File photo: The Delaware River in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township
By Jon Hurdle NJ Spotlight
From stream restorations at Lake Hopatcong to protecting bog turtles in South Jersey, conservation projects across the state will get a boost from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed into law on Monday.
The new law provides an extra $26 million over five years for conservation projects supported by the federally funded Delaware River Basin Restoration Program, run by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The money, for projects starting in October 2022, is in addition to federal funds that have already been appropriated.
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The program’s goals are to support natural habitat, improve water quality, build stormwater management, and enhance recreational access in the four states that are covered by the Delaware River watershed — New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. It also prioritizes interconnections between parts of natural systems.
“In the 21st century, conservation work must consider connections at very large scales — such as a 14,000-square-mile Delaware River Basin — to be relevant, to be durable, and to be resilient to large scale stressors like climate change and land use development,” said Christina Ryder, Delaware River Watershed Program Manager for Science Applications at the Fish & Wildlife Service
