New Jersey Native Son Recognized for Environmental Contributions

Great Swamp Watershed Association Gala Celebration honors the work of Emile DeVito, Ph.D., one of the state’s foremost environmentalists.

Emile DeVito, Ph.D.

New Jersey is a better place because of Dr. Emile DeVito.  As one of the state’s most active and dedicated environmental advocates, he has championed the protection of our natural world from the Pine Barrens to the Highlands. He has fought against the ravages of overdevelopment in our state to help save indigenous wildlife, like the eastern timber rattlesnake and the barred owl, from local extinction. And he routinely volunteers his expertise and exhaustive knowledge of conservation issues and conservation biology to the benefit of a host of local, regional, and national, non-profit organizations and government agencies.

Dr. DeVito’s career as an environmentalist in New Jersey spans 23 years.  After graduating from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1988 with a Ph.D. in Ecology, his talent for conservation work came to the attention of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s (NJCF) then Executive Director David Moore.  Since that time, DeVito has been hard at work for NJCF developing workshops and curricula on land and wildlife issues, teaching about conservation biology and temperate forest ecology, and testifying as an expert witness on freshwater ecology and endangered species issues at public hearings statewide.  In his capacity as a land manager for NJCF, he also has been responsible for protecting more than 30,000 acres of open space throughout New Jersey, much of it located within the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

In his spare time, DeVito has served as a trustee for several regional organizations including the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust, and the Rahway River Association.  He also has donated his expertise as an environmental consultant, an accomplished birder, a naturalist, and a tour guide to a multitude of environmental groups, including the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Council, the New Jersey Commission on Environmental Education, and the Great Swamp Watershed Association.

In recognition of his many past accomplishments and all he continues to strive for in today’s environmental community, Dr. DeVito has been chosen as the guest of honor for the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s (GSWA) 2012 Gala Celebration.  Scheduled for October 4 at the Westin Governor Morris Hotel in Morristown, GSWA’s annual gala festivities offer a chance for everyone who loves New Jersey’s Great Swamp region to honor the many environmental battles that have been fought to preserve its wildness and natural beauty from the developer’s bulldozer.

While each year provides a new opportunity for GSWA to honor a significant figure from within New Jersey’s environmental community, the gala also has become the organization’s most important annual fundraising event.  Donations collected on this one fall evening will earn more than 20% of the revenue necessary to fund the organization’s many environmental education, stewardship, and advocacy programs throughout the calendar year.

All 2012 gala ticketholders are invited to arrive at 6PM for a cocktail hour featuring passed hors d’ouevres, a cash bar, and an opportunity to participate in an exclusive silent auction.  Among the 100 or more lots donated to this year’s silent auction, attendees can expect to find trips to several exotic locations, including Puerto Rico and Big Sky Resort in Montana; two exclusive Trump National golf outings; some outstanding collectors’ wines, and many other fine items.  A four-course dinner will be served at 7PM with presentations to follow.

Those interested in attending the 2012 Gala Celebration may register online at www.GreatSwamp.org or by call 973-538-3500 x14. Space is limited.  Tickets may be purchased at the following levels: Table for 10, $1,500; Premier Ticket, $500; Benefactor Ticket, $250; Individual Ticket, $150. RSVPs are required for attendance.

This year’s 2012 Gala Celebration is organized and presented by committee of volunteers. Mr. David Moore and Mrs. Mary Moore of Mendham serve as this year’s honorary committee chairs.  While Mr. Michael Dee and Mrs. Marilyn Dee of Bernardsville serve as event chairs, and Mr. David Budd and Mrs. Susan Budd of Chatham Township serve as silent auction chairs. Mr. Budd and Mr. Dee also serve as officers on GSWA’s Board of Trustees.  Mr. Budd serves as board chair, and Mr. Dee serves as vice-chair.
GSWA’s 2012 Gala Celebration is underwritten by generous donations from PSEG and Trump Golf.

For more information about the gala, Dr. DeVito, or GSWA, please visit www.GreatSwamp.org or call 973-538-3500.

Jockey Hollow: Where National and Natural History Intersect

Hike and interpretive campfire event at Morristown National Historical Park to highlight the importance of landscape in the American story.

Have you ever wondered what our part of the country looked like two hundred years ago? Do you know why George Washington thought that the land in and around nearby Jockey Hollow was perfect for his Continental Army encampment in 1779?  How did all those soldiers change Jockey Hollow and the animals and plants that called it home?  How has the legacy of this historic site affected the natural world of today?  The Morristown National Historical Park and the Great Swamp Watershed Association have some answers to these questions, and they want to share them with you.

