BROWNS MILLS, NJ – It will take Pemberton Township a year to gather all the information needed for a comprehensive natural resource report, but when it’s finished, the report will provided a wealth of insight into the history and environmental resources that are within the township boundaries.
The project — environmental resource inventory (ERI) — officially began this week. Local officials, environmental representatives and residents met to better understand how to gather information and how to approach specific ecological options.
Representatives of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC), members of Pemberton Township Environmental Commission and Planning Board, and Pemberton Township Mayor David Patriarca were in attendance.
The final ERI will provide a comprehensive look at the township and will encompass the historical and present day township environment. This includes an assessment of the physical characteristic such as the soil, composition, surface and ground water resources, archeological site, plant and animal diversity including endangered and threatened species, land use patterns and current preservation methods.
The ERI will be a useful tool for residents, DVRPC and the township. Education about the township’s resources is one of the cornerstones of the inventory — it will become an important source of information for township residents. They will be able to understand how these resources affect their daily lives and how this information can be used as a tool to protect these resources from being wasted or inadvertently mismanaged.
Throughout the coming year the Pemberton Township Environmental Commission will be holding several meeting. Residents are invited to provide information for the report. There is a lot of local historical data that residents have. This information will provide significant depth and richness to the final ERI.
This project is being supported by a $6,000 grant from ANJEC with matching funds from Pemberton Township. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will provide a significant amount of support to this project through access to the Geographical Information System, which has data on most of the resources within the township.
