Pinelands
A comprehensive plan protects unique ecology and allows compatible development
A patchwork of pine-oak forests, tea colored streams and rivers, spacious farms, crossroad hamlets and small towns, the Pinelands’ 1.1 million acres contains 56 municipalities in seven counties, 17 trillion gallons of some of the world’s cleanest water in aquifers and more than 35 threatened and endangered species in south central New Jersey.
Recognized as an important national and international environmental asset, state and federal legislation in the late 1970’s formed a partnership to preserve, protect and enhance the Pinelands’ special natural and cultural resources. In 1983, the US Man and the Biosphere Program and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the Pinelands as the first National Reserve in the US.
Information Sources
- NJ Pinelands Protection Act
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(1979) in partnership with the federal
government, established the country’s first National Reserve and the New Jersey
Pinelands Commission. - The New Jersey Pinelands Commission, aims to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural and cultural resources of the Pinelands National Reserve, and to encourage compatible and consistent economic and other human activities.
- The non-profit organization Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) aims to protect and preserve the resources of the New Jersey Pinelands through advocacy, landscape and habitat protection, communications and outreach.
- The New Jersey Pinelands Commission’s Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan, aims to maintain the area’s unique ecology and permit compatible development over 1.1 million acres in 56 municipalities in seven counties.
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