On Friday, September 21, these two organizations will team up to present Jockey Hollow Explorers, a guided hike and campfire event that will help you learn more about the intersection of natural and cultural history at this important Revolutionary War site. Start the evening at 7:00 p.m. with a guided tour of the park’s natural sights and sounds courtesy of the Great Swamp Watershed Association. As you walk, keep your eyes peeled for bats, fireflies, white-tailed deer, and other wildlife. Keep your ears open too as we call out to the all the resident owls! Along the way, we'll talk about the land around Jockey Hollow, how much it's changed since the 1700s, and what might be done to restore and preserve its original character. After this gentle hike through the woods, you'll join a National Park Service interpreter around a warm campfire for some storytelling and history lessons. Learn about the Continental Army Encampment of 1779—80, how soldiers lived on the land, and why the area around Wick Farm provided a good base of operations for spying on the British in New York City.

This event is suitable for people of all ages and skill levels, and families with children are encouraged to attend. Space is limited, so participants are encouraged to register immediately. Visit www.GreatSwamp.org for information about what to bring and where to meet.

Register for this event online through the Great Swamp Watershed Association's website at www.GreatSwamp.org, or call 973-538-3500 x22.  There is no registration fee; however, voluntary donations to the Great Swamp Watershed Association are gratefully accepted. There is no suggested donation amount for current GSWA members and their families. The suggested donations amounts$ for non-member adults is $10 per person; for non-member children (6 to 17 years), $5 per child; for non-member families (includes 4 people), $35 per family. There is no suggested donation amount for children 5 and under.

Click here to register for this event.

Did You Know? Animals and Food

by Jim Northrop, GSWA Volunteer

The diversity of plant and animal life in the Great Swamp area is great. Probably none of us can experience it completely in our lifetimes, but many have tried. In fact, a branch of science called Zoology attempts an orderly classification of animal life, from the simplest to the most

complex.

Although it is easy to see that a bear is an animal and that a pine tree is a plant, some of the smaller animals and plants are not obviously members of their respective kingdoms. Most animals can be distinguished by their ability to move; yet there are microscopic water plants that swim as freely as animals do.

All animals large enough to be seen with the naked eye obtain energy by eating plants or other animals. Surprisingly, a few microscopic animals are like green plants because they also capture energy from sunlight through the process of photosynthesis, and use simple chemical compounds dissolved in water as food.

Thus, it seemed that some consistent method must be developed to distinguish animals from plants, and to separate one kind of animal from another. One useful way to do this is an analysis of food habits.

The food habits of an animal will give information concerning its structure and function, some of the animals related to it, and a general idea of the environment in which it lives. Sometimes a broad category of food habits will cover a wide variety of creatures.

Herbivores.  Any animal that eats only vegetable matter is a herbivore, or plant-eater. Herbivores eat grasses, leaves, twigs, succulent plants, and other types of vegetation. The classification encompasses such different creatures as caterpillars and cows.

Carnivores.  Animals that eat the flesh of other animals are called carnivores, meat-eaters. Animals as different as lions and ladybird beetles appear in this category. When a cat pounces on a mouse, kills it, and eats it, the cat becomes a predatory carnivore. Animals such as the vulture and hyena are also carnivores, although they usually prefer to feed on dead animals, so they are referred to as scavenger carnivores. Domestic animals also become scavengers at times, such as when a dog rummages through refuse.

Omnivores.  The most familiar omnivores, creatures that eat both animal and vegetable matter, are human beings and the domestic pig. Some aquatic omnivores subsist on food so small that they must strain it from the water. Clams and oysters are examples. Even giant whales, which may be as long as 110 feet, filter their food. They swim mouth open, until small crustaceans, plankton, and other types of food are caught between thin plates known as whalebone (or baleen) that hang down in the mouth cavity. Then they close their mouths and swallow the contents.

Symbionts.  Animals that form a beneficial partnership with animals of some other kind or a similar partnership with a living plant are symbionts. If both partners in a symbiotic arrangement benefit equally, the relationship is mutualistic. If one benefits without harming the other, it is a commensal relationship; if one gains at the expense of the other, it is parasitic.

Many termites illustrate mutualism. They chew and swallow wood but cannot digest the wood fibers until they are predigested by minute animals that inhabit the termites' digestive tract. These minute animals could not obtain wood fibers without the termites; the termites could not utilize the wood fibers if the minute animals did not first digest them.

