
Photo credit: www.state.nj.us/dep/
The NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife will be holding its annual trout stocking public meeting at the Pequest Trout Hatchery on Saturday, February 13 at 10:00 a.m. This important meeting provides an excellent opportunity for anglers to ask questions, voice their opinions, and give suggestions regarding New Jersey’s trout stocking program. Changes for 2010 season will be presented and explained.




Sandhill Cranes over the Platte.
Photo credit: Linda Mack

The thought of cutting down and removing trees from Avalon’s treasured maritime forest might seem like the last thing environmentalists would want to do. But Brian Reynolds expresses no remorse as workers removed portions of trees along 74th Street. “We have to get them out,” Reynolds said. Reynolds, who chairs Avalon’s Environmental Commission, is talking about only one kind of tree; the Japanese black pine. When planted in the 1960s, the trees were a great way to keep the dunes from eroding.


Photo credit: NJ Fish and Wildlife
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Osprey along the Maurice River.
Photo courtesy of Edison Wetlands Association

Photo credit: Njdep.gov
"Looming overhead like a dark cloud for the past two and a half years was the failure by Mine Hill’s mayor to acquire a reimbursement of $800,000 from the New Jersey Green Acres. The organization promised it would pay the town, as part of a funding package, to purchase 200 acres of open space known as the Dickerson Mine Tract. As time elapsed and no payment appeared in sight, the disappointment in not acquiring the funds became the fodder for political snipping between the mayor and previous Town Council members, who made it clear that the township would be in debt if it failed to acquire the promised funds."







Anne and Dave Safarewitz of Middletown have been fascinated with orchids for more than 30 years. In that time, they have collected more than 2,500 of the popular, colorful plants, amassing one of the largest private collections in the mid-Atlantic region. Anne's first orchid was a Valentine's Day present from Dave. "We had stopped at a neglected greenhouse, and I saw this plant," said Anne Safarewitz, a member of the Deep Cut Orchid Society, which attracts orchid lovers from all over the state and is one of the largest orchid societies in the Northeast. "I just had to have it."