“It is our privilege as service members to support the local communities who help make Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst’s ‘Win as One’ mission possible each and every day,” said U.S. Navy Capt. James Howell, Joint Base McGuire Dix-Lakehurst deputy commander and Naval Support Activity commander. “The REPI Challenge Project is a critical step to ensuring Joint Base operationality during times of increased wildfire risk, while also safeguarding those whom we protect and serve from the same threat. We applaud the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection for coordinating with the Department of Defense to better protect thousands of residents in the Manchester Township and empower us as stewards over these natural habitats.”
“Ocean County is a proud partner in this wildfire hazard mitigation project,” said Ocean County Commissioner Virginia E. Haines, liaison to the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation and the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust. “With everyone working together - Ocean County, the Department of Defense, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Forest Fire Service – we are now protecting 4,000 residents in the Roosevelt City section of Manchester Township.
“We have seen the devastation wildfires can cause and how quickly they spread. The action we took along with our partners to create this fuel-break should result in reduced wildfire risk,” Haines continued. “I want to commend our partners and the county staff for their diligence in working together so we can ensure the sustainability of the property’s native forest; reduce wildfire risk to the residents of Roosevelt City by creating a fuel-break; and to manage the forest with a consideration for wildlife.”
“Thanks to the financial support of the Department of Defense and collaboration with Ocean County, the Forest Fire Service has implemented a project that will protect people and property in Ocean and Burlington counties while also protecting firefighters,” said John Cecil, Assistant Commissioner for State Parks, Forests & Historic Sites. “In addition to the safety aspect this project affords through the creation of the fire break, the fuel break also helps to restore the forest to its more typical condition where trees have more growing room, and the underbrush is not excessively dense. These more natural conditions improve habitat for native plants to grow and wildlife to thrive, conditions that help to sustain species and protect the forest from damaging wildfire and excessive carbon loss.”
The other wildfire resilience projects funded through the REPI Challenge Program include the Warren Grove Firebreak (known as the Allen and Oswego Road Fire Mitigation and Habitat Restoration Project) in Bass River State Forest and the Greenwood Triangle Forest Fuels Maintenance Project, which is in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area.
Additional funding to complete the projects was provided by DEP ($364,000), the USDA Forest Service ($127,000 in State Fire Assistance and $64,000 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) and Ocean County ($107,000).
The New Jersey Forest Service and Forest Fire Service commenced work on the Warren Grove Firebreak during fall 2023. Since then, 13 miles of firebreak has been constructed along a strategic strip of land bordering Allen and Oswego roads, in Bass River Township, Burlington County, and in Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County. Forest thinning on 1,305 acres adjacent to Allen and Oswego roads will commence in mid-April to reduce combustible vegetation known as ladder fuels, and to improve wildlife habitat.
Ladder fuels are small trees and low vegetation beneath the forest canopy. Most large trees in the project area will remain, which will keep the canopy intact. Thinning allows for a healthier forest, reduces competition among trees and provides greater resource availability. Thinning also reduces the likelihood of a catastrophic wildfire burning through a forest.
The ongoing Greenwood Triangle Forest Fuels Maintenance Project in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area entails firebreak maintenance and underbrush removal to protect residents in Burlington and Ocean counties and to create safe conditions for firefighters during wildfire suppression efforts. The Greenwood Triangle Forest Fuels Maintenance Project also strategically connects with a Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst firebreak on federal property.
While REPI funding has assisted with the creation of fuel breaks and firebreaks, the Murphy Administration last year supplemented the Forest Fire Service’s FY24 budget with $3 million to enhance protection of lives and property through investments in new equipment and staff following the most active year in New Jersey for major wildfires in more than 20 years.
In 2023, the DEP’s Forest Fire Service responded to 1,193 wildfires which burned 18,043 acres across the Garden State. Fourteen of the fires were considered “major wildfires,” burning in excess of 100 acres.
“The importance of the partnership among federal, state and local governments to accomplish these resilience projects cannot be understated,” said Greg McLaughlin, Administrator for Forests and Natural Lands. “Not only will these projects provide protection to homes and military installations, they will also provide a safe place for firefighters to work in the event of a wildfire.”
To learn more about wildfires in New Jersey, steps to protect property and other resources, visit www.njwildfire.org
Like the Forest Fire Service’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NJForestFireService/
Follow the Forest Fire Service on X (formerly Twitter) @njdepforestfire and Instagram @newjerseyforestfire
Follow Commissioner LaTourette on Twitter and Instagram @shawnlatur and follow the DEP on Twitter @NewJerseyDEP, Facebook @newjerseydep, Instagram @nj.dep and LinkedIn @newjerseydep
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