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Attend the NJ Wildlife & Conservation Conference on April 26th

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Public invited to hear expert panels on invasive species, wildlife disease, and other threats facing sportsmen and wildlife conservationists

NJWCC logoHunters and birdwatchers alike will come together for the first annual New Jersey Wildlife and Conservation Conference on April 26, 2013 in Eatontown, New Jersey. Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ (CWF) is partnering with the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife to host these expert panels at the Sheraton Eatontown Hotel at 6 Industrial Way East in Eatontown, N.J.

“Working together for wildlife was the catalyst that blurred the lines between the Federation camouflage and Conserve Wildlife green, enabling us to partner together and tackle the complex fish and wildlife issues facing New Jersey today,” said Frank Virgilio, President of the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.

The inaugural conference will feature panels of wildlife experts from New Jersey Audubon, the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, and many other organizations, exploring timely and controversial issues ranging from invasive species and wildlife disease to our declining forest health and conservation advocacy.

“The many conservation enthusiasts in New Jersey owe a great deal to sportsmen, who practiced wildlife conservation long before it entered national consciousness,” said CWF Executive Director David Wheeler. “Today our shared interests have led to countless success stories, protecting New Jersey’s valuable habitat and wildlife species during a time when we face more challenges than ever. This conference will tackle those issues with the most timely and meaningful information available.”

Individuals or companies seeking to register should visit www.ConserveWildlifeNJ.org.  Discounted rates for attending are as low as $20 for the all-day panels.

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Large turnout expected for osprey platform build day

Thursday, January 17th, 2013
Conserve Wildlife to repair or replace any platforms lost from Sandy

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Osprey pair in nest platform repaired by CWF staff in early 2012. © Brian Kushner

Osprey pair in nest platform repaired by CWF staff in early 2012. © Brian Kushner

On Saturday, January 19, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ (CWF) will host an osprey platform construction day from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in Woodbine, New Jersey. Volunteers who signed up in advance are helping to build up to 20 new platforms to replace those lost or damaged in Superstorm Sandy.

Constructing these platforms now will allow CWF time to install them before the start of the osprey nesting season in April. Ospreys mate for life and typically return to the same nest year after year.

Since Sandy slammed into the coast of New Jersey in late October, biologists with CWF have been actively surveying and assessing damage to habitat that wildlife needs to survive. Many osprey nesting platforms were right in the middle of the high winds and strong storm surge associated with Sandy. The majority of the platforms weathered the storm; others need repairs or must be replaced. We have already installed 5 new nesting platforms. Two platforms were installed on December 1st on Herring Island (N. Barnegat Bay) in an area of homes that sustained significant damage. The other three platforms were installed in the Wildwood area.

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Volunteers!

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

HELP MAKE OUR WORLD GO ‘ROUND

by MacKenzie Hall, Biologist

Robert Hergenrother, in his natural habitat.

Robert Hergenrother, in his natural habitat.

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation is a small staff with a lot going on.  If you glance through our conservation projects, you’ll see that volunteers have a role in almost everything we do.  This hardy fleet of dedicated helpers allows us to cover more ground, stretch our dollars, reach wider audiences, and continue our upward and outward evolution as a group.

We’ve featured a handful of people on our Volunteer Profiles page so far, with Robert Hergenrother being the most recent.  We enjoy learning more about their unique backgrounds and interests and hope you’ll check them out, too.  

Thank you to ALL of our wonderful volunteers!

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CWF VOLUNTEERS GO “CAMP” ing

Friday, November 16th, 2012

RESULTS FROM THE 2012 SURVEY SEASON.

Northern Gray Treefrog © Thomas Gorman

By: Larissa Smith: Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Manager

When people first hear the word CAMP they might think of going out in the woods and setting up a tent, but CWF’s CAMP project is all about monitoring New Jersey’s amphibian population. CAMP stands for the Calling Amphibian Monitoring Project.

In 2012 33 volunteers participated and surveyed a total of 33 routes out of 63. Volunteers conduct roadside surveys (after dusk) for calling amphibians along designated routes throughout the state. Each 15-mile route is surveyed three times during the spring. Each route has 10 stops, where volunteers stop, listen and record all frog and toad calls for 5 minutes.

In 2012 15 out of the 16 New Jersey amphibian species were detected. The only species not detected was the Eastern Spadefoot.  Northern Spring Peepers were the most common species detected on 31 of the routes while Green Frogs were detected on 22 routes.  Both the American Bullfrog and Southern Leopard Frog were heard on 16 of the routes.

In NJ there are four frog and toad species of conservation concern; the Southern gray Treefrog  is a state endangered species, the Pine Barrens Treefrog  is a state threatened species, and the Carpenter Frog and Fowler’s Toad are both  special concern species. The Southern Gray Treefrog was detected on 2 of the CAMP route, the Pine Barren Treefrog on 3 of the routes, the Fowler’s Toad on 13 of the routes and the Carpenter Frog on 7 of the routes.

CAMP data is entered into the North American Amphibian Monitoring  Program (NAAMP)  database housed by the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. All of the occurrence data for these species is  extracted from the NAAMP database, quality checked for validity, and entered into the Biotics database by CWF & ENSP staff. These data will then be used in future versions of the Landscape Project maps.  These maps are used by planners in various state, county, municipal and private agencies to avoid conflict with critical wildlife habitat.

Thank you to all CAMP volunteers!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP IN 2013?

  • Twenty-five routes are available for the 2013 season
  • For more information on volunteering e-mail:  Larissa.Smith@conservewildlifenj.org

 

 

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Posted in Amphibians, Get Involved, Volunteer Programs | 1 Comment »

Imagine A Halloween Without Bats

Friday, October 26th, 2012

No chocolate, few tropical nuts and fruits, more insect pests…

Just the mere thought of no chocolate makes us frightened!

Big brown bats in an attic space. (c) Phil Wooldridge

Bats are one of the most beneficial animals to humans. They play key roles in the environment, eating bothersome insects, pollinating flowers, and dispersing seeds.  Unfortunately, across the world, and here in the Garden State, bats continue to face many threats including habitat loss and disease such as white-nose syndrome.  White-nose syndrome, alone, can kill 90-100% of bats in affected caves.

But you can help!  This year, why not trick or treat for bats? 

Collect your trick or treat money and make a donation to CWF!  Thank bats for all the wonderful benefits they provide to us.  Halloween wouldn’t be the same without bats and delicious m&m’s, snickers, and almond joys.

Make a donation to Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and help us to protect NJ’s bat population.

Or consider adopting an Indiana bat, NJ’s federally endangered bat, to help protect its future here in NJ.

To learn more about how bats benefit humans, read on!

Bats are primary pollinators of many tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes, and dates, guavas, and figs.  The agave cactus relies on bats for pollination.  No agave = no tequila (scary!)

Bats also help in seed dispersal.  In fact, seeds dropped by bats can account for up to 95 percent of forest regrowth on cleared land.  Bats spread the seeds of almonds, cashews, and chocolate.  Did you read that?  CHOCOLATE!  Bats help us to have more cacao trees, which produces the yummy main ingredient of our favorite Halloween treats!

Closer to home in New Jersey, bats eat bugs, and a lot of them.  All nine species of bats found inNew Jersey eat insects, consuming one-third of their weight in bugs each night.  Bats play essential roles in keeping populations of night-flying insects in balance. Just one bat can catch hundreds of insects in an hour, and large colonies catch tons of insects nightly, including beetles and moths that cost American farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually, not to mention mosquitoes in our backyards.

Learn More

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