the wildlife area, will allow conservation actions to continue. The plan addresses the following key goals:

  • Improve the health, structure and diversity of the forests;
  • Create young forest habitat for birds and other wildlife that are of conservation concern;
  • Enhance foraging, nesting and roosting habitat for cavity dwelling birds and bats;
  • Suppress the spread of invasive species;
  • May provide basking habitat for turtles;
  • Protect and maintain views and vistas;
  • Improve passive recreational opportunities;
  • Protect water resources;
  • Monitor and evaluate stewardship activities

 

Kelly Triece, our Private Lands Biologist, has pointed out that 80% of New Jersey forests are currently between 60-99 years old, while only 5% of the forests are between 0-19 years old. CWF supports forest stewardship projects, like those presented in the new plan, that seek to even out this clear disparity and promote more diversity in age class of New Jersey forests. Increased diversity in forest age brings increased diversity in plant and animal species. This type of forest habitat has the potential to support over 125 bird species, including the Golden-winged Warbler.

 

Golden-winged Warbler. Photo by D. Kenny Golden.
Golden-winged Warbler. Photo by D. Kenny Golden.

 

The public comment period is an opportunity for you to support forest stewardship that will improve the health of the forest and create young forest habitat; essential for protecting the state endangered Golden-winged Warbler, as well as numerous other flora and fauna.

 

The Department of Environmental Protection needs to hear from you! To submit comments, visit DEP’s website. Provided below is a draft set of comments which you are welcome to use, as well as revise and submit. Remember, the deadline is Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

 

Learn More and Take Action:

 

Emily Hofmann is the Environmental Education Intern for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.


Suggested text:

To the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection,

Please accept the following comments in support of adoption and implementation of the Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area Forest Stewardship plan. This new plan builds on an existing plan that has been under implementation for several years. The new plan seeks to addresses the long-term health of the forest and the critically important lack of young forest habitat by working to create new young forest habitat patches over the next ten years. In addition, the plan includes explicit goals to protect and enhance hydrologic resources, monitoring of priority wildlife populations, provide compatible wildlife recreational opportunities and adherence to strict third party certification principles and criteria. This plan is important because the resident and migratory birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that rely on young forest habitat are struggling to maintain themselves in places they were once commonly found. Throughout the Northeast, young forest habitat has diminished as forestland has been converted to development and abandoned farms and homesteads have matured to woodlands. As a consequence, a wide variety of wildlife have experienced the loss of the scrubby, patchy, disturbed portions of the forest that they rely on for food and cover.

The plan was developed based upon an understanding of the needs of wildlife in the Highlands Region and with a specific focus on ensuring that forest health is improved. The plan authors thoroughly reviewed the history of the region, considered the important water resources of Sparta Mountain, evaluated wildlife needs, recreational desires and community connections, and brought all of this together with a keen eye toward improving the health and vigor of the forest. The plan has gone through an extensive review by experts at the Department of Environmental Protection, has taken input from a wide-range of stakeholders and meets the requirements of a third party certification system. The plan is appropriate and needed given the mission of the NJ DEP and the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, the agency charged with management of the wildlife area and conserving wildlife. I encourage the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt and implement the Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area Forest Stewardship Plan.

Providing Young Forest Habitat for the Golden-winged Warbler

CWF and partners have created or restored over 225 acres of Golden-winged warbler habitat in New Jersey since 2012

 by Kelly Triece, Private Lands Biologist

Golden Winged Warbler. Photo by D. Kenny.
Golden Winged Warbler. Photo by D. Kenny.

Take a look at this Golden-winged warbler — a Neotropical Migrant songbird that breeds in New Jersey. This songbird is a species of special conservation concern in the United States and endangered in New Jersey, experiencing population declines due to loss of young forest habitat.

 
Did you know? In the past 30 years, over 11,000 acres of upland shrub and emergent wetland habitat have been lost to succession in New Jersey. This habitat is important for Golden-winged warblers because it is their primary breeding habitat. Fortunately, their secondary habitat, upland forests, have remained stable in the state.

 

Therefore, it has been the goal of many wildlife management agencies to continue to create young forest habitat, while protecting upland forests as well.

