Archive for November 2023
A message of hope for Earth’s future
By Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director It’s easy to feel discouraged as we face the enormity of climate change and the mounting extinctions of plant and animal species. We may wonder: What can one person possibly do to help avert this unfolding catastrophe? Douglas Tallamy has a powerful message: Don’t give up, because every single person…
Read MoreDon’t cut funds for saving open space and farmland!
By Tom Gilbert, Co-Executive Director Four years ago, residents of rural Warren County were shocked when a Pennsylvania developer announced plans to build 2.8 million square feet of warehouses on 600 acres of prime farmland in White Township. From the local viewpoint, nothing about the Jaindl Land Co. plan made sense. High quality soils for…
Read MoreProtecting the wetlands that help protect New Jersey
By Alison Mitchell, Co-Executive Director For the past 20 years, a New Jersey organization not widely known among the general public has been making a big environmental impact through dozens of projects aimed at restoring and enhancing the state’s wetlands – ecosystems that are critical allies in the global fight against climate change. The New…
Read More‘Rematriations’ return Native Americans to their land
By Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director It goes almost without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – that all the land in New Jersey once belonged to the Indigenous people who lived here for millennia before European colonization. After 400 years of wars, treaties, forced removals and migrations, and unfair government policies, little land in…
Read MoreNJ hits milestone: 250,000 acres of farmland preserved!
By Tom Gilbert, Co-Executive Director For a small state, New Jersey is a big producer of fruits and vegetables. We earn our “Garden State” nickname by ranking in the top 10 nationally for many crops, including eggplant, tomatoes, cranberries, spinach, bell peppers, asparagus, squash, peaches, cucumbers, blueberries, and sweet corn. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that…
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