Certain minute insects parasitize plants by producing chemicals that irritate the plants into forming unnatural swellings on the leaf or stem, producing deformed terminal buds. These galls provide a place for the insects to live while they suck sap from the plant. Each type has a distinctive shape and inner structure.

Organizing animal creatures into categories based on their food habits has value because all animals must eat to survive. What's amazing is the diversity of ways animals satisfy this survival need.

Before your next meal, appreciate how the human animal's food habits, while so diverse, are satisfied so much better than the needs of many other animals in our Great Swamp area! For example, while food for most animals is plentiful in the warm seasons, winter's food supply for most animals is meager, and there is not much that non-human animals can do about it.  For human animals in winter, however, their Great Swamp Watershed area food stores simply shift suppliers to those in California, Mexico or other warmly bountiful locations.

Did You Know? All About Bees!

by Jim Northrop

Perhaps honeybees are the most highly organized members of the bee species.  Not only do they create complex social organizations, but they continually store honey (made from the nectar of flowers) and bee bread (a material made from pollen), to feed themselves and their young. Honeybees continue to store honey and bee bread not only for the breeding season, but also to sustain the hive during the winter. However, the story of the typical queen bee would rival the conspiracies of a medieval palace.

During the greater part of the year, the population of a honeybee hive is composed exclusively of two sorts of individuals --- the mother, or queen bee, and workers, or neuter bees (which are sterile females). The males, or drones, generally appear in May and are all dead by the end of July. The queen lives for several years, the workers only one to two months in seasons of activity, and the drones one to two months. 

The queen has a longer body and shorter wings than the workers. She can use her sting repeatedly without rupturing herself, and normally will use it within minutes after escaping from her pupal cell. She will explore the hive thoroughly and sting to death all other queens present, even those that have not yet emerged as adults.

The old queen, with a large number of bee workers, has already left in a swarm, to find a new place for a colony. The young queen soon goes out on her nuptial flight, pursued by dozens of drones. Within two days she is back in the hive, prepared to lay eggs at the rate of 200 a day for the rest of her life. She lays each egg in a separate cell in the brood region of the hive, a short distance away from cells in which honey or bee bread are stored.

The life of a worker bee follows a regular schedule, with tasks changing to match development of various glands in her body. She produces saliva as a varnish for the cells in which the queen will lay eggs. She visits the honey stores and cells with bee bread, to get food she can regurgitate for the larvae of different ages.

After a few days of guarding the door from intruders, she becomes a field bee. Each day, until their wings wear out, field bees daily gather nectar, pollen, resinous materials for sealing cracks in the hive. When weather is hot and temperatures rise, field bees also gather water to cool the hive through the process of evaporation. A single hive may contain 60,000 workers at one time.

Worker honeybees appear to change their behavior according to the amount of a “queen substance” produced by their queen, and the amount of food stored in the hive. They communicate with each other in the darkness of the hive by special dances and sounds that tell other workers the direction and approximate distance to food they have found, as well as some measure of its abundance.

While some people like to compare the organizational talents of honey bees and those of human endeavors, perhaps it is just as well that humans have never achieved the unfailing, inflexible organizational discipline of the honey bee.

About the Author. Jim Northrop is a long-time member of and volunteer for the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA). A resident of Madison, New Jersey, he has served on GSWA's Board of Trustees and currently lends his support to the organization's Land Use Committee and it Communications Taskforce. Jim has authored many articles that appear in GSWA's biannual newsletter, its monthly eNewsletter, its website, and its several blog outlets.

Beneficial Bats: Why We Cannot Afford To Lose These Furry Barnstormers

by Jim Nothrop

Many people that I know are scared of bats ---- especially if they encounter them at night. The problem may be more with us than with the bats. Centuries of myths and misinformation have generated needless fears. At the same time, most people are unaware of the ways in which bats actually benefit humans without ever actually being a danger.

Having suggested a more positive image for the bat, we now need to know that in many areas of the U.S. (including the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge) a virulent fungus is killing many of them. To date, scientists have not discovered how this fungus (called White-Nose Syndrome) actually kills the bats, or what to do about it. But to the extent bats are being killed off in large numbers by White-Nose Syndrome, human beings are losing valuable benefits we were perhaps not even aware we have been receiving from those “scary” creatures.

