What are the Highlands?

The Highlands have been in the press a great deal in the last year, but what are they and why they are significant?

The New Jersey Highlands are part of the great green sweep of the Appalachians that shadow the East Coast from Georgia to Maine. The Highlands region stretches from eastern Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York to northwestern Connecticut, forming a vital linkage between the Berkshires and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Highlands form a greenbelt of forest and farmland around the New York metropolitan area and provide fresh air, natural areas and recreation opportunities for millions of residents of the greater New Jersey metropolitan area.

Over 1,300 square miles in the northwest part of the state noted for is scenic beauty and environmental significance, the Highlands stretch from Phillipsburg in the southwest to Ringwood in the northeast and lie within portions of seven counties (Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren), including 88 municipalities that are home for more than 750,000 people. The Highlands diverse natural communities are important statewide. With extensive forests, wetlands, rivers and streams, over 70 percent of the Highlands are environmentally sensitive while providing water supply for more than half of New Jersey's families—over 5.2 million people.

NJCF co-founded, led and supported the Highlands Coalition since 1988. Together with the Coalition, NJCF has led preservation and public policy initiatives to save the Highlands for over two decades.

To learn more about NJCF's policy and preservation efforts in the Highlands, please contact Ingrid Vandegaer, Highlands Regional Manager, at ingrid@njconservation.org or Wilma Frey, Highlands Project Manager, at wilma@njconservation.org. Or call 1-888-LAND-SAVE (1-888-526-3728).