Resources to Help
In the Pinelands Watch publication we provide information that may be of use. We also provide links to other organizations of interest. Click here for these links
In addition to PPA’s general slide presentation about the Pinelands and the strategies to protect this unique region, a new slide presentation entitled the Threatened and Endangered Species of Pinelands is now available.
All the legally protected animals and plants that occur in the Pinelands National Reserve are featured, including 21 birds, three snakes, two frogs, two turtles, two salamanders, and the 54 plant species.
This presentation includes outstanding color slides of all the animals, with their respective range maps. All of the 54 plant species protected under the Comprehensive Management Plan are shown, as well, many of them in color.
The presentation includes an introduction to the legal protections that are in effect for these plants and animals and their habitats, tips on identifying them, and suggestions on the many ways we can help protect and restore their habitats and populations.
Call PPA or E-mail Mike to schedule a presentation.
Contents
Pinelands Municipalities
Endangered Birds
Endangered Herps
What's a Status? What's a Rank?
How can you help threatened and endangered species habitat?
How to know when the development process has started
Pinelands Municipalities
56 municipalities are wholly or partly contained within the Pinelands National Reserve. Some of these municipalities have open space taxes, some do not. Some of these municipalities have environmental commissions that work with local elected officials to ensure that planning and development is done with preservation in mind, some have not. Click here for a table of Pinelands municipalities.
Endangered Birds
Be on the lookout, and be sure to report a sighting of any of the following endangered or threatened birds which have been listed as occuring within the Pinelands National Reserve.
| Bald Eagle | Peregrine Falcon |
| Northern Goshawk | Pied-billed Grebe |
| Northern Harrier | Cooper’s Hawk |
| Short-Eared Owl | Piping Plover |
| Upland Sandpiper | Black Skimmer |
| Vesper Sparrow | Least Tern |
| Roseate Tern | Bobolink |
| Red-Shouldered Hawk | Red Knot |
| Osprey | Barred Owl |
| Long-Eared Owl | Black Rail |
| Savanna Sparrow | Grasshopper Sparrow |
| Red-Headed Woodpecker |
Endangered Herps
Be on the lookout, and be sure to report a sighting of any of the following endangered or threatened reptiles and amphibians which may occur within the Pinelands National Reserve.
| TURTLES | FROGS | SNAKES | SALAMANDERS |
| Bog turtle | Cope’s gray tree frog | Corn snake | Eastern mud salamander |
| Wood Turtle | Pine Barrens tree frog | Northern pine snake | Eastern mud salamander |
| Timber rattlesnake | Eastern tiger salamander |
What's a Status? What's a Rank?
A Status is the condition of a plant or animal species under the law. Endangered Species are those whose prospects for survival in New Jersey are officially acknowledged by the state to be in immediate danger because of a loss or change in habitat, over-exploitation, predation, competition, disease, disturbance or contamination. Assistance is needed to prevent future extinction in New Jersey. Threatened Species are those who may become endangered if conditions surrounding them begin to or continue to deteriorate.
Rank, as used by the New Jersey Natural Heritage Program (part of an international network), is the relative standing, from a conservation perspective, of any of the elements of biodiversity (plants, animals, communities, or ecosystems) being monitored by that program. A state rank of S1 indicates “critically imperiled” in the state. A state rank of S5 indicates “demonstrably secure” in the state. A rank is not necessarily consistent with an official state status for an animal, since the two are assigned by separate processes.
For a full explanation of all rank and status codes, call the NJ Natural Heritage Program at 609-984-1015 or see www.natureserve.org/nhp/us/nj/ for more information.
Please contact Russell Juelg for more information.
How can you help threatened and Endangered species habitat?
Our state government has an official process whereby citizens may report the presence of Threatened and Endangered species. The process begins when a citizen recognizes a protected plant or animal by sight or, in the case of birds or frogs, by hearing a call distinctive of the species. It’s also possible, in many cases, to recognize the presence of an animal species by finding clear evidence in the way of “sign,” such as tracks.
Fifty-four plant species are protected under the NJ Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan, and perhaps a third of them are easily recognized. The rest can be recognized after a little study and with the help of some reference material. PPA has produced a public presentation, and will soon publish a booklet to help people learn to recognize these plants.
Approximately thirty-six Threatened or Endangered animal species may be encountered in the Pinelands: at least twenty-one birds, three snakes, two frogs, two turtles, two salamanders, one fish, one mammal, and four butterflies. Most of these creatures are either immediately recognizable or can be learned with a little study and field experience.
Once a citizen has recognized a protected species, he or she may fill out a Rare Species Reporting form and send it to the NJ Natural Heritage Program (NHP), or a Threatened and Endangered Species Report form, and send it to the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP). All reports of plants should go to the NHP, where Heritage staff review each report and determine its validity. Reports of animals may go to either agency, but in this case ENSP biologists make determinations.
