DEP to Preserve Swamp Pink in NJ- Step In Right Direction, Must do More

The Department of Environmental Protection has received a $250,000 federal grant to help acquire land to preserve and protect an endangered member of the lily family found primarily in New Jersey. The grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Cooperative Species Conservation Fund is targeted for acquisition of land along Cumberland County’s Cohansey River confirmed as critical habitat for swamp pink, listed as federally threatened and state endangered.

“The grant money to preserve endangered species in New Jersey is a step in the right direction, but we could do a lot more to protect our swamp pink. We must also protect their sensitive habitats near streams and flood plains, and get rid of rollbacks of the Wetlands Rules, Flood Hazard Rules, and Water Quality Planning Rules. We must protect these sensitive areas from development and pipelines in areas of the Highlands and Pinelands that contain the water supply for millions of people,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

The presence of swamp pink is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Its primary threats are pollution, wetlands draining, erosion and sedimentation. As a result of the grant, the DEP’s Green Acres Program will initiate negotiations with various property owners and will provide additional funds for the purchases. The owners and the locations of the properties will not be disclosed until the acquisitions are finalized.

“New Jersey must also fight back against Trump’s new rule that will prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from enforcing the Endangered Species Act and looking at it under NEPA reviews or permitting. This is especially critical for New Jersey because state laws protecting these species are weaker. We rely on the federal protections in fighting many proposals. We’re fighting pipelines that want to destroy habitat for threatened and endangered species like the Dwarf Wedge mussel in the case of PennEast Pipeline, or the rare bog turtle. We use the ESA as an important tool to protect these wild places and prevent fossil fuel infrastructure and other developments including dams, roads, and more from destroying our environment, said Tittel.”

Due to a recent memorandum, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) staff can no longer advise builders they need to obtain a permit mandated by law to maintain endangered species habitat. This means that the applicant can choose whether or not to request an incidental take permit (ITP) under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. As of now, when a species is listed as threatened, they receive a series of automatic protections. With this new rule, those protections are only given on a case by case basis

With Trump’s new rule, we could see developers and fossil fuel companies paving over threatened and endangered species habitat, essentially wiping out populations. New Jersey does not have rules in place to directly protect endangered species habitats. That is why it is so important for New Jersey to strengthen our protections on not only endangered species but their habitats as well,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Using this grant money to protect endangered species like the pink swamp is a step in the right direction however there is more work to be done on protecting the sensitive ecosystems in the wetlands from sprawl, over development, and pipelines.”