Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002

Nature has endowed New Jersey with splendid physical resources that support the vast industrial system built by man. To preserve, develop, and stimulate the utilization of these natural benefits is the task of the New Jersey State Department of Conservation and Development, the State Planning Board, the State Fish and Game Commission, and other public and private agencies.

The land problem involves soil conservation, forestry work, and the se- lection of areas for recreational uses or watershed purposes. Water policy includes provision for an adequate drinking and industrial supply, maintenance of streams and lakes for recreation and power development, pollution abatement, and flood control. The classification of minerals and determination of the extent and location of the supply are the work of the State geologist. Wild life resources are conserved by fish stocking, the establishment of game preserves, and the limitation of hunting and fishing.

Nearly one-half the total land area of the State is forest or "wild land," unsuited to farming because of inferior or depleted soil. Some of these 2,000,000 acres can be reclaimed for agriculture by improved methods of soil treatment, but the greater portion is most easily adapted to public uses such as recreation, development of timber and water supplies, and the preservation of wild life.

Although the pine lands of southern New Jersey are of small agricultural use, they have been found suitable for chicken farming and the cultivation of cranberries, blueberries, and timber. Similarly, dairying has flourished in the northern part of the State, where excessive slope has limited farming.

The principal soil conservation work in New Jersey is carried on by the Federal and State Departments of Agriculture on demonstration projects totaling 37,000 acres. In 1937 the legislature created the New Jersey Soil Conservation Committee, to have general control of all soil conservation activities and programs in the State. Crop rotation and strip cropping are two important techniques in the effort to avoid depletion and to protect the soil from erosion by water and wind.

For forest development as well as recreation the State maintains 8 forests, with a total acreage of 54,374, and 14 parks. The State forests range in size from 21,555 acres (Lebanon) to 43 acres (Jackson). Between these limits are the Bass River, Belleplain, Green Bank, jenny jump, Penn, and Stokes Forests. Forestry work includes investigation and experimentation, reforestation, cooperation with private landowners in forest problems, and -- most important of all -- the prevention and fighting of forest fires. Valuable timber in the State is largely confined to hardwoods in the north, and yellow pine and cedar in the south. The relative percentages of trees available are: oak, 47 percent; pine, 22 percent; maple, 7 percent; cedar, 6 percent; hemlock, 5 percent; all others, 13 percent.

The famous Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey consist of hundreds of square miles of stunted pine trees, swamps, and scrub growth. This area's history is an object lesson for conservationists. The original pine, cedar, and oak growth was recklessly cut for shipbuilding and charcoal burning until about 1860, when it was virtually exhausted. The second growth proved to be of poor quality, and the region has remained barren except for small sections where the State has treated the soil in an attempt to produce another healthy crop of pine or to develop transplanted species. To bolster the diminishing lumber trade within the next 75 years and to demonstrate the timber-growing possibilities of the State, the Department of Conservation and Development has purchased 35,000 acres of idle land, and these are being improved by scientific cutting and planting.

The State also maintains two forest nurseries where several million seedlings are grown annually for planting in State forests and for sale to landowners. In recent years the Civilian Conservation Corps has cooperated with the State forester by planting 40,000,000 trees and collecting between 7,000 and 8,000 pounds of tree seeds.

Reforestation consists of providing for immediate new growth of the tree species best suited to a particular locality, as mature timber is cut or destroyed. Reproduction may be effected by seedlings or sprouts from the original stand, or by artificial reforestation where natural reproduction is insufficient or where new tree species are desired.

The entire forest area from Port Jervis and Suffern to Cape May is under observation from 19 lookout and auxiliary tower stations. Fires are fought by crews with shovels, brooms, and other equipment, including pumps capable of forcing a stream of water through a mile of hose. Airplanes, for use in large fires, are now being equipped with two-way short wave radio apparatus. In the past 12 years there has been, in the face of a 35 percent increase in the number of fires, a 26 percent reduction in the total area burned and a 46 per cent decrease in the size of the average fire.

The problems of adequate domestic water supply, stream pollution, and water for power and recreation are handled by six State agencies and two interstate committees. The most important of these are the State Water Policy Commission and the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, which provide for an adequate water supply. The total daily domestic and industrial consumption of water in New Jersey is estimated at between 400 and 500 million gallons. The total water resources of the State have been placed at from 3,595 to 3,870 million gallons daily, the exact amount depending upon the extent to which the Delaware River ultimately can be utilized.

Important flood-control work is now in progress in the Passaic Valley, last flooded in 1936. The program includes creation of permanent lakes or reservoirs in the tributary areas of the river, and widening, deepening, and diking the river at strategic points. A flood problem that has not yet been solved is the further reclamation of the Passaic Meadows in the Newark area, where valuable land is now constantly under water.

According to the State Planning Board, New Jersey is weak in stream sanitation. The $3,500,000 shellfish industry has been driven to the Maurice River and the lower Delaware section by stream pollution in the Raritan and Shrewsbury Rivers areas. Similarly, in waters along the Atlantic coast, contamination by sewage and industrial waste threatens the deep-sea fish- ing industry. Oyster culture, centered in the Maurice River Cove, which contains the largest continuous oyster acreage in the world, is under the supervision of the Board of Shell Fisheries.

To safeguard these enterprises and to protect streams important to future water supply, the State Planning Board recommends the formation of joint sanitary districts to be administered by properly related committees. The gravest situation is in the New York Bay section, where pollution threatens the State's beaches; this danger is being met by the work of the Interstate Committee on New York Bay Pollution, of which New Jersey is a member. Although the amount of power derived from water in New Jersey is small compared to that of many other States, its annual value is estimated in excess of $800,000.

Probably all of the State's important mineral deposits have been located accurately by Federal and State surveys, so that now the major problem is to control the rate of extraction. The leading minerals are greensand marl, zinc, clay, potash, iron, talc, and quartz.

The zinc mines at Franklin are among the world's largest deposits of this mineral, and in total production rank second only to those of the Mississippi Valley. Ore from this locality is conspicuous because of the three colored minerals it contains-red zincite, black franklinite, and green willemite.

The tremendous marl deposits, estimated at almost four billion tons, are important for fertilizer, water softening, and sand stiffening in the glass industry. The greensands take their coloring from glauconite, which contains potash. Although commercial production from this source has not been tried, it is estimated that a thousand-year supply of potash for the Nation is available, should the expense of processing be justified.

The clay resources are used for fire bricks, high grade plastic pottery, stoneware, and terra cotta. Iron mining, as late as 1880 chief among the State's industries, has been reduced to insignificant proportions by com- petition from Lake Superior ores.

In the stone industries, the State ranks first as a producer of trap-rock. There are also extensive white and blue limestone deposits. Sand and gravel, important for road construction, are found in the Woodbridge and South Amboy area. Talc, the base for talcum powder, is abundant in serpentine rock near Phillipsburg. Large amounts of nearly pure quartz sand, valuable for glassmaking, are in the southern section.

The conservation of fish and game has been a cardinal point in the general conservation program of the State. Through its game management program, it maintains ten public shooting and fishing grounds and numerous game preserves, many of them in the State parks and forests. These are stocked from the State's wild life sanctuary, the State Fish Hatchery at Hackettstown, and three State game farms. The Fish and Game Commission also stocks private streams and lands.

The New Jersey State Planning Board, set up by the legislature in 1934, is preparing a master plan for the State. The board coordinates the activities of several State departments in order to attain a better distribution of public works expenditures in urban, agricultural, and undeveloped areas. In its First Annual Report of Progress (1935) the board stressed the importance of conservation and development, showing by reports and surveys the need for long-term planning in utilizing and protecting the State's natural resources.

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