New Jersey features stunning diversity - open space, farmlands, and forests – all interconnected ecosystems that benefit New Jersey’s inhabitants, flora, fauna, and humans included. Importantly, forests offer an incredibly efficient system for pulling excessive carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Protecting forests is a powerful tool humans can use to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. In fact, our forests need our help even more today so they can continue to remove excessive carbon and support a healthy planet. 

Specific to preservation work we do in Monmouth County, this parcel is the 20-acre tract located in Howell Township that the partnership preserved along the border of Naval Weapons Station (NWS) Earle through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program run by the US Department of Defense (DOD). Read the Full Story

Looking at the Howell Township parcel by drone showed us how a mature healthy forest looks from above. A closer look at the trees and their structure of the land shows us its valuable ecosystem of plants and wildlife and reveals its many positive environmental impacts. While 20 acres may seem minimal, the habitat within this land would take nearly a century to replace. 

It’s often hard to understand the importance of these projects without visualizing the alternative. The alternative here: the clear cutting of a well-established, diverse forested habitat for the construction of 10 homes under current zoning regulations.

Old-Growth Century Forest  

The biologically diverse forest at the preserved Howell property has stands of deciduous and coniferous tree species, managed with the expertise of a professional forester and a NJDEP-approved woodland management plan. These plans improve the forest composition, reduce density, and promote tree growth. Those steps, in turn, help to promote greater carbon capture and ensure the forest stays healthy – helping to offset impacts of climate change.

Analysis of the forest identified a portion of the property as Century Forest (at least 100 years old), demonstrating the forest’s diversity and resilience when faced with invasive species pressure. American Holly trees, which are slow growing but can live over 100 years, are also found on the property. Beyond their beauty throughout the winter, they are an excellent food source for wildlife and provide habitat.  

Walking in the forest there are abundant and diverse fungi commonly associated with the top layer of leaves and soil found on the forest floor. Fungi plays a significant role in human life and ecosystems. These fungal carbon guardians partner with trees to enhance the ability of trees and soils to store carbon, keeping it from adding to the atmosphere.  

Protecting Species Diversity and Habitat 

In addition to the forest and the usual flora and fauna typically found in the area, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicates threatened and endangered species are known to occur in this area, either on the property or in the close vicinity, making it favorable habitat and corridor for a variety of mammals, reptiles, insects and migratory birds. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ) project also identifies the property as core wildlife habitat and corridor. In preservation projects, providing a contiguous habitat corridor helps support diverse species, particularly those on endangered or threatened lists.  

Water, Water Everywhere

We all know the importance of clean water and in our work supporting clean waterways, protecting watersheds and aquifers is, therefore, important. This property lies within the Manasquan River and lower Shrewsbury River watershed systems, which provide water for many Monmouth County residents. The protection of this land promotes groundwater recharge and aquifer protection. Finally, because the property sits in the Brunswick Bedrock aquifer, it is important for recharging ground water that can supply and replenish our reservoirs.

Why does the US Navy want to preserve this forest?

Since 2018, MCF and Monmouth County have been working with the Navy and municipalities to permanently protect lands that buffer NWS Earle’s nearly 12,000 acres. Transecting the County from the Leonardo community in Middletown through Colts Neck to Howell, the naval base contains one of the largest wooded areas in Monmouth.

The REPI Program funds Congressionally authorized cost-sharing partnerships among the Military Services, private conservation groups (like MCF), and state and local governments to protect military installations and ranges against encroachment or impacts to mission and operations by outside pressures. These can include scenarios such as incompatible development, threatened and endangered species habitat, and the varying effects of climate change – especially increased temperatures, changes in precipitation volume and intensity, and flood and wildfire risk. By working together, this parcel will remain in its natural state and support MCF’s open space and preservation programs.