Superb Op-Ed Explains The Fraudulent Campaign Now Underway In New Jersey
DEP Mismanaging NJ’s Forests
Laura Oltman has a superb Op-Ed in today’s NJ Spotlight. Frankly, I am quite surprised that NJ Spotlight agreed to publish it. Perhaps they are feeling some guilt for their biased coverage.
Laura does a fine job of writing to explain exactly what’s going on, a story we’ve been documenting and writing here for years now. Read the whole thing, which I reprint in full below without permission!
When clear-cutting masquerades as conservation
The forestry industry is greenwashing an initiative that claims logging is inherently beneficial to forests. Don’t fall for it
In a recent article by Colleen O’Dea regarding Sparta Mountain, Sharon Petzinger of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection described a forest management project on publicly owned land. It was initiated by New Jersey Audubon and the state DEP to create habitat for a single bird species, the golden winged warbler, by clear-cutting large areas of mature forest.
This project has proven to be highly controversial, not only over the debatable likelihood of such a project succeeding, but also over the decision to destroy the mature forest ecosystem, without regard to the needs of many other forest-dependent species in equal peril. It also ignores any of the benefits and ecosystem services this forest provides, such as carbon sequestration, flood control and clean water.
The article states that the project covers 10 acres. That does not describe the entire project, only the most recent “canopy opening,” to use the term from the management plan, which began in 2017 under the Christie administration and has continued under the Murphy administration. It will be carried out on 200 acres and was originally proposed to cover 700 acres. Although Gov. Murphy is using millions of dollars of federal funding to create urban and suburban forests, his DEP has continued to cut downmature highlands forests that were supposed to be preserved.
Unmanaged management plan
There is another problem with the “management plan” at Sparta Mountain and other publicly owned land. It is almost entirely unregulated by the DEP or any other agency of government. Forestry and logging are agricultural activities and thus exempt from a number of major pieces of legislation that otherwise protect the environment, such as the Highlands Act and the Flood Hazard Control Act. Instead of 300-foot stream buffers protecting C1 water from the encroachment of the heavy machinery removing vegetation and trees, there are no stream buffers required for logging operations. There are no protections for steep slopes, so stormwater runoff after removal of trees is allowed to pour unchecked into waterways below. There is no requirement that water quality not be degraded by logging operations. There is only an out-of-date manual of “best practices” that is merely suggestions and not regulations. It is unenforceable as well as being inadequate in comparison with the regulations from which logging is exempt.
Don’t be fooled that these types of “management” projects will only be used on Sparta Mountain and in limited and exceptional circumstances, such as habitat creation for rare species. There is pending legislation that would require forestry management plans for all publicly owned, forested lands over 25 acres in size. The forestry industry is selling logging as being inherently beneficial to forests by itself, without the need for some special project as justification. Industry, through the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has created a marketing campaign called the Young Forest Initiative to greenwash logging as a means to re-invigorate forests by cutting down most of the trees, with new growth being somehow better for every reason possible. The NJ DEP considers the ideas promoted by the Young Forest Initiative, as well as habitat restoration for single migratory species without regard for all native wildlife, to be a valid “conservation purpose” that is allowable on publicly owned land purchased with Green Acres funding.
No hearings, no notices needed
No public hearings or notices are required for approval of logging because it is all done under the rules for private property owners seeking tax abatement for agricultural use of their land. Voila! Under the soon-to-be-released New Jersey Forestry Task Force framework, all publicly owned land in the state is essentially available to the forestry industry to log for profit under the guise of a “conservation purpose.” I know this because I fought against exactly such a logging project that was allowed by the DEP and Green Acres at Roaring Rock Park in Washington Township, Warren County. The project would have ultimately allowed 395 publicly owned, wooded acres on steep slopes, bisected by a C1 stream, to be logged for profit for the benefit of the township coffers. This is the real controversy.
Not only has the Young Forest Initiative — which is the “science” being used to justify the Sparta Mountain management plan — had its claims regarding the carbon sequestration abilities of smaller trees refuted (according to the U.S. Department of Energy, it will take 151 young oaks to store the same amount of carbon as one 40-foot oak tree) when it is applied to New Jersey’s Highlands forests, it fails to account for the importance of mature hardwood trees to the food web and as shelter for a multitude of animal species. Young forests promoted by this initiative are under 20 years of age, which is at or below the age that the oaks, hickories and elms that dominate the mature forests of Sparta Mountain begin to bear fruit- acorns and nuts. These nuts provide a key fall food source rich in calories, carbohydrates and protein for many species, including ruffed grouse, wild turkey and black bear.
The Legislature must create actual regulations for management of New Jersey forests, with public notice, hearings and recourse. In the face of climate change and the governor’s declared goals for reducing carbon emissions, there is no reason to be clear-cutting acres and acres of mature trees in public forests. The reason Roaring Rock Park was ultimately saved was not because of the DEP. It was due to public pressure to stop. The people don’t want logging of their forested parks. It is as simple as that.