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The Highlands Region, Landscape Planning to Protect Vital Water And 4 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service The Service’s Role in the Highlands In 1993, the New Jersey Field Office In 1997, the Service’s Coastal Program The Highlands support extensive federal and the New Jersey Endangered and produced a landmark report entitled trust resources under U.S. Fish and Nongame Species program documented Significant Habitat Complexes of the The Highlands Region Wildlife Service (Service) jurisdiction, the endangered Indiana bat in New New York Bight Watershed that includes including migratory birds, two National Jersey’s Highlands at a time when the a detailed description of the wildlife Wildlife Refuges, and six federally listed species was believed to be extirpated resources of the Highlands Region. Landscape Planning to Protect species in New Jersey alone. Service from the State. Subsequently, the The Service’s Division of Migratory involvement in the Highlands is also Service has worked with the Endangered Birds participates in several bird Vital Water and Wildlife consistent with regional and national and Nongame Species program and conservation initiatives that have priorities including water supply and other partners to install a conservation identified unfragmented forests such as Resources delivery, restoration, landscape-level gate at one of the Indiana bat’s winter those of the Highlands as essential to the planning, and partnerships. hibernation sites, and to identify the conservation of long-distance migratory bat’s maternity habitat. To date at least songbirds in the Northeast. seven maternity colonies have been documented, all located at least partially The Service is building on past in the Highlands. Additionally, the New conservation work in the Highlands Jersey Field Office’s Adopt-a-Swamp- through: administration of the federal Pink Population program includes sites Highlands Conservation Act; review in the Highlands where volunteers are of the State Highlands Master Plan; monitoring this threatened plant. USFWS technical assistance to the State Bog turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergii) Highlands Council; implementation of conservation tasks for federally In the 1990s, the Service’s New Jersey listed species, species of concern, and Field Office provided support for migratory birds; and continued habitat conservation initiatives at localized areas restoration projects through the Partners of the Highlands including Beaver Brook, program. The Service is also building Mount Hope Bog, Farney Highlands, and and strengthening partnerships for Sterling Forest. Since 1994, the Service’s conservation of the Highlands. Panoramic view looking south from Wildcat Ridge, Rockaway Township, Morris County, New Jersey Photo: Clifford G. Day / USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife (Partners) program and its partners have carried out 46 projects in New Jersey’s Highlands to What is the Highlands Region? restore 575 acres of uplands, 215 acres Approximately 5,500 square miles in size, the Photo Dr. J. Scott Altenbachr Photo Dr. State Boundaries of wetlands, and 16 miles of riparian four-state (Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, habitat. In one Partners project, through Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and Pennsylvania) Highlands Region is a rugged Federal Highlands Region the Bring Back the Natives initiative, corridor of forested ridges and valleys, wetlands, New Jersey Highlands Region portions of Beaver Brook were restored U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and grasslands located on the western edge of a in Morris County. Since 1997, the Bring Back The Natives coastal metropolis that extends from Hartford, Planning Area U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Ecological Services New Jersey Field Office Spawning Partnerships in New Jersey Service has reviewed over 1,200 project 927 N. Main St., Bldg. D Connecticut through New York City to Philadelphia. Pleasantville, NJ 08232 Preservation Area [email protected] e-mail proposals in the New Jersey Highlands 609/646 9310 This publication emphasizes the New Jersey portion 609/646 0352 Fax Federal Relay Service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing 1 800/877 8339 http://njfieldoffice.fws.gov web site and made recommendations to protect June 2003 of the Highlands Region, which is about 1,250 fish and wildlife resources. square miles and covers parts of 88 municipalities in ntinalis) elinus fo trout (Salv Brook 7 counties. ) USFWS Alosa pseudoharengus Goals Alewife ( Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) The Highlands Region is distinguished by ancient The goals of the BBN program are to: ) is ) al (1) restore aquatic species to their iv st Perca flavescens ae historic range; a Yellow perch ( os and complex geology that includes the oldest rocks l (A (2) improve and enhance aquatic and