Photo: Roxbury Township Environmental Commission volunteers tending the apiary they installed nest to the town’s community garden as a nstration project. The 7,000 resident bees pollinate the garden plants. This was one of ANJEC’s 2013 Open Space Stewardship grant projects.
Local environmental commissions can accomplish big things with a little bit of extra financial support and the help of community volunteers. When ANJEC announced its 2014 Open Space Stewardship Grant recipients in April, there was little doubt the money would go a long way to protect natural resources. Environmental commissions from 15 New Jersey communities were selected out of 60 applications to receive awards ranging from $750 to $1500. The grant funds have been helping them to carry out trails work, mapping, signage, cleanups, management plans, training and other tasks to enhance and increase stewardship of local open space.
- Hillsdale, Norwood and Verona are restoring and improving local trails, in some cases rerouting them to avoid wet or sensitive areas or to avoid large trees that fell in recent storms. Norwood hopes that by making trails in its 53-acre preserve more attractive to hikers and altering a stream crossing, they will also discourage illegal ATV use there.
- Franklin (Gloucester) and Woodstown are planting vegetation to enhance their parks, increase habitat, and also reduce goose droppings and sediment runoff around water features.
- Pitman is organizing a lake area cleanup event that will also educate local volunteers about the importance of permanently preserving the adjacent woods.
- Several commissions, including Madison Borough, will tackle invasive plants on open space parcels.
- New Brunswick and Hillsdale are publishing open space guides. The New Brunswick Commission hopes that this project, featuring a public walking/bicycle tour, will inform the creation of an open space/parks/gardens master plan for the City.
- In Hopewell (Mercer), the Environmental Commission is updating its inventory of conservation easements and conducting outreach to property owners.
- In Commercial Township, the Commission aims to increase residents’ use and appreciation of a 25-acre lake park by installing identification, directional and interpretive signage.
- Maplewood’s Commission has engaged a landscape expert to train staff and volunteers in Maplewood and neighboring South Orange on organic turf field maintenance. They hope to create a model for other towns to follow.
- Several commissions, including Eatontown, Fair Haven and Peapack-Gladstone, are using GPS to geolocate trails, environmental features, significant trees and the condition of resources on open space tracts. The GPS points enable them to map and catalog information for ongoing monitoring and management, as well as to create walking and observation guides for the public.
- Commissions in Frelinghuysen and Peapack-Gladstone have hired naturalists to help them develop long-term management plans for preserved parcels in their towns.To read about what 2013 grant winners did with their funds, take a look at the scrapbook of projects on our website.
The Association of NJ Environmental Commissions is a 45-year old, statewide nonprofit organization that supports local environmental commissions , municipal officials and other environmentalists in their efforts to protect the environment, preserve natural resources and promote sustainability in their communities.
