The New Jersey state government is making progress in its management of coastal wetlands but could do more to steward those habits holistically, an approach that would benefit communities, nature, and the fight to limit climate change. That’s the message in an April 14 comment letter that The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted to the state in response to its 2023 Draft Natural and Working Lands Strategy Targets.
Pew lauded New Jersey’s prioritization of the protection and conservation of coastal habitats, which sequester and store “blue carbon”—carbon stores found in coastal and marine ecosystems—as a key component of the state’s climate response policies. But Pew also encouraged the state to increase its ambitions, in part by considering how management decisions may alter carbon dynamics in submerged aquatic vegetation and tidal wetlands.
To that end, Pew urged New Jersey to pursue one or multiple Sentinel Landscape designations, areas where the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Defense collaborate with state and local partners to enhance and support conservation and climate mitigation goals. A Sentinel Landscape creates a framework through which sustainable management practices can be adopted in both public and private lands. New Jersey is home to the nation's only tri-service military base at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and the Department of Defense oversees more than 70,000 acres in the state throughout multiple installations and ranges.
In addition to federal partnerships, the letter recommended that state officials connect with those in states such as California, Oregon, and North Carolina that are implementing strategies to protect, restore, and inventory blue carbon habitats, including seagrass and salt marsh.