g rin er riparian habitats to support native fish k h Artwork: USFWS/Duane Raver ac eb species; lu B (3) restore the health of aquatic in New Jersey, formed by volcanic activity as much systems to benefit native species in the Nation’s waters and watersheds; and How to Establish a (4) develop conservation partnerships between federal and non-federal Project as 1.3 billion years ago. These hard, crystalline entities for restoration of aquatic Introduction systems. Proposed projects are evaluated for restoration potential, available rocks are resistant to erosion and form a hilly, Bring Back the Natives (BBN) is matching funds, and the program’s a cooperative effort between the Areas in Need of goals and guidelines. The Service National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Restoration will help develop and submit grant northeast-southwest-trending upland rising above (Foundation), U.S. Fish & Wildlife proposals for qualifying projects, but Service (Service), Bureau of Land Areas with the highest restoration projects selected by the Foundation Management, USDA Forest Service, potential in New Jersey include: must match or exceed federal funding Bureau of Reclamation, and Trout waterways with dams or spillways with non-federal contributions. the surrounding terrain to elevations of 600 to 1,200 Unlimited to restore native aquatic currently impeding migratory fish Matching funds can be monetary species and their habitats through passage; fish nursery areas; grazed contributions or in-kind services such local and regional partnerships. The and urban riparian areas; native trout as labor, machinery, or materials. If U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service feet. Within interspersed belts of softer, sedimentary Service’s New Jersey Field Office streams; State reservoirs; and the Foundation selects the project, (NJFO) implements this program previously disturbed waterways the Service will administer the grant throughout New Jersey. Under BBN, supporting native fish species. and provide technical assistance. The New Jersey Field Office the Foundation matches federally However, any project meeting the Foundation accepts BBN project rock, major streams—including headwaters of the funded challenge grants with program’s goals and guidelines is proposals on a continuing basis. 927 North Main Street, Building D contributions from private foundations, eligible. In addition to native fish If you are interested in BBN or for corporations, individuals, state and species, BBN provides the opportunity additional information please note the Passaic, Raritan, Wallkill, and Hudson Rivers—have local governments, and non-profit to restore habitat for native mussel, contact information at the top of this Pleasantville, New Jersey 08232 organizations for conservation projects. invertebrate, and amphibian species. page. formed long, steep-sided, parallel valleys. The P: 609/646 9310 Highlands Region is bisected from east to west by 0 25 50 Miles F: 609/646 0352 Fax the southern limit of the most recent (Wisconsin) E: [email protected] W: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/njfieldoffice glacial advance, along a line roughly followed Topographic relief map Federal Relay Service for the deaf and by Interstate Route 80. The northern half of the from U.S. Geologic Survey hard-of-hearing 1 800/877 8339 Robert W. Hines / USFWS Robert W. On the internet at Highlands is overlain by glacial deposits left when Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) http://www.fws.gov/northeast/ the ice retreated approximately 10,000 years ago. njfieldoffice/Partners/Partners.htm October 2006 2 3 Threats to the Highlands Laws Protecting the Highlands New Jersey’s Highlands Region into Highlands Resources The New York and New Jersey portions of The vital resources of the Highlands The Highlands Region received federal Preservation and Planning Areas. Stricter New Jersey’s Highlands provide an the Highlands support at least 150 species of are at risk. The crystalline rocks that recognition with the issuance of major environmental regulations were adopted essential source of clean and plentiful breeding birds, 45 species (a high diversity) Federally Listed Species in transmit drinking water are poor filters studies by the U.S. Forest Service in 1992 for the Preservation Area in June 2005, drinking water for one-half of the State’s of reptiles and amphibians, and 40 species of New Jersey’s Highlands of pollution, making both ground and and 2002. In 2004, Congress passed the including requirements for 300-foot population from only 13 percent of the mammals. The Highlands harbor important surface water supplies vulnerable to Highlands Conservation Act (P.L. 108- buffers along open waters and limits State’s land area. Over 10 percent of the populations of bats and regional strongholds Endangered degradation. As watersheds become 241), “to recognize the importance of on impervious surface, upland
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