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Every year at the turning of the seasons, the American Littoral Society conducts a public Equinox Walk around our headquarters building in the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. In 2020, due to safety precautions linked to Covid-19, we are inviting you to join us for a virtual walk to welcome the beginning of Autumn.
Join Littoral Society hosts, Jeff Dement, Fish Tagging Director, and Nicole Haines, Education Director, as they guide you through the flora, fauna, history and sights of Sandy Hook, NJ on one of two days each year when the day is divided equally between daylight and darkness. Attendees will meet Manny Royle, morale officer for the Littoral Society, learn about the founding of the Littoral Society in 1961, hear some history of the lighthouse that still shines over Sandy Hook, find out where our Osprey go for their winter vacation, and discover why the Native American tribe that called coastal New Jersey home referred to September as the Month of Yellow Flowers. Come along with us and watch your step or you may carry home a Canada Goose souvenir on the sole of your shoe!
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 Thursday, Sept. 17, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
or Tuesday, Sept. 22, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Are you interested in creating a creek-friendly yard? Join us for a virtual workshop to learn more about rain gardens and how you can build one at home! Click here to access either webinar. When you attend, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for a 30-minute consultation where you’ll work one-one one with a Rutgers landscape architect to plan a customized rain garden for your property.   I was lucky to have a childhood filled with healthy local waterways. In them I found fish, turtles, an occasional snake and lots and lots of mud. Mostly, they were great places to explore, to be on my own or with my brother, to grow our appreciation for the natural world.
“We’re going to the creek” was a common parting call (usually from halfway out the back door) in our house. Waterways were the geography of my childhood, and no doubt put me on the path which led to the Littoral Society. Everyone deserves healthy local waterways. Accessible, healthy local waterways. Part 1 of the Littoral Society's three-part overview of the Wreck Pond restoration project. By the time Superstorm Sandy smashed into the New Jersey coastline, Wreck Pond was a bit of a wreck. The 73-acre coastal lake located on the border of Spring Lake and Sea Girt, NJ, was badly polluted and prone to flooding surrounding homes during heavy rains.
Partnering with the municipalities around the pond, as well as state and federal agencies, the American Littoral Society stepped in with a plan to address pollution, reduce flooding, and restore the pond as a breeding ground for migratory fish such as river herring. Since 2014 the Littoral Society and our partners have been working on the pond and it's surrounding watershed. On Thursday, August 27 at noon, the Society will host a virtual lunch and learn to discuss ongoing efforts to increase ecological and community resiliency in and around Wreck Pond.  The American Littoral Society is working on a mapping project focused on fish and fish habitat in the Mid-Atlantic. We are especially looking at areas that may be impacted by ocean uses or development, such as sand mining and offshore wind farms.
If you fish at any of the named and outlined areas on the map shown above, your knowledge about those fishing grounds is invaluable. We would appreciate your input in identifying some of the most important areas to you, when you fish there, and what species are typically present. Keep reading to learn how you can provide input and qualify for a gift card.  Date: August 3, 2020
1 - 4 p.m. Held Via Webinar Join the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) for a public meeting to discuss the draft New Jersey Offshore Wind Strategic Plan to address the state’s goal of 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy development by 2035. The meeting will consist of a brief presentation by NJBPU Staff recapping the State of New Jersey offshore wind goals and activities to date, as well as some brief background on the requirements of the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA) and Executive Orders (EO) No. 8 & No. 92. A brief presentation of the content of the draft Offshore Wind Strategic Plan will follow. The floor will then be opened for comments by members of the public.  The Littoral Society’s mission is to promote the conservation and study of marine life and its habitats. That is the “why” of our work.
Having been around since 1961, the language of our mission harkens back to a more formal, subdued era. But make no mistake, “promoting the conservation and study” of coastal wildlife is dynamic, growing, community-based, and aimed at strategically putting back missing pieces – whether they are gone because of a storm or human irresponsibility. Our largest effort has been restoring miles of beaches along the Delaware Bay. Those beaches are critical to spawning horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds such as the Red Knot. The beaches, fundamental components of the Bay ecosystem, were simply gone after Hurricane Sandy.  Putting sand back on a beach is fairly common practice on the east coast of the US, but not for restoring and protecting the places that wild things live.
However, the American Littoral Society and partners have been doing such projects on the New Jersey shoreline of the Delaware Bay for nearly a decade. The result has been better habitat for horseshoe crabs and migratory shorebirds. A study in the July 9 edition of the Marine Ecology Progress Series (a peer-reviewed scientific journal) quantifies the benefits of that work, while also indicating that outcomes can be further improved by expanding project scope and integrating other coastal restoration strategies.  As part of #PlasticFreeJuly the American Littoral Society is asking members and supporters to join the global movement to #breakfreefromplastic by signing your name in support of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act.
This bold federal legislation was introduced by U.S. Senator Tom Udall (NM) and U.S. Representative Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. Take the pledge and do your part to protect our ocean, waterways, and wildlife from plastic pollution. Together we CAN make a difference. In late June, the Littoral Society and partners, spent a day banding 20 young osprey living in New York City's Jamaica Bay.
These raptors have made a come back in NYC as water quality has improved, harmful chemicals have been banned from use, and our waterways have become more abundant with fish. Don Riepe, Director of the Littoral Society's Northeast Chapter and the Society's Jamaica Bay Guardian, was joined by staff from the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, and Chris Nadareski, research scientist for the city's Department of Environmental Protection Wildlife Studies unit. |
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