There are more than 1,200 species of bats (about one-fifth of all mammal species), says Bat Conservation International, Inc. (BCI). They range from the world’s smallest mammal, the tiny bumblebee bat that weighs less than a penny, to giant flying foxes with six-foot wingspans. Except for the most extreme desert and polar regions, says BCI, bats have lived in almost every habitat on Earth since the age of the dinosaurs.
BCI confirms that only three species of bats, all in Latin America, are vampires. They really do feed on blood, although they lap it up like kittens rather than sucking it up (as horror movies suggest). Even the vampires are useful --- an enzyme in their saliva is among the most potent blood-clot dissolvers known and is used to treat human stroke victims.

Bats can be found living in almost any conceivable shelter, though BCI says they are best known for living in caves. Many species that now live mostly in buildings do so, at least in part, because of shrinking natural habitat.


Benefits of Bats

Bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects, including many of the most damaging agricultural pests and others that bedevil humans (like mosquitoes), says BCI. More than two-thirds of bat species hunt insects, and they have healthy appetites. BCI says that a single little brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquito-sized insects in a single hour, while a pregnant or lactating female bat typically eats the equivalent of her entire body weight in insects each night.

BCI notes that almost a third of the world’s bats feed on the fruit or nectar of plants. In return for their meals, these bats are vital cross-pollinators of countless plants. Bats that drink the sweet nectar inside flowers pick up a dusting of pollen and move it along to other flowers as they feed. BCI reports that a few of the commercial products that depend on bat pollinators for wild or cultivated varieties include: bananas, avocadoes, dates, figs, peaches, mangoes, cloves, cashews and balsa wood. Bats also are major seed dispersers in the regeneration of rainforests.


What Is the “White-Nose Syndrome” That Is Stealthily Killing Our Bats?

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reports that in February 2006 some 40 miles west of Albany, N.Y., a caver photographed hibernating bats with an unusual white substance on their muzzles. He noticed several dead bats. The following winter, bats behaving erratically, bats with white noses, and a few hundred dead bats in several caves came to the attention of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation biologists, who documented White-Nose Syndrome in January 2007. More than a million hibernating bats have died since. Biologists with state and federal agencies and organizations across the country are still trying to find the answer to this deadly mystery.

Sick, dying and dead bats have been found in unprecedented numbers in and around caves and mines from New Hampshire to Tennessee. In some hibernation sites, 90 to 100 percent of the bats are dying. While they are in the hibernation site, affected bats often have white fungus on their muzzles and other parts of their bodies. They may have low body fat. These bats often display strange behavior ---- moving to cold parts of the hibernation site, flying during the day and during cold winter weather when the insects they feed upon are not available, and they exhibit other uncharacteristic behaviors.

Despite the continuing search by numerous laboratories, and state and federal biologists, to find the source of this condition, the cause of the bat deaths remains unknown. A newly discovered cold-loving fungus (Geomyces destructans) does invade the skin of the bats and may be part of the answer. Scientists are exploring how the fungus acts and searching for a way to stop it. Answers to these questions are needed very soon.


About the Author. Jim Northrop is a long-time member of and volunteer for the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA). A resident of Madison, New Jersey, he has served on GSWA's Board of Trustees and currently lends his support to the organization's Land Use Committee and it Communications Taskforce. Jim has authored many articles that appear in GSWA's biannual newsletter, its monthly eNewsletter, its website, and its several blog outlets.

The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt: You've Never Seen The Swamp Like This Before

Did you know that you can watch bald eagles hunt for fish in suburban New Jersey?  Were you aware that the best place to catch a glimpse of America’s newest frog species is right here in Morris and Somerset Counties?  Do you remember why George Washington thought Morristown was a great place to camp the Continental Army during the worst winter of the Revolutionary War?

If you answered “no” to any of these question, then it’s probably time to take a refresher course on all of the amazing sites of natural, cultural, and historic importance hiding in your own backyard.

Starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt offers you, your family, and your friends a chance to reacquaint yourself with a few of the places and people that put New Jersey’s Great Swamp region on the proverbial map.  Oh yeah, it will be LOTS of fun too!

Since January, the Great Swamp Watershed Association has been working with the Friends of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Harding Land Trust, the Morris County Park Commission, the Morristown National Historical Park, the New Jersey Audubon Society, The Raptor Trust, the Somerset County Park Commission, and the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge  to create a one-of-a-kind interactive tour of the 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed.