The report forms are available from the websites of the two agencies. For the NHP form, call 609-292-9400 or go to: www.natureserve.org/nhp/us/nj/nhprptg.htm. For the ENSP report form, call 609-984-0097 or go to: www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/rprtform.htm . A citizen report of a protected species should be supported by plenty of detail, by photographs, if possible, and by a map showing exactly where to find the site. State biologists may need to visit the site to verify the report.
Not all reports of protected species are accepted. In the case of most birds, for example, state biologists are primarily concerned with nesting habitat. But, in any case, citizen participation in documenting protected species sightings can often make the difference between new inappropriate development and a protected wildlife community.
E-mail Russell Juelg PPA for more information.How to know when the development process has started.
The Pinelands has its own special process for government to review, change, and approve development. Understanding this process empowers citizens to participate early in the process - and influence the outcome.
Before an application for development in the Pinelands Protection Area gets to your local Planning Board, it must obtain a Certificate of Filing (CF) from the Pinelands Commission. A municipality or county cannot act on an application until the Pinelands Commission has issued a Certificate of Filing. Note that the CF just means the application is complete, not that the Pinelands Commission has approved the development!
Many land disturbance activities such as construction of a new home or commercial structure, subdivisions, the expansion of a commercial building, or a change in the use of a building are considered development, and they require an application to the Pinelands Commission. Other types of land use activities such as commercial woodcutting, sand and gravel mining, and the clearing of more than 1,500 square feet of land (except for farming) also require an application.
In some cases, as part of a completed application, the applicant is required to send certified letters to all landowners within 200 feet of the property to be developed and publish a legal notice in the municipality's official newspapers. This notice requirement applies to all applications for major development (subdivisions and commercial structures) and public development (road construction) proposals.
The official newspaper of the municipality is determined each year by the governing body and can be learned by placing a call to your municipal clerk. Each governing body designates at least two publications during the township's reorganization meeting.
Some early signs of activity on a piece of property include a "For Sale" sign going up or being taken down by a new owner. This might be followed by blue or pink ribbons appearing around trees, meaning that the property is being surveyed.
You can learn about applications for development before the notification process! You can monitor activity throughout the Pinelands region, or just in your municipality, by reviewing the Pinelands Commission's Project Status Report.
This biweekly report is on the Pinelands Commission web site at www.state.nj.us/pinelands. From there, click "Applicant Services" then "Reports and Statistics." You can view the biweekly status report in either ASCII text or Adobe format.
Applicants are listed in alphabetical order by county, then by municipality. Also listed are the block and lot numbers of the property, the number of units in the proposed development, the type of development being proposed, and the last action and date of activity by the Pinelands Commission.
If you want more information about the development being proposed, you can use the application number to make an appointment with the Pinelands Commission to review the file by calling 609-894-7300. Or use the application number to write to the Commission with any concerns you may have about the area.
If you have concerns, you can raise them at this stage with your local Planning Board or Zoning Board. That can be the best way to stop bad developments - or at least make changes for the better - early in the process!
If your Planning Board approves the application, the Pinelands Commission is required to function as an oversight agency, making sure that the development approval has been granted in accordance with the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) and the municipality's own certified ordinances.
Sometimes the oversight process has already begun at the same time the Pinelands Commission issues the CF. When the information submitted by the applicant does not meet the requirements of the CMP, the Commission will issue an "inconsistent" Certificate of Filing. In this case the Commission will outline for the applicant, municipal planning board, or environmental commission how the application is deficient.
But whether the CF is "consistent" or "inconsistent," the public still gets to raise its concerns with the Pinelands Commission during its review of any local approvals. The Commission frequently disapproves applications that had a "consistent" CF when new information comes to light - such as when residents submit information on threatened or endangered species on the property which the developer failed to report.
If any inconsistent items are not addressed as the application proceeds through the local process, or if citizens or government officials raise evidence of inconsistency with the CMP, the Pinelands Commission may "call-up" the local approval. That means the development will not be able to proceed without addressing inconsistencies with the CMP. If the application cannot be made consistent with the CMP, then the Commission can and should reject the development altogether.
An applicant must receive local approval and a "no call-up" letter from the Pinelands Commission before going on to get the other needed approvals. Such approvals may include County Planning Board approval, a water allocation permit, or sewer approval through the local municipal utilities authority.
The most important lesson is this: Bad projects are more likely to be rejected or changed by local boards or the Pinelands Commission, if valid issues—inconsistencies with the Pinelands rules—are raised early in the application process.
E-mail Theresa Lettman at theresa@pinelandsalliance.org or call PPA at (609) 859-8860 for more information.