Unhappy with the clearing of a 21-acre mature forest on state-owned land, lawmakers are pressing environmental officials on what steps they are taking to ensure such actions do not occur again. 

The felling of thousands of trees at the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area in February also damaged exceptional wetlands at the site during a habitat enhancement project, according to a Notice of Violation the state Department of Environmental Protection issued to one of its own — the Bureau of Land Management in the Division of Fish and Wildlife. 

‘It was more than a mistake.’ — Tom Gilbert, New Jersey Conservation Foundation 

Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) noted the project was undertaken by the bureau without obtaining necessary permits, a violation that might have put a private developer in jail. 

“What are you going to do to prevent it from happening in the future?’’ McKeon asked DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette during a budget hearing earlier this week. The commissioner blamed the foul-up on what he termed a “breakdown” in both process and personnel. 

“What we are going to do in the future … is exactly what we did in this circumstance,’’ the commissioner replied, referring to the department’s enforcement action against the bureau. “We will put in better guardrails to make it sure it does not happen again.’’ 

Questions, criticism

Other legislators were more critical. Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) noted the project already cost more than $200,000 just to clear the area, and that does not include restoration expenses or penalties to be assessed by the department. 

“We’re looking for carbon-capture systems, and we lose a 21-acre wooded area,’’ said Scharfenberger, referring to the loss of a mature forest where carbon is stored. “It’s going to be decades before it is back.’’ 

Credit: (Rob Ferber; NJ Conservation Foundation)

He questioned LaTourette whether the habitat enhancement project was a failure of personnel or process. “Both,’’ replied the commissioner. “We know where the breakdown was, and we are fixing it.’’ 

But Tom Gilbert, co-executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, said the project demonstrates the proper guardrails and protocols are not yet in place at DEP. “It was more than a mistake,’’ he argued. 

The department needs to lay out the steps it will take to prevent future clear-cutting, including a comprehensive process that assesses what natural resources are impacted and what alternatives there are to such habitat enhancements, Gilbert said. That process needs to have public input at every step, he added.

The project at Glassboro was designed to create new habitat for the American woodcock, a game bird popular with hunters in New Jersey. A contractor hired by DEP felled trees and damaged wetlands to clear an area for the bird. When the project was discovered by the conservation foundation and three other conservation organizations, their protests led to the project being halted. 

‘We know where the breakdown was, and we are fixing it.’ — Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, Department of Environmental Protection  

The DEP notified the Bureau of Land Management it would face penalties for violations involving wetlands and also needs to develop a restoration plan for the site. But given the disturbance of wetlands and surrounding soils, it will be difficult to restore the forest, according to Gilbert and other conservationists.