eNews for September 2011 from Great Swamp Watershed Association

GSWA's eNewsletter for September 2011 is out! Check out our stories on Hurricane Irene and the damage it caused at our Conservation Management Area and the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.  And, don't miss announcements for all of our upcoming Fall 2011 public events!  We've got talks, movies, hikes and workshops planned for the season that you will not want to miss.  Click the short link below to read more:

Across The Watershed...In Brief for September 2011: http://tinyurl.com/3fd5snk

 

 

Breakfast Briefing Talk on September 13, 2011: Vegetation & Deer Management at Jockey Hollow

Summer is past and that means it's time for GSWA's Breakfast Briefing Series to resume. This is your once-a-month chance to catch up on current environmental issues before work.  Join us at 8:00 a.m. in our Tempe Wick Road offices for a continental breakfast and a presentation delivered by one of our special guest speakers.  (Presentations conclude at 9:30 a.m.)

Check out our first program on Tuesday, September 13, starting.  To register, visit www.greatswamp.org and click on Event Registration.

Vegetation & Deer Management At Jockey Hollow
Tuesday, September 13, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Special guest Jill Hawk, Superintendent of Morristown National Historical Park, stops by to tell us more about the public scoping process that will help the National Park Service draft a Vegetation and White-tailed Deer Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (plan/EIS) for Jockey Hollow.  The plan/EIS will address issues associated with proliferation of non-native invasive plants, the effects of white-tailed deer overpopulation, and the loss of key aspects of the park's landscape.

Register: Please register online at www.greatswamp.org or call 973-538-3500 x22 for more information.

Location: GSWA Offices, 568 Tempe Wick Road, Morristown, NJ

Cost: Free for members and member families. $10/non-member adult, $5 for non-member children (6-17 yrs.), $30/non-member family.

Upcoming Breakfast Briefings:

Dealing with Deer In Our Region (with Emile DeVito, NJCF)
Tuesday, October 11, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Fracking: What You Need To Know About Hydraulic Fracturing For Natural Gas
Tuesday, November 15, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

GSWA Educatio & Outreach Director Hazel England

Lorraine Ash of The Daily Record profiles GSWA's Director of Education & Outreach Hazel England.  The two talk deer, native plants, land-use and other local biodiversity in the following article published on Wednesday. Check it out!

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110901/GRASSROOTS/309010002/Biodiversity-isn-t-just-rain-forest

Enviro Hotspot Update: GSWA Weighs In On Organic Farm in Chatham Twp.; Changes In Store For Honeywell Development in Morris Twp.

We bring you two updates today on environmental hotspots in the Great Swamp Watershed.

First, GSWA representatives weigh in on the safety of organic farming in Chatham Township, NJ. Check out this article in Chatham Patch for what they had to say:

http://chatham.patch.com/articles/while-bacteria-exists-experts-say-irrigation-is-ok

Next, we bring you a story from The Daily Record about revisions made to the Honeywell corporation's plans for its worldwide headquaters development in Morris Township, NJ.  The new plan seeks to address a number of citizen concerns. Read more:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110810/NJNEWS/308100022/Honeywell-downsizes-its-plans-Morris-Township-site-drops-plan-hotel?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Thanks for keeping up to date with GSWA!

Help GSWA Win $10,000. Vote For This Photo!

Got Box Turtle?

Photographer: Ari Kaufman, June 2011

Vote for Great Swamp Watershed Association's submission to Cvent's photo contest and help us win $10,000 for our environmental programs. This shot was taken by volunteer photographer Ari Kaufman on the second day of GSWA's 2011 BioBlitz at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (June 18, 2011). In addition to collecting scientific data, this year's BioBlitz focused on educating children about the local environment, especially the great variety of wildlife found in the Great Swamp watershed. A few days following the event, the father of one of our young participant wrote to us to say, “[You] made my son feel special. This event changed his life." We cannot imagine a better compliment than that.

Help us continue this legacy for many years to come. Vote for this photo once a day from August 9 through August 22!

Click here to vote with your Facebook account:

http://apps.facebook.com/cvent-contest/contests/132650/voteable_entries/27550304

eNews for August 2011 from Great Swamp Watershed Association

Check out what's up in The Great Swamp! Read @GSWA's e-Newsletter for July at http://p0.vresp.com/4faxfg.

Topics include: 

• A Hot Hike at the CMA - New Trails!
• Summer Event Reminder 
• Victory At Primrose Estate - Open Space Preserved
• Comment on Local Deer Population
• 30th Anniversary Gala
• Help Your Neighbors In August - Volunteer Event
• Comings & Goings
• Welcome New Members!
• Did You Know? - All About Box Turtles

Sign up to receive our monthly e-Newsletter and other communications from the Great Swamp Watershed Association via email. Just complete the sign-up form on our home page located at www.greatswamp.org.

 

Victory at Primrose Farm Estate!

Harding Township Committee Votes In Favor Of Open Space

Thanks to the dedication a few local citizens, Harding Land Trust will now be the proud owner of 45 acres of prime open space.  About 100 residents turned out Wednesday evening, July 13, for a Township Committee meeting where committee members determined the fate of environmentally sensitive land at Harding’s Primrose Farm Estate.  Thanks to the concerted efforts of groups like the Great Swamp Watershed Association, Harding Land Trust and The Trust for Public Land, most of those in attendance spoke out in favor of sparing the Estate from the developers’ bulldozers.

Although Committee members voted unanimously to keep 45 acres of Primrose Farm undeveloped and open for public recreation, final decision-making on the issue appeared to be close.  Weeks of uncertainty and speculation about the Township’s ultimate intentions for the property lead a number of stakeholders to rally supporters on behalf of the open space plan.  Harding Land Trust generated a petition in support of the project that garnered the names of more than 180 local residents.  GSWA distributed information outlining the property’s intrinsic value as a location for undisturbed wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation and encouraged attendance at the meeting to show support for the preservation.

Our profound thanks go out to all those who stood up for open space and the environment on July 13.  Without your unwavering commitment to the Primrose plan, 13 new ”McMansions” would be ready for construction and the single largest and most-naturally-diverse piece of outdoor space left inside Harding Township would be no more.  What a fantastic victory for those who would protect Great Swamp from the hazards of overdevelopment!

Unfortunately, the fight is not over.  The 45 acres of land Harding Township has agreed to keep undeveloped covers less than half of the entire 122-acre Primrose Farm Estate.  Another 77 acres still needs protection and still needs our help.  Protection for that acreage has yet to be ratified under Phase II of the Primrose Open Space Plan, and completion of that plan remains contingent on receipt of additional open space funding from Morris County and Harding Township.  GSWA will be participating in this phase of the preservation through a Green Acres application for $200,000.   We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed as work on Primrose Phase II progresses.

 

Sincerely,

Sally S. Rubin
Executive Director
Great Swamp Watershed Association