Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee
New Jersey Sierra Club
MISSION STATEMENT
The Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee is dedicated to the protection of wild animals, particularly threatened and endangered species, and their habitat within the state of New Jersey. Specifically, but not limited to:
- Opposing or mitigating harm from projects to species and their habitat
- Enhancing increased protection for animals by defining harm in New Jersey law
- Educating people in New Jersey about threats to animals and their habitat
- Collaborating with other concerned organizations working on similar issues
Join the NJSC Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee by emailing Jamie at jamiez@newjersey.sierraclub.org.
Current Projects:
- Stopping the NJ bear hunt and implementing a nonlethal bear management plan:
- Urging the Murphy Administration to uphold their promise to end the indiscriminate state-wide bear hunt and instead replace it with a science-based management plan that includes passage of the Bear Smart Bill and similar legislation to require reductions in bear-human interactions.
- Working with the New Jersey legislature and the Murphy Administration to adequately fund bear-proof garbage containers in areas of New Jersey with a high population of bears.
- Supporting Wildlife Corridor Legislation: Supporting bill S3618 and the creation of a State Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. Wildlife corridors are essential to keeping wildlife out of harm’s way and out of the roadway for New Jersey residents. They provide critical connectivity to and between habitats, which in New Jersey is increasingly difficult given our dense population and urban infrastructure.
- Support Responsible Offshore Wind Development & Marine Mammal Protection: Emphasizing the need to use the best available science and data regarding marine mammal strandings, acknowledging that climate change poses an enormous threat to marine ecosystems. Continuing support for responsible offshore wind development in full compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which calls for protected species observers to be aboard all vessels conducting survey work. Urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Coast Guard to appropriately and robustly enforce the 2008 vessel speed rule to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW). OCEANA recently released this report on the harmful impact of vessel strikes on whales, and Congressman Pallone sent this letter calling on NOAA and the US Coast Guard to better enforce the rule.
- Changing the state definition of harm to protect wildlife: We are working to amend the state definition of “harm” as referred to by Fish and Wildlife to increase protections for wildlife and their habitats.