Land Preservation
Land Acquisition
The Watershed Association accepts donations and bargain sales (subject to available funding) of environmentally sensitive lands or conservation easements in the Great Swamp watershed, and joins with other environmental organizations to ensure that additional lands are protected from development. In addition to the 23-acre Conservation Area, we recently received NJ Green Acres funding allowing us to purchase 18 additional acres. At present, we own nearly 50 acres in Harding and Chatham Township, which we have permanently preserved as open space. In collaboration with a neighboring town, we secured Green Acres funding for a 58-acre tract in Morris Township lying just above the headwaters of Great Brook, one of the watershed’s principal streams. We also hold two conservation easements on properties in Chatham Township and Madison.
Build-out Analysis of the Great Swamp Watershed
A build-out analysis illustrates the form and pattern that development can be expected to take under present zoning conditions, and the manner and degree to which this trend is contrary to planning goals (i.e., a town’s master plan). The Watershed Association’s build-out analysis of the ten towns of the watershed enables a municipality, or regional planning agency, to estimate the level of residential and commercial development that could occur under existing zoning.
The build-out analysis shows that the amount of developed land in the watershed more than doubled between 1963 and 1995, from 5,445 acres to over 11,500 acres. More importantly, under each town’s current zoning, full build-out could result in another 8,000 acres being developed. This potential development could have huge environmental, economic, and quality-of-life impacts on the watershed.
Site Clean-up Efforts
The Watershed Association has been cooperating with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and other local and state agencies to oversee a clean-up of the Dietzman Superfund site. GSWA has also been supporting the federal investigation of the Rolling Knolls Landfill for potential inclusion as a Superfund site and cooperating with both federal and state governments to fashion an appropriate clean-up program for this large, severely degraded Category 1 hazardous waste site.
Greenway and Open Space Plan
Saving Space: The Great Swamp Watershed Greenway and Open Space Plan helps identify areas for greenway and open space preservation in the ten communities of the Great Swamp watershed. Preserved open space safeguards water resources, protects habitats for wildlife and plants, provides drainage and flood control, serves active and passive recreational needs, and retains natural areas in the midst of expanding sprawl. Open space also helps preserve land values and maintain a high quality of life for residents.
The recipient of three national awards (The Conservation Fund’s 1997 American Greenways DuPont Award, the 1997 National Wetlands Conservation Award, and RENEW America's 1998 National Award of Environmental Sustainability), Saving Space uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to map a two-tiered open space preservation network to protect essential habitat, wildlife, streams, and water quality. Implementation is underway in watershed municipalities, through the Watershed Association's Streamways/Wetlands Acquisition Projects.
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