NJAS Opinion: November, 2004

By Kathleen Bird, Policy Associate and
Eric Stiles, Vice President for Conservation & Stewardship

Deep in the heart of the nation's most densely populated state lies an oasis of biodiversity called the Sourland Mountain Region.  Simply called "the Sourlands" by the locals, this unspoiled landscape of forested ridges and pastoral farms successfully has staved off development for centuries, thanks mostly to its inhospitable soils, impenetrable rock and limited underground water supplies.  Now, we're on the brink of determining whether the Sourlands remains an oasis or implodes from poorly planned development. 

Located roughly halfway between New York and Philadelphia and sandwiched between the Pinelands to the south and the Highlands to the north, