News Archive

The Department of Environmental Protection is awarding nearly $400,000 in grants to 20 municipalities and two counties to promote the stewardship of urban and community trees and forests.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will mark National Drive Electric Week by expanding a grant program to fund installation of electric-vehicle charging stations around the state.

The state’s Blue Acres program has expanded into Atlantic County, recently holding a kickoff meeting with eligible property owners in Pleasantville who are interested in participating in this effort that moves residents away from areas that are impacted by severe storms. With the addition of Atlantic County, the Department of Environmental Protection’s Blue Acres Program is now active in nine counties. The DEP has determined that 25 properties in Pleasantville are eligible for acquisition by the program.

The Department of Environmental Protection has high hopes for steps taken this year to improve the survival chances for New Jersey’s last remaining wild population of American chaffseed, a flowering perennial herb with highly specialized habitat needs. The species’ last stronghold is in a state forest in the Pinelands of Burlington County.

To restore the habitat at the Burlington County location, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service in late winter conducted a prescribed burn, then the New Jersey Forest Service thinned the surrounding trees to increase sunlight. Volunteers from the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and Pinelands Preservation Alliance also manually cut back competing shrubs. Duke Farms in Hillsborough also contributed by propagating at its site plants from seed collected at the wild population. The New Jersey State Forest Nursery in Jackson has been working to propagate plants to aid in re-establishing this rare species.

The project is being overseen by the DEP’s Office of Natural Lands Management. The Burlington County site has more than 80 American chaffseed plants.

As a partner in a multistate initiative, the Department of Environmental Protection is encouraging landowners in the Pinelands to use technical assistance and expertise available through the New Jersey Forest Service to help restore shortleaf pine trees to the region.

The Forest Service is a partner in the Shortleaf Pine Initiative comprising 22 states, federal forestry and wildlife organizations, and other partners. The New Jersey Forest Service offers technical and other assistance to help landowners incorporate the species into their forest management plans.

The Department of Environmental Protection is advising recreational users of Ocean County’s Metedeconk River to exercise caution following confirmation of the presence of clinging jellyfish, a non-native species with a powerful sting, in this coastal waterway.

In addition to the Metedeconk River, the DEP reminds recreational users of the Shrewsbury and Manasquan rivers – Monmouth County waterways where the clinging jellyfish had been confirmed in recent years – to be alert to its possible presence.

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is hosting its annual Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center Open House and outdoors recreation flea market on Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3.

The free event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, showcases New Jersey’s natural resources, as well as the hatchery that raises trout stocked throughout the state. The hatchery is in Oxford, Warren County.

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is providing property owners and outdoor enthusiasts with safety tips as black bears search for food after emerging from winter dens.

“At this time of year, it is important for residents who live in New Jersey’s bear country to be aware of some steps they can follow to reduce the chances of a bear coming onto their properties,” said Assistant Commissioner for Natural and Historic Resources Ray Bukowski. “It is also a good time for anyone who spends time outdoors to become familiar with ways to stay safe.”

A contractor for the Department of Environmental Protection has completed an $18.4 million project to rebuild storm-damaged beaches and dunes in southern Long Beach Island while creating a safe navigation channel for nearby Little Egg Inlet.

As a result, the DEP will place a request with the U.S. Coast Guard to mark the boating channel for the inlet, a major thoroughfare for boat traffic between southern Long Beach Island and Brigantine that had never been previously dredged.

The Department of Environmental Protection is seeking nominations for New Jersey Historic Preservation Awards, a prestigious honor that acknowledges the dedication of those whose work advances historic preservation in the Garden State.

Each year, the awards program honors important contributions to the preservation of New Jersey’s historic and archaeological resources, as well as pioneering efforts in sustainability, historic preservation education, interpretive programs, and planning to preserve historic and archaeological resources.

Following up on his pledge to advance New Jersey as a national leader in addressing global warming, Governor Phil Murphy has formally notified governors of states that belong to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative of his administration’s commitment to rejoining the regional climate-change compact.

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Parks and Forestry has launched a series of social media videos featuring music performed by the improvisational rock band Phish to promote outdoor recreation at New Jersey’s parks, forests and recreation areas.

Debbie Mans, who served as Energy Policy Advisor to Governor Jon Corzine, will become Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection effective February 14, Acting Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced today.

The Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery in Warren County stocked a record five million cold, cool, and warm water fish consisting of 15 species in 2017. The fish, totaling 5,082,841 with a total weight of more than 26,000 pounds, were produced at the location and many were stocked in approximately 200 waters throughout the state from March through November.

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced a project that ultimately will transform 240 acres of Liberty State Park – closed to the public for decades due to low levels of contamination from historic fill – into a mosaic of freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, forests, and grasslands to benefit both people and wildlife.

The New Jersey Environmental Digital Library has just finished processing and incorporating the Rick Engler Right-to-Know collection to its repertoire of digital documents available for viewing. Rick Engler is a community activist and former director of the Work Environment Council. Mr. Engler and his organization were key players in the passage of the The New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act of 1983.

The Christie Administration today honored a diverse group of environmental stewards for their leadership and efforts to improve their communities through green practices designed to protect the environment.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife will have a new tool to use in its ongoing efforts to enforce wildlife laws as the state joins the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced on November 27.

The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry officially launched a new smart device tool on November 16 to enhance visits to state parks by helping users plan visits around the state park system’s vast network of trails. The Trail Tracker application may be downloaded to smart devices to help visitors make detailed plans tailored to trails, activities and terrain that interest them.

Biological surveys conducted this year suggest American shad are making a strong comeback in the Delaware River, historically famous for a once-prodigious population of this important fish species.

The Arbor Day Foundation reports that 154 New Jersey communities have earned the prestigious Tree City USA award, placing New Jersey in the top five states with the most communities in this distinguished environmental program.

The state's network of Wildlife Management Areas has reached an important milestone with recent land acquisitions increasing the size of the system to 350,000 acres. To put this in perspective, New Jersey has more acreage in its Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system than its much larger neighbor New York State, and more than Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined.
 

The Christie Administration has awarded Perth Amboy $7.1 million in grants toward a project to convert a former scrap yard into a green space that will provide public access to the Raritan River and help improve water quality, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has launched a project to remove the obsolete Weston Mill Dam on the Millstone River between Manville and Franklin Township. This effort will open a stretch of the Somerset County waterway to migratory fish, enhance overall river health and improve safety for recreational use.

About 170 coastal communities across the nation will experience chronic flooding 20 years from now, disrupting people’s lives and daily routines, and forcing residents of those communities to make difficult and expensive decisions, according to a recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists. In a moderate sea level rise scenario, cities and towns along the Delaware Bay and New Jersey coastlines could see between 15 and 40 percent of their land flooded at least 26 times each year by 2030.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has partnered with the Pennsylvania Natural Lands Trust and the Open Space Institute in order to acquire and preserve the 417-acre Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey’s Sheppards Mill property in Hopewell Township and Greenwich Township, Cumberland County for a total purchase of $1.26 million.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protectiosn Bureau of Graphic Information Systems has recently released the product of their latest efforts, the NJ Geo-Web 3.0 App. Users of this application can locate areas of interest, view and interact with NJDEP's GIS data, and query related environmental information. NJ-GeoWeb presents users with a suite of customized profiles to choose from, where they can work within a more tailored application that includes specific datasets, tools, searches, and reports developed to address the interests of the general public as well as  targeted users. 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is reminding New Jersey residents and visitors that all lifeguarded ocean and bay beaches along the Atlantic Coast are currently open. The exception is for state-operated beaches at Island Beach State Park in Berkeley Township and Corson’s Inlet in Ocean City, due to the current shutdown of state government.

All of New Jersey's State Parks will continue to be closed on Monday due to a state government shutdown imposed by Governor Christie that began last week. As part of the shutdown, residents will be unable to visit any of the recreational areas which receive State Park funding, possibly continuing into the 4th of July.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has announced approval of the funding of nearly $81 million by the Garden State Preservation Trust. The funds are recommended for the enhancement of Green Acres projects, which help improve parks, conserve and protect open space, and enhance the land for general public enjoyment. 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will be dedicating nearly $40 million dollars towards paying for projects related to containing pollution from 1970's landfill located in Kearny and prevent it from seeping into the Passaic River. The funds will be used to create a containment wall which encapsulates the landfill as well as to install systems to better manage water and air pollution resulting from the landfill.

Ever wonder what the bears in your state are up to? How about where your town sources its water from? Find out all this and more through the Geoweb application developed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Geographic Information Systems! The application provides an interactive interface which allows users to generate and analyze information pertaining to the natural characteristics of their community. 

At a ceremony held at the Frank S. Farley Marina in Atlantic City, the Christie administration formally dedicated the state's new 32-foot aquatic research boat to former DEP commissioner Robert C. Shinn Jr. Current DEP commissioner Bob Martin and former Governor Christine Whitman keynoted the event, which celebrated Shinn's service to the DEP from 1994 to 2002, the longest tenure of any DEP commissioner in history.

The Christie Administration announced that from now on that the first week of May will be celebrated as Air Quality Awareness Week in the Garden State. As part of this new designation, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection will be making efforts to educate citizens on environmentally positive changes they can make in their everyday lives, such as using environmentally friendly products and keeping their vehicle maintenance up to date.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced that the agency will be lifting a drought warning for 12 of New Jersey's 14 counties. These warnings have been in place since October of last year due to abnormally low levels of precipitation that have been afflicting the state.

The Christie administration will be providing 112,500 tree seedlings free of charge to municipalities for them to distribute to residents as part of an ongoing partnership with the New Jersey Tree Recovery Campaign, the State Forest Service, and the non-profit Arbor Day Commission.

The New Jersey State Police, in conjunction with the Division of Fish and Wildlife, have logged more than 130 arrests of individuals accused of illegal dumping and littering of waste in NJ natural areas since the NJDEP "Don't Waste Our Space" campaign began three years ago.

The New Jersey Department of Enviornmental Protection has worked with other local authorities to locate and repair a source of pollution that was contaminating Shark River in Monmouth County.

The New Jersey State Forest Fire Service will be conducting seasonal controlled burns throughout some of New Jersey's wooded area through till the end of March.

New Jersey's native population of Osprey's hit a record level last year with 515 identified nests throughout the region. Osprey's are a predatory bird who faced extinction in recent decades.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has just finished finalising a purchase of 204 acres of wetlands through it's Green Acres Program for the purchase of preservation.

The Christie Administration announced on January 5th a new grant program that will distribute 14.3 million dollars to local governments in order to bolster their recycling programs.

The 2016 application for the Governor's Environmental Excellence Awards program is now open and available through September 28. Now is the time to submit your nominations!

As part of its continued commitment to customer service and transformation, the Division of Land Use Regulation has launched a new service that will allow property owners to apply on-line for certain Coastal General and Freshwater Wetlands Permits. http://www.nj.gov/dep/landuse/news.html

New Jersey's black bear hunting season opened December 5th just prior to sunrise and will continue through sunset on Saturday, Dec. 10. The season runs concurrently with the six-day firearm deer hunting season.

As winter weather will likely continue deep into the winter season and snowfall accumulates, what is the best practice for snowfall removal?

Another 212 acres in the Barnegat Bay watershed will be permanently preserved under the terms of a settlement between the Department of Environmental Protection and a Bridgewater quarry owner to settle a seven-year-old dispute over alleged disturbance of more than six acres of wetlands and buffer areas in Somerset County, Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

Join Rutgers University on Friday, April 10, 2015 for the Symposium "Global Climate Change And Inequality: Local To Global Perspectives" at the Rutgers College Avenue Student Center. This event is free and open to the public.

NJDEP recommends the following guidelines and precautions to burn firewood safely and efficiently as a home heat source.

Working in partnership with the Township of Weehawken, Union City, the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, and the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, the Department of Environmental Protection today secured the preservation of a unique 14.4-acre reservoir near the Lincoln Tunnel, Commissioner Bob Martin announced.

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin signed an Administrative Order creating an Oyster Creek Safety Advisory Panel to further enhance oversight of the safe operation of the nuclear power plant leading up to its closure by the end of 2019.

DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey will host two sessions...

A host of environmental, student, business, science, and civic leaders from across New Jersey were recognized for their ideas and commitment to protecting and enhancing our state's environment.

The DEP Bulletin, an information service provided semi-monthly by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection,  is now available at the NJ State Publications Digital Library.

NJ-GeoWeb is NJDEP's new environmental mapping tool that accesses geographic information about your community, county, or the entire state of New Jersey.