 
Conserve Wildlife Foundation and our partners (Natural Resources Conservation Service, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and New Jersey Audubon Society), have worked with private landowners to create or restore over 225 acres of Golden-winged warbler habitat since 2012 in New Jersey.

 

Our managed forests have a statistically significant higher diversity of birds than unmanaged sites!

Young forest habitat managed for Golden-winged Warbler. Photo by Kelly Triece.
Young forest habitat managed for Golden-winged warbler. Photo by Kelly Triece.

Young forest habitat, also known as scrub-shrub habitat, is new or regenerating forest that is less than 20 years old. Young forest habitat is important for many birds, especially the Golden-winged warbler. The open canopy of a young forest also helps provide food such as berries and insects to newly fledged birds, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, reptiles, black bears, bobcats, and butterflies.

 

Golden-winged warbler home range
Golden-winged warbler home range

The breeding range of the Golden-winged warbler extends along the Appalachians from the northern portion of Georgia in the south to Vermont in the north. The winter range for this species is southern Mexico and Central and South America.

 

Follow us in February 2016 when biologist Kelly Triece travels to Honduras to see the Golden-winged Warbler in its winter habitat!

 

Learn more and get involved:

 

 

Kelly Triece is the Private Lands Biologist for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Bill Proposed to Encourage Homeowners to Create and Maintain Wildlife-Friendly Yards

Native Species Habitat Bill Passes in the Assembly

By: McKenzie Cloutier, Special Events and Fundraising Intern

Warbler
Golden-winged warbler. Photograph by Evan Madlinger

Of great interest to New Jersey homeowners, the Garden State’s General Assembly recently passed a native species habitat bill. This bill, pending further action in the Senate, encourages homeowners to create and maintain more wildlife-friendly yards. In hopes of creating more livable habitats for New Jersey’s wildlife, this bill includes a certificate program that promotes the growth of native plant species in landowners’ yards.

 

Under the provisions of this bill, landowners would be encouraged to grow and preserve native plant species that provide natural habitats for New Jersey’s other important species. In addition, this bill would also defend certified landowners against any municipal ordinances. For example, the bill would defend a landowner from an ordinance that calls for the removal of certain native plants or “weeds.”
The native species habitat bill not only benefits New Jersey’s wildlife, but homeowners as well, by reducing maintenance and chemical treatment costs. Under this program, yards will require less mowing and maintenance, and pesticide use is discouraged. With such changes, landowners could experience significant reductions in their usual yard maintenance costs, while helping to conserve local wildlife.

 

The native species habitat bill encourages New Jersey residents to become active participants in the preservation of wildlife. At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation, we encourage landowners to create wildlife-friendly backyards, and we are involved in helping private landowners to do so. Our wildlife biologist Kelly Triece works in partnership with United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) to assist private landowners in managing existing cropland, forestland, and pastureland to best meet wildlife habitat needs or in establishing new wildlife habitat areas. Depending on the goal of the landowner, these programs can either help create or preserve pollinator, woodland, wetland and grassland habitats for many different wildlife species.

 
In particular, CWF biologists work with forest landowners to enhance young forest habitats on private lands. Young forest habitats are imperative for many birds, especially the Golden-winged warbler, a species of particular concern in New Jersey. The open canopy of a young forest also provides food such as berries, insects and small mammals to newly fledged birds, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, reptiles, black bears, bobcats, and butterflies.

 

Since 2008, CWF, NRCS and other partners have collaborated with landowners to create or restore over 225 acres of Golden-winged warbler habitat in New Jersey!

 
Want to get involved and help conserve wildlife on your property? Here are ten tips on how to create a wildlife-friendly habitat in your own backyard:

  • Allow native plants to grow.
  • Create a brush pile for ground nesting birds or small mammals such as chipmunks or mice.
  • Install a pond to benefit birds, frogs, salamanders, and aquatic vegetation.
  • Create a meadow for wildlife by choosing not to mow a section of your yard.
  • Plants trees and shrubs to provide food and cover for wildlife.
  • Buy a bird bath.
  • Remove invasive or non-native plants.
  • Refrain from using pesticides. Try composting!
  • Hang bird feeders.
  • Obtain a bird house.

 

Visit our website for more tips on how to create a wildlife-friendly backyard.

 

McKenzie Cloutier is the Special Events and Fundraising Intern for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.