Archive for February 2026

By Alison Mitchell, Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation Is New Jersey getting windier? It’s something you may have read about recently or asked yourself if you spend a lot of time outdoors.  It’s more than an academic question or a challenge for badminton players and golfers and figuring out the answer is more complex…

By Alison Mitchell, Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation Every winter, New Jersey’s fields, marshes, and reservoirs host a familiar cast of large waterfowl. Resident Canada geese are joined by populations from farther north, along with hundreds of thousands of snow geese with their stark, high-contrast black and white plumage. In recent years, something unexpected…

By Alison Mitchell, Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation In winter weather, maintenance crews diligently work to clear roadways, while residents and businesses tackle walkways and parking areas. This usually includes applying a lot of salt. When something is cheap and plentiful, we tend to be careless about how much we use.  While rock salt…