What's in this issue? What lives in your stream? Why preserving farmland matters and how it works.
Additionally we share an important issue from our friends at Pinelands Preservation Alliance.
What Lives in Your Stream?
Stream Monitoring in Raccoon and Oldmans Creeks
By Jody Carrara
All of us living in South Jersey want our waterways to be clean and healthy. Keeping track of the condition of streams, rivers, and lakes in our area is a major program of the South Jersey Land & Water Trust. One way this is done is by developing management plans for individual streams and their watersheds. A watershed is an area or region drained by a river, river system, or other body of water. You live in a watershed where the rainfall flows over the land to the nearest stream or river. SJLWT staff will be developing management plans for the Oldmans and Raccoon Creek watersheds in 2025, in partnership with Rutgers University, with funding from a USEPA pass-through grant issued under section 319(h) of the Federal Clean Water Act.
This management planning entails identifying those land areas that may need a stream buffer or forest planted, a rain garden installed, or other green infrastructure to help restore water quality to impaired stream segments. Natural streams are generally surrounded by a meadow or a forest in South Jersey. When this habitat is missing, pollution of the stream may occur.
So besides looking at maps of development and open lands, how do we find out which stream segments may be impaired? Answer: We find out who lives in the stream. We wade through the streams with nets and collecting equipment and capture the critters that live in the stream. Taking a closer look with magnifying glasses and identifying and separating critters into categories gives us a really good idea of the water quality in that stream reach. I know what you are thinking....so the kind of fish that live in a stream tells us how clean it is? In part that is true, but the main indicator of stream health developed by scientists and used at the federal and state levels is identification of bugs or macroinvertebrates that live in streams. In South Jersey, we use the Coastal Plain Macroinvertebrate Index to identify the bugs. The types of macroinvertebrates that live in our streams differ from those in North Jersey because of different substrates, depth, water velocity, and habitat in the streams.
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are insects in their nymph and larval stages, such as dragonflies, stoneflies, craneflies, midges, caddisflies, mayflies, and also beetles, clams, snails, mussels, worms and even crayfish. Macroinvertebrates are used as an indicator of water quality because of their sensitivity to pollution and ease of collecting. We do capture an occasional fish, and all creatures are identified and put back in the stream after assessing them.
It is exceptionally rewarding to go out on a warm day in Spring and count how many types of bugs you can find and how many of each genus. We don’t identify each bug by name as in “we found five Green Darners.” We can only say “we found five dragonflies.” In New Jersey, there are 183 species of dragonflies and all grow up in streams, lakes, and rivers, so the genus identification is sufficient. The number of individuals from each genus indicates the health of a stream as excellent, good, fair, or poor. The organisms require differing water quality to survive. Some, like worms, seem to live in any kind of
water while others, like mayflies, require clean water and ample food supply. It is really exciting to find crayfish....beautiful creatures that can grow to six inches and give you a good pinch!
Staff at the SJLWT will go out each Spring to assess water quality of the Raccoon and Oldmans Creek through macroinvertebrate collection and use that information to develop management plans for the creeks, in conjunction with Rutgers University scientists. You too can participate in a monitoring program and learn how to protect our streams. It is a relatively easy and fun way to learn about your South Jersey waterways and ecosystems. To volunteer, contact SJLWT’s Program Manager, Sam Marandola at smarandola@sjlandwater.org
For more information go to the NJDEP Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Monitoring at: NJDEP-DWMS, Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Monitoring
Preserving Farmland
By Suzanne McCarthy
Many people enjoy living in South Jersey because they like seeing farms as well as forests, and love the fresh vegetables and fruit from farmstands. Farms are an important part of our landscape and they are certainly essential to our food supply. Many residents dislike seeing farm fields converted to housing developments or warehouses and don’t want to see their community becoming fully built out.
Part of the mission of South Jersey Land & Water Trust (SJLWT) is to preserve farmland as well as open space, although the goals of the two programs differ somewhat. Protection of habitat is important to both, but a major focus of farmland preservation is to protect farmers and the farming industry, as well as farmland itself. The funding for farmland preservation also differs from that for open space acquisitions. It comes from the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC), rather than from Green Acres, along with funds from County and local programs, although preservation funding behind all these sources is from business and individual tax revenues.
It’s easier to farm if the farmland is part of a large cluster of farms, rather than being an isolated farm surrounded by housing or businesses. Moving slow equipment, fertilizing the land, the smells of livestock, and noise and dust that spark neighbor complaints are all more accepted within a farming community with contiguous farms. It’s also more likely that businesses that serve farmers, such as equipment dealers, seed and fertilizer suppliers, and crop storage and sales facilities, will be in close proximity if there are enough farms to support them.
The soils of New Jersey, especially outside the Pine Barrens area, are rich, as is the fact that New Jersey receives about 44 inches of rain per year. These geographic features led to New Jersey’s productivity and to its nickname as “the Garden State.” However, these qualities make farmland attractive for development too because there’s no need for tree removal and because the soils are better for establishing septic systems. Plus, successful farming is difficult and labor-intensive, so it’s not always very profitable, which can lead farmers to sell off their land. This is especially true if no one in the family wants to continue farming or if the farmer is trying to fund a reasonable retirement.
To maintain the farming industry, it is essential to keep land in farming and to support farmers. Preserving farmland differs from open space preservation in that the ownership of the farm remains with the existing owners and only the development rights are severed, meaning that the farm can never be developed. This enables the farm owner to reinvest in the farm business, to pay off debt, to acquire additional land, or to fund a retirement plan. The land will remain a farm, which is a legacy of importance to many farm owners.
The price of the development rights is computed through two independent appraisals that are reviewed by the State, who then determine the value of the development easement. If the farmer wishes to sell the farm once it is preserved, it will be sold without the potential for development, and will be maintained in farming in perpetuity. Hopefully, another farmer, perhaps a younger one, may then be able to afford to buy the farm at its lower land cost.
The development rights are a form of “easement,” which is held by the state, a county or a non-profit entity. The easement holder is responsible for monitoring the farm annually to make sure it is still operating as a farm and is conforming to state rules.
SJLWT holds two farmland easements in Salem County but most of its farmland work is to help farmers preserve their farms using State, County and local money, with the easements held primarily by the County. SJLWT has served as the farmland coordinator for Woolwich Township and, currently, for Franklin Township, both in Gloucester County. In summary, 301 acres on 6 farms in Woolwich were preserved and 262 acres on 6 farms in Franklin have been protected to date, with more to come. SJLWT has helped protect 15 farms over all, totaling 785 acres of farmland. If we want farming to thrive in New Jersey we can all help by buying from local farms, purchasing Jersey Fresh products, visiting farm mazes and other recreational activities on farms, pressing our towns to zone for development in the right areas, and, of course, contributing to land preservation efforts.
Protect the Black Run Preserve
By our friends at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance
The Black Run Preserve in Evesham Township is a critical headwater area for the southwest branch of the Rancocas Creek. It provides wildlife habitat and is a recreational resource for many thousands of people. The Black Run is at risk of being devastated by development that will bulldoze the headwater forests of the watershed and replace them with hundreds of McMansions. The clean waters, fresh air, quiet spaces, and especially the native wildlife that call the preserve home could be lost forever.
The state Pinelands Commission could rezone these critical lands as “Pinelands Forest Area” which would prevent the destruction of hundreds of acres of forest and the pollution of the watershed. But Pinelands Commission Executive Director, Susan Grogan, has not yet sent the rule proposal to the Governor's Office, which is the next critical step in the process.
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