Hackensack Meadowlands
A fascinating combination of major urban building projects, redevelopment and wetlands protection
A major wetlands complex and former home of primary NJ landfills, the Hackensack Meadowlands cover 30 square miles with 8,400 acres of open space waterways and wetlands in 14 municipalities in Hudson and Bergen counties. Under state legislation, the NJ Meadowlands Commission has been addressing the area’s environmental protection, economic development and solid waste management since 1969.
Information Sources
- The Hackensack Meadowlands Commission aims to aid municipalities, improve environmental stewardship, jumpstart economic success with one eye on eco-tourism and make the Commission’s special services more effective.
- The 2004 Master Plan commits the Hackensack Meadowlands Commission to serve as trustee of the Meadowlands’ natural resources and to foster a sustainable regional economy with an overall vision of a regreened Meadowlands and a revitalized urban landscape.
- Hackensack Riverkeeper aims to protect and defend the environmental quality of the eco-system of the estuary, river and watershed and the quality of life for the people and other creatures that inhabit the Hackensack River watershed through environmental advocacy, education and conservation programs.
- In 1999, the New Jersey legislature established the Meadowlands Conservation Trust to acquire land through fee simple acquisition or conservation easements and to permanently preserve wetlands, waterways, and open space in the Hackensack River Watershed.
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