A Natural Resource Management Guide for the County of Morris A ...

Protection guidelines are made available to land-use regulatory agencies and planning groups within the LPA.
The primary message conveyed is that rare species protection and economic development are not mutually
exclusive. Neither additional legislation nor large land acquisitions are the vehicles for protection. Instead,
success is contingent on the cooperative efforts of government and private land use organizations, and
regulatory protection agencies in local, county, state and federal governments.
The Highlands was chosen for investigation in 1995. Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP)
biologists are surveying bog turtles, bobcats, timber rattlesnakes, neotropical migrant songbirds, and
freshwater mussels. This will be supplemented by field investigation conducted for the Herptile Atlas.
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Wildlife Diversity Tours - A Watchable Wildlife Program for New Jersey promotes the benefits È of
wildlife and habitat protection and open space conservation, while supporting local economy (ecotourism).
Destination sites are chosen based on representative dominant ecosystems, and the inherent relationships of
wildlife and man (e.g., Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center - Chatham Township, Pyramid Mountain -
Borough of Kinnelon, Wildcat Ridge Hawk Watch - Rockaway Township.
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The Conservation Reserve Program, an offshoot of the 1985 Congressional Farm legislation, È promotes
the conversion of highly erodible production acreage into soil-conserving meadows and woodlands. In this
way habitat diversity is restored, inviting the return of wildlife.
MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship), developed by the Institute for Bird Populations
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of Point Reyes Station, Ca., specializes in tracking specific bird populations.
Multiple Habitat Conservation Program (San Diego County) has mapped habitat types and their
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resident species. The habitats consist of biological core areas which provide biologically important interior
areas (relative to edge), vegetative diversity, and linkages (e.g., floodplains and steep slopes).
The Partners in Flight/Aves de las Americas Program utilizes habitat protection, management,
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professional training, and public education to protect neotropical migratory birds throughout the Americas.
Relying on broad-based involvement, the program has recruited Federal and State governmental entities,
nongovernmental organizations, academia and industry.
INDIVIDUAL
Landscaping: Niches often host specific populations: low-growing ground cover hosts tortoises and
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quail; shrubs are home to rabbits, grouse, and pheasant; young forests provide food and shelter for deer,
mouse, grouse, catbirds, raccoons, doves, and woodpeckers; and squirrels, hawks, and owls use the high
forest canopy. Expanding plant communities can enhance biodiversity.
Landscaping can also stretch habitat reaches. Lands adjacent to protected habitat can be landscaped to
maintain or re-establish native vegetation (flowers, shrubs, trees, grasses and vines). Choosing natives over
exotics is favorable in that the latter often have no support value for native wildlife. In this way, habitat
provisions of food, cover, and nesting sites are maximized.
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Jim Sciascia, Wildlife Diversity Tours - A Watchable Wildlife Program for New Jersey, Conserve Wildlife,
NJ DEP, Endangered and Nongame Species Program, 6.
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Schwab, Conservation Reserve Program, 1.
A Natural Resource Management Guide
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