Tag: New Jersey Conservation Foundation
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Regenerating native forests to fight climate change
By Michele S. Byers In the effort to slow climate change, forests are a powerful ally. Trees naturally remove harmful carbon dioxide from the air and store, or “sequester,” it in their roots, branches and wood. But future generations of giant canopy trees must be able to reproduce. As individual trees are lost to storms,…
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Cicadas will re-emerge in New Jersey during spring of 2021
By Michele S. Byers After 17 years of socially distancing underground, billions of “magic” insects are about to come out for a party spreading across swaths of the northeastern United States, including New Jersey. If they Are in your neighborhood, it will get noisy. These flying insects, periodical cicadas of the genus Magicicada, are known…
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Will New Jersey remain Garden State or become Warehouse State?
By Michele S. Byers New Jersey has long been known as the Garden State and keeping this title in the face of sprawl development is tough. Now the COVID-19 pandemic has indirectly added a new threat to this state we’re in’s nickname. Even before COVID-19, brick and mortar malls and shopping centers were in decline.…
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Take a tech break and get outside
By Michele S. Byers Spring is here and many folks are itching to boost their health and fitness. But with more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, too many of us are still stuck at computer screens: working from home, socializing online, exercising in virtual classes and even supervising children’s virtual schoolwork. Health professionals…
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Spring ephemerals get their moment in the sun
By Michele S. Byers Take a walk in the woods this month and check out the forest floor. There in the dappled sunlight, popping up through last year’s leaves, you may spot the short-lived flowers of native perennials known as “spring ephemerals.” Spring ephemerals are native woodland wildflowers that bloom during the brief window of…
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Celebrate 50 years of organic farming
By Michele S. Byers When Mark Canright’s father, John, opened his organic farm in Somerset County in 1974, many customers did not know what “organic” meant or why it was important. “Farmer John’s Organic Produce was the first farm in New Jersey that called itself ‘organic.’ We spent a lot of time explaining to people…
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Opinion: Save the Sourlands
I was having coffee with a friend once, and she said, “I’m not a birder. Why should I care about birds?” I said, “You love coffee, so you must love birds!” The brilliant scarlet tanager spends winter in Central and South America. Like lots of colorful songbirds, she spends her winter vacation in the dense…
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Author inspires thought through study of animal culture in ‘Becoming Wild’
By Michele S. Byers With spring having arrived on March 20, we will get to enjoy seeing a multitude of animals as they migrate back to New Jersey, come out of hibernation, mate and have babies, and raise their families. Animal behaviors are fascinating: How do they know how to do everything from hunting for…
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British government report: Don’t undervalue ‘nature’s capital’
By Michele S. Byers In the world of finance, “capital” usually refers to monetary wealth, often needed for starting and maintaining a business. Businesses without enough capital may be doomed to failure. Did you know nature has capital? Nature’s capital includes water, air, geology, soil and the planet’s diverse plant and animal species. These assets…
