While Earth Day is Thursday, April 22, the American Littoral Society will mark the occasion with a series of events on and around that date in New York and New Jersey.
 
Events will range from a beach cleanup in Howard Beach, NY to a dune grass planting on Reeds Beach, near Cape May, NJ., as well as several sites in between.
 
Many of these events will involve volunteers and all will be outdoors. However, due to Covid restrictions in NJ and NY, group sizes are limited. In order to ensure our compliance with state restrictions, we are asking attendees to register online for in-person events.
 
Littoral Society staff and volunteers will follow all state-mandated COVID-19 safety protocols and ask that all volunteers wear a mask, keep six feet distance from other volunteers, and to please stay home if you or someone you have been in contact with are sick. Society staff reserves the right to ask volunteers who are not following these guidelines to leave immediately.

Click the Read More link to find our Earth Day events.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking input from conservation groups, farmers, forest owners, and others on climate-smart agriculture and forestry strategy through an executive order that could impact many USDA programs, including the programs that support Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI) projects and other water quality work. 

The American Littoral Society is a partner in the DRWI, which unites more than fifty organizations and countless landowners working to protect forests and farms, clean up streams, and make our cities and suburbs greener. From the New Jersey Highlands to the Pine Barrens, Pennsylvania farm country to Philadelphia and the bay, the Delaware River Watershed Initiative is bringing people together to ensure swimmable, fishable, drinkable water for years to come.

Comments are open until April 29. Click here for more information.

The remote beaches of New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore are loved by wildlife and people humans. But human presence and activity on these beaches can scare migratory birds, disrupting feeding during their long flights to Artic breeding grounds.
 
As a result, from May 7 to June 7, several beaches along the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay have restricted access during the day to allow for birds to forage with minimal disturbance from humans.
 
Trained Shorebird Stewards are stationed at each beach to inform the public about the incredible journey migratory shorebirds make every year and the importance of restricted access beaches.

However, you don’t need to be trained or volunteer your time at a Delaware Bay beach in order to be a good steward for shorebirds. You just need to understand how they fit into the ecosystem and follow a few common sense rules.

In the beginning of February, NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed into law several pieces of legislation that advance important climate change adaptation policies and measures. Those included new directives on municipal land use and additional funding for the Blue Acres program.
 
The Littoral Society led efforts to increase money dedicated to blue acres, which is intended to reduce the number of buildings in flood-prone areas – such as the coast – that suffer repetitive losses.
 
The Society supported, through testimony and public organizing, an NJ Future-led campaign for the establishment of new regulations, which would require municipalities to consider climate change as they undertake periodic land use master plan updates.

Meet Tally Blumberg, President of the Littoral Society's Board of Trustees.

I got my love of the coast from my father, growing up fishing and sailing on the Long Island Sound and in Key Biscayne, and every time I turn my attention to the Society, I think that he would have loved this work. I should make him a posthumous fish tagger! He was fly fishing for stripers on the Sound and in Maine until the end of his life and taught me patiently. 
 
Many, many years ago, I studied marine biology and ecology in college, and when I was given the opportunity to get involved with the American Littoral Society, I jumped at the chance. My whole career has been spent working in the environment, although what started out as an interest has now become such critical work, up against a ticking clock. I am an optimist, and I hope we are making headway as a sector. 

In the beginning of February, NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed into law several pieces of legislation that advance important climate change adaptation policies and measures. Those included new directives on municipal land use and additional funding for the Blue Acres program.
 
The Littoral Society led efforts to increase money dedicated to Blue Acres, which is intended to reduce the number of buildings in flood-prone areas – such as the coast – that suffer repetitive losses.
 
The Society supported, through testimony and public organizing, an NJ Future-led campaign for statutory amendments to require municipalities to consider climate change as they undertake periodic land use master plan updates.
 
According to an article in NJ Spotlight, municipalities must now identify critical facilities such as roads and utilities that might be affected by hurricanes or sea-level rise; make plans to sustain normal life in the face of anticipated natural hazards, and integrate climate vulnerability with existing plans such as emergency management or flood-hazard strategies.

New Jersey - For almost sixty years, the American Littoral Society has worked to forge a path forward for coastal conservation and has done so, in large part, through the human connection to the ocean.

Today, the organization is releasing a new report entitled “Protecting Offshore Fish and Fish Habitat in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.” The report focuses on the management and protection of important habitat and fishing areas in the face of a changing climate and increasing demands for use of ocean spaces.  The report can be found at the accompanying website ProtectFish.org. 

The report considers how the ocean is changing and how that impacts fishing. It takes a deep dive into New Jersey Prime Fishing Areas, special areas identified by the State of New Jersey that span along our Mid-Atlantic coastlines and open ocean, and how regulatory protections applied to those resources are implemented during the development and permitting of activities like offshore sand mining or wind development. The report also provides an overview of how Mid-Atlantic states from New York to Virginia protect fish and fish habitat through their federally approved Coastal Management Plans.
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“We hope this report will provide the public, anglers, and coastal managers with a set of insights and recommendations to strengthen regional and state planning approaches, rules and policies to protect fish and fish habitat in the face of increasing demands for the use of ocean space and resources, and a changing climate,” says Tim Dillingham, Executive Director. 

Last year was challenging, but that didn’t stop habitat restoration work by the American Littoral Society. And thanks to the success of previous projects, along with being awarded a number of new grants, the Society and its restoration team have even bigger plans for 2021.

In the coming year, we will be highlighting a different habitat restoration project each month in order to keep friends and supporters of the Littoral Society better informed of the work we are doing, as well their short-term and long-term goals.
 
2020 Recap
Despite an international pandemic that left the Society unable to host volunteer events, the Restoration team – which includes Shane, Zack, Quinn, Julie, Capt. Al Modjeski – got a few things done. Among those projects were: