Pinelands Commission

    The New Jersey Pinelands Commission is responsible for the protection of the 1.1 million acre Pinelands National Reserve in southern New Jersey.  When a municipality inside the reserve wants to develop land, an application must be sent in and reviewed by the Pinelands Commission. 

    The Pinelands became a National Reserve in 1978 under the National  Parks and Recreation Act of that year.  The reason for it becoming a reserve is the abundance of endangered species unique to the area and the 17 trillion gallon Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifier.

    I got to talk with Joel Mott from the Pinelands Commission yesterday afternoon.  Mott’s been working as a public programs specialist at the Commission for the past seven years.  He is the guy who is in charge of setting up public events such as the Summer Speaker Series which starts in June (I’ll have more information on the Series as it gets closer) and awareness education programs in schools.  Mott’s also the go to guy for all information concerning the Pinelands, which is why I’m glad to have had the chance to chat with him.  Before he worked for the Pinelands Commission Mott was a park ranger in Gettysburg and at the Big Hole National Battlefield in Montana.

    In the following video Mott uses a map of the New Jersey Pinelands to describe the Pinelands Protection Plan.  This plan determines the location and extent of development throughout the Pinelands.