March 1998
Endangered

With 12 species of plants and animals on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species list, New Jersey is certainly not the worst state in standing, but we are not the best, by far.
From childhood I have watched New Jersey businesses and communities grow, and in some cases, sprawl into chaos. When I was five, I remember everyone on the street running outside to see a bald eagle perched in a tree, even in the Sixties, it was an unusual sight. It was the first time I heard "endangered".
In my home town in Morris County, we lost acres and acres of woods to developments and townhouses. There were lengthy legal battles with concerned citizens, on one side and developers anxious to make their living on the other. It ended being a compromise, with certain swamp lands filled in to make room for homes. It was a microcosm of what happens in the world, the stakes vary, but the story is the same.
Biodiversity is a battle between people who want financial benefit from development, and people who want to preserve our natural resources for recreation, sport, and for a different kind of revenue stream. Tourism is our largest enterprise, imagine the loss to our income and our tax rates if there were no tourists coming into NJ.
In third world countries, it is exactly this point that makes governments stop abusing their land. Many have restructured their cultural laws and attitudes because tourism gives them considerably more long term revenue than clearing forests for fuel.
To save endangered or threatened species, it all boils down to preserving their habitat. In the Northern New Jersey highlands where I live, there are many lakes and reservoirs, allowing a spectacular view into nature. These undeveloped areas of woods and lakelands remind me of how fortunate we are to live here in this state, but we can’t become complacent or we will face great losses. In recent years, a small group of concerned citizen stayed off developers in a neighboring town to establish a county park called Pyramid Mountain, I assure you, it is well visited and enjoyed and will continue to be forever.
There are hundreds of ways to help, educating our children is one of the most important things we can do to preserve our natural surroundings. Pandas, Tigers and Manatees are the poster kids of the endangered species movement, but we have animals to care about in our own backyard and a lot to do.

Copyright © 1998 L.H.D'Orio