Armed with a list of both GPS coordinates and street addresses, your own sense of adventure, and the Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt Clue Kit you pick up at Loantaka Brook Reservation (75 Kitchell Rd. in Morristown), you will get the chance to spend as much time as you like exploring more than a dozen sites of local, regional, and national significance, including the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (Harding), the Morristown National Historical Park (Morristown), the Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center (Chatham), the Somerset County Environmental Education Center (Basking Ridge), the Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary (Bernardsville), and The Raptor Trust (Long Hill).

Along the way, your Clue Kit may prompt you to get out of your car or off your bicycle to find out what each destination is all about. Other challenge questions can be answered from the convenience of your car. Pay close attention at each stop because you will need to answer several challenge questions to prove that you have completed all your explorations.

Scavenge as much as you like, and wherever you like. But, remember, the more places you visit and the more Great Swamp challenge questions you answer correctly, the higher your Scavenger Hunt score will be.  Those who return to Loantaka Brook Reservation at 4:00 p.m. with the highest scores will be eligible receive special prizes provided and made possible by underwriters at PSEG, PNC Bank, REI – Recreation Equipment, Inc. (East Hanover), Blue Ridge Mountain Sports (Madison), and BaseCamp Adventure Outfitters (Bernardsville).

While you wait for your Scavenger Hunt score to be tallied, the Great Swamp Watershed Association will treat you and your fellow scavengers to a picnic in honor of all you have seen and experienced throughout the day. Celebrate! You earned it!

If this sounds like fun for you, your family, and your friends, you can register to participate in the Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt by visiting GreatSwamp.org on the Web right now!  Registration is FREE, although donations are most welcome.  If you prefer, you may register to participate onsite at Loantaka Brook Reservation on May 19 between 9:00 a.m. and noon.

Click here to download and print a scavenger hunt flyer!

For more information about The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt, please visit www.GreatSwamp.org/EventReg.htm, call 973-538-3500, or send an email message to events@greatswamp.org.

It's Time To Start Conserving Water in New Jersey

New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection recently urged citizens to conserve as much water as possible.

Despite the recent nor'easter that prompted flood warnings throughout the state, New Jersey is experiencing a rainfall deficit thanks to a dry winter and an equally dry start to the spring season. In fact, here in Morris County, rainfall amounts stand at 5.8 inches BELOW normal (for the past 90 days).
Some of the environmental threats posed by these severely dry conditions are obvious. Take, for example, the recent spate of brush fires that have raged out of control and damaged property in the Meadowlands and the Pine Barrens.

Perhaps less obvious are threats facing groundwater throughout the state. In a press release dated April 27, 2012, NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin remarked, "Most concerning is that our stream levels and groundwater supplies are extremely stressed." Private and municipal well owners whose aquifers are shallow and unconfined should consider implementing water austerity measures before the peak-water-usage months of summer arrive.

New Jersey's current situation stands a far cry from that of the late-summer and early-fall months of 2011 when an abundance of precipitation resulted in several destructive flooding events in our area. However, it is important to remember that heat and rainfall conditions can change rapidly along with overall weather patterns. A few days of dry and windy weather could set water levels back even further, while a period of fast, heavy rains could produce unexpected flooding.

If you want more information about recent weather patterns and extreme weather events in New Jersey, check out GSWA's YouTube Channel and the video "Why Is New Jersey's Weather Changing?" Recorded on April 10 at GSWA's offices in Morristown, this presentation from guest speaker Dr. Anthony Broccoli of the Rutgers University Center for Environmental Prediction systematically reviews significant weather events in New Jersey between December 2010 and April 2012.


If you are looking for some practical water conservation tips from NJDEP that you can voluntarily implement at your home, check out the following list of tips from NJDEP.

• Do not over-water lawns and landscaping. Watering two times per week for 20-30 minutes in early morning or early evening ensures that plants receive the most water while developing strong, healthy root systems.
• Make sure sprinklers and irrigation systems do not water during or immediately after a rain and are set to avoid wasting water on the street, driveway and sidewalk.
• Use a hose with a hand-held nozzle to water flowers and shrubs.
• Turn off the faucet while brushing teeth and shaving.
• To save water in the home, fix leaky faucets and pipes.
• Run washing machines and dishwashers only when full.
• Install high-efficiency, water saving toilets, faucets and shower heads
• Use a broom to sweep the sidewalk, rather than a hose;  Use mulch and native plants to conserve water in the garden
• Use a rain barrel to capture water from a downspout to use later for watering gardens and plants
• Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation to water trees, gardens and flower beds.

Please be a good water steward and do what you can to conserve!

More information about water conservation and water supply status in all of New Jersey's drought regions can be found at www.njdrought.org.