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The LEHT Environmental Commission/Recycling Committee Meetings are held at the Little Egg Harbor Administrative Justice Complex, 665 Radio Road at 7:00 PM in the courtroom. The meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month.
The dates for the 2009 Environmental Commission / Recycling Committee meetings are as follows:
1/13, 2/10, 3/10, 4/14, 5/12, 6/9, 7/14, 8/NO MEETING, 9/8, 10/13, 11/10, 12/8.
LEHT plans inventory of its natural resources
Atlantic City Press Wednesday, July 16, 2008
By ROB SPAHR
Staff Writer
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP- At first sight it would appear that the township has an abundance of trees and plenty of open space.
But township officials are about to begin conducting a series of environment-related inventories, which over the next couple years will calculate just how much of every natural resource the township has.
Officials hope this information will help them develop a plan to either increase or improve the quality of those resources for future generations.
“Our residents are worried about the impact development has had our town,” Committeeman Eugene Kobryn said. “This inventory will serve as a planning tool for the future and a baseline we’ll follow. Because in order to know what you’re going to do, you have to understand what you already have.”
The two new initiatives-the completion of a natural resource inventory and creation of forestry management plan—were made possible by two grants.
After being denied the funding for the natural resources inventory on two previous grant applications to the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, the township
was recently awarded an $8,000 grant on its third attempt.
“It’s going to start with a hydrology study an move on from there,” said Kobryn of the inventory, which will also take stock of the township’s wetlands, geology, vegetation, wildlife, land use, historical and cultural features, and existing and proposed infrastructure.
The township also received a $3000 Green Communities grant through the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Parks and
forestry program.
“First we’ll have to work with the forester to determine what kinds of trees are in the township”, said Donna Doherty, the townships’ representative on the Pinelands Municipal Council . “Then after the forester completes their recommendation for us, we’ll begin working to add more trees and also to improve the vitality of existing trees.”
In addition to the $3,000 grant to cover the cost of hiring a state-appointed forester, Doherty and her husband, Walter, who is the chairman of the township’s Environmental Commission, will also volunteer for $1,500 worth of manpower hours to help the project get completed at a lower cost to taxpayers.
“We are not gong to go out there and count every tree. That would be impossible. We are just trying to get a better idea of what we have and where we have to improve,” Doherty said. “And, by doing so, it will help make a few more people aware of what (officials are) trying to do in the area to make it better.”
By improving the vitality of the existing trees, Doherty said it, will have a positive effect on other aspects of the environmentally sensitive region where the township is located.
But Doherty said adding new trees will also help enhance the aesthetics of the township.
“The goal is to just make it a little nicer for people when they enter into our township,” said Doherty, who said she would like to see the first phase of tree planting be completed along Radio Road near the Township Administrative Justice Complex. “We don’t really have a town center and adding trees along that portion of Radio Road would make that area look really nice.”
While there is a tentative timeframe for the natural resources inventory to follow, Doherty said there is no telling when work on the forestry program will begin.
“We’re still waiting on the state to appoint us a forester to work with,” she said.
“But with Gov. Corzine’s budget cuts, we could be waiting a while.”
E-mail Robert Spahr:
RSpahr@pressofac.com