Pine Barrens and Pinelands are used interchangeably by some, but they each have different meanings. The Pine Barrens is an ecological term that is used to described habitats that are comprised of sandy nutrient poor soils, acidic water and soil and fire adapted plant communities.
The Pinelands is a political term that describes the 1.1 million acres in south Jersey that is subject to the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan. Learn more about what makes the Pine Barrens special and follow links under Our Work and Protect to learn more about the Pinelands.
The illustration below shows the boundaries of the “ecological” Pine Barrens in orange and purple and the “legal” boundaries of the protected Pinelands in green.
Howard Boyd map adapted to highlight the Pinelands (Green) and Pine Barrens (Orange-Purple).