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 Monmouth County Environmental Newsletter:
August 2017
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ANJEC-TURNING DATA INTO ACTION
The Association for New Jersey
Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) will host a workshop to discuss how to protect the Navesink River on Monday, September 18 from 6:30p.m. to 8:30p.m. The Keynote speaker will be Dr. Christopher Obropta, of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program.
The workshop will focus on ensuring that new development is consistent with stormwater regulations. Checklists for site plan applications will be
reviewed, as well as training using the "Asking
Right Questions in Storm Water E-Tool". Attendees will also learn to take
data from collection tools and implement changes. The workshop is targeted towards municipal staff, officials, planning board/environmental commission members, and interested public.
Participants will be offered a light dinner and refreshments. Registration is required by September 12 and a $20 registration fee will be asked of those who are not a part of the ANJEC Workshop Plan. Please contact info@anjec.org or
call 973-539-7547 with any questions or concerns, or visit the link below for more details.
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 On June 10, Freeholder Serena DiMaso, Esq., joined volunteers and members of the Monmouth County Environmental Council (MCEC), the Middletown Township Environmental Commission, Friends of the Monmouth County Parks, Bayshore Regional Watershed Council who planted approximately 100 secondary dune plants at the County's Bayshore Waterfront Park in Port Monmouth. Funds awarded to MCEC through a $1500 ANJEC Open-Space Stewardship Grant purchased northern bayberry and beach plum for planting on secondary dunes along he Raritan Bay. MCEC Chairman Mike Fedosh, Vice-Chair Wilma Morrissey, and members France Karras and Jennifer DiLorenzo led the volunteer work team.
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 The plants were added to the existing dunes to aid in trapping fluvial sand and provide shorebird habitat. This area is a critical stopover location for migrating shorebirds and a prime foraging habitat during the breeding season for egrets, ring-necked pheasants, and other wildfowl.
Bayshore Waterfront Park is a popular spot for birding, fishing, boating, and nature programs; it attracts nearly 200,000 visitors annually. The dunes were previously reconstructed and planted with dunegrass by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of a coastal resiliency effort following Superstorm Sandy.
The MCEC thanks their partners and all volunteers!
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NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife Offers New Outdoor-Recreation Skills Program for Women and Families
 New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has opened
registration for new programs designed to teach outdoor skills to women
and families. This program is a great way to engage those who are not familiar
with the outdoors. The program offers free or low-cost opportunities to attend
workshops of different types, in many different spaces. The Division hopes these Outdoor Women of New Jersey and Outdoor
Families of New Jersey workshops will follow the previous success of the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program.
The Sedge
Island Sampler workshop will allow participants to try fishing, crabbing,
and clamming as well as kayaking, nature journaling, and searching for
diamondback terrapins. This workshop will be held in August on Sedge Island,
located off the shore of Island Beach State Park in Barnegat Bay. Future events will include free fishing, birding and outdoor survival skills workshops, to be offered
in September at the Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery in Warren County. A December
program will offer the public a chance to hunt waterfowl overnight at Sedge
Island.
Reservations will be on a first come, first served basis. For more information, or to register, visit www.njfishandwildlife.com/njoutdoors.html or contact (609) 259-6961 or email Michelle.Smith@dep.nj.gov
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NOAA Launches Green Infrastructure Effectiveness Database
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Green Infrastructure Effectiveness Database is designed for local decision makers wishing to understand how to effectively use nature-based practices to protect people, property, and infrastructure from coastal storms and sea level rise. This online, searchable source of peer-reviewed journal articles, online tools, and gray literature includes information on 32 different coastal green infrastructure types referencing approaches to coastal management including natural, nature-based, structural, and policies.
Interested parties should view the web link below to learn more about the database and how utilize it to increase community resiliency. Once on the webpage, use the "Related Resources" tab on the right to explore different training modules, including the "Coastal & Waterfront Smart Growth" webpage, pictured below.
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New Jersey Aims to Cut Food Waste in Half by 2030
After unanimous support in the State Assembly and Senate, Governor Christie signed a bill S-3027 into law in July to establish a food waste reduction goal of 50 percent by 2030. This law corresponds with a national goal jointly set in 2015 by the Administrator of the USA EPA and the Secretary of the US Dept. of Agriculture to also reduce food waste by 50 percent nationwide in the same timeframe.
The New Jersey law now requires the NJDEP and NJ Dept. of Agricutlure to develop a joint plan within the next year to accomplish this goal. The plan will require public meetings and consultation from stakeholders around the State, and may also include recommendations for administrative or legislative action to further progress towards the food waste reduction goal.
Food waste is a serious problem in New Jersey and across the United States. The enacted law notes a Harvard study finding 40 percent of the national food supply goes uneaten, while many people go hungry. Other findings from the USEPA and USDA stress food loss and waste is the single largest component of disposed municipal solid waste in the country, which fills landfills and degrades into methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.
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UCS Anticipates 4 Monmouth County Municipalities to Experience "chronic inundation" by 2035
A nationwide study recently authored by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) identified 21 New Jersey municipalities, including five in Monmouth County, which are expected to face chronic inundation within 20 years. For purposes of the study, "chronic inundation" is defined as high-tide flooding covering at least 10% of a municipality's usable land, occurring at least 26 times per year--an average of once every two weeks--as a result of sea level rise.
Under the report's "Intermediate Sea Level Rise" scenario, Highlands, Manasquan, Monmouth Beach, and Sea Bright would experience this chronic high-tide flooding by 2035. Oceanport and Union Beach would join this designation by 2060; Avon-by-the-Sea and Little Silver by 2080; followed by Long Branch and Sea Girt by 2100. This study focused on chronic flooding due to high tides; other municipalities may be affected by storm surges of varying degree at any time during storm season.
Since being founded in 1969 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the UCS has "combined the knowledge and influence of the scientific community with the passion of concerned citizens to build a healthy planet and a safer world."
View the UCS's interactive StoryMap, linked below, to learn more about the study.
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About This Newsletter
The purpose of the newsletter is to inform Monmouth County citizens on the health of their environment and list environmental outreach events in their community. The newsletter is produced by the Monmouth County Division of Planning Section of Environmental & Sustainability Planning in coordination with the Monmouth County Environmental Council. The County of Monmouth and the Board of Chosen Freeholders do not necessarily share the viewpoints of any environmental group mentioned in this newsletter.
If you have questions, comments, or wish to have an event listed in the newsletter, please contact: Kyle Clonan Kyle.Clonan@co.monmouth.nj.us
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