This new website is designed to keep the public well informed about the work we are doing to protect and enhance our natural and historic resources, which are so important to New Jersey's residents and visitors to our state," said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.

New Jersey has signed on as a member of a network of states in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic region that will collaborate on a plan to promote electric vehicles and vehicles that use alternative fuels such as natural gas and bio-fuels to help improve air quality throughout the region

NJ-GeoWeb is NJDEP's new environmental mapping tool that accesses geographic information about your community, county, or the entire state of New Jersey.

The NJ Climate Adaptation Alliance has just released its latest report, Resilience. Preparing New Jersey For Climate Change: Policy Considerations. 

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but how many pictures would it take to capture the amazing diversity and beauty of 650,000 acres of open space and parks protected in New Jersey over the past 50 years with the help of the state's Green Acres Program?

New Jerseyans capture 50 years of open space protection and park development in Green Acres photo contest

Mark your calendars and sign up now by completing an online pledge card to help clean up Barnegat Bay!

The USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) has funding available through its Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership to protect and restore critical wetlands in New Jersey.

There is a debate going on about Barnegat Bay in New Jersey.  Is nutrient-eutrophication having an impact on the region?  The primary objective of this project was to collect sediment cores from the tidal region of Barnegat Bay and determine the chronology of nutrient changes and associated ecosystem level responses.

The Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife is urging motorists to be on the alert for white-tailed deer on the roadways with the arrival of the fall breeding season, especially during the morning and evening commutes when visibility may be poor and deer activity is likely to be higher.

Now that the spring wildfire season is under way, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service urges the public to be cautious and mindful when outdoors to reduce the risk of fires.

Participate in the upcoming NJ Urban Water Conference on Thursday, December 10 at the NJ Institute of Technology in Newark!

The NJ Historic Preservation Office has posted a Sandy Info page at http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/hurricane_sandy.htm for cultural resource owners and managers.

The Department of Environmental Protection is teaming up with several of the region's leading research institutions to perform scientific studies that will help the department make critical decisions on how to restore and enhance ecologically stressed Barnegat Bay,

The Department of Environmental Protection today launched a new mobile phone application to help visitors plan for and make the most out of their trips to New Jersey's state parks, forests and historic sites.

The Department of Environmental Protection has reached an agreement with E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. that requires the company to pay a fine of $725,000 and upgrade procedures for handling hazardous materials, and for routine and preventative maintenance at its Chambers Works facility in Salem County,

The red knot birds migrate over 10,000 miles and stop at the Delaware Bay beaches in Maurice River Township to feed on horseshoe crab eggs.

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is urging motorists to be alert...

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin yesterday marked the first anniversary of Governor Christie's comprehensive plan to restore Barnegat Bay by announcing an agreement to preserve the 436-acre Joseph A. Citta Boy Scout Reservation Camp in Ocean County and by providing a progress report on the state's efforts to bring the bay back from decades of ecological decline.

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin today said he was pleased by a state court ruling that upheld the validity of the state's Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP). The ruling today by the Appellate Division of state Superior Court clears the way for a week-long bear hunt that will take place in northwestern New Jersey starting on Monday, Dec. 5.

With the return of the spring fishing season, the Department of Environmental Protection is reminding all saltwater anglers...

Get ready for the fall trout season! The NJ Department of Environmental Protection provides a convenient way to purchase licenses, stamps, and/or permits for hunting, fishing, clamming and crabbing online.

The dramatic recovery of the American bald eagle has reached a milestone in New Jersey, with more than 100 pairs now nesting in the Garden State, according to a newly released analysis of the species' population.

The annual Rutgers Regional Climate Symposium will take place on Friday, November 20 at the Rutgers-Livingston campus student center. The program starts at 9 AM.

Please join NJDEP for the 29th Annual GIS Mapping Contest. The event features the best non-commercial mapping in the State of New Jersey.

The 2015 application for the Governor's Environmental Excellence Awards program is now open and available through September 30. Now is the time to submit your nominations!

Get ready for the warm weather and the rebirth in nature! The annual New Jersey State Park Pass hangtag is available now.

"DISCOVER DEP" PODCASTS PROVIDE PUBLIC WITH FRIENDLY AND FAMILIAR FORMAT FOR LEARNING ABOUT DEP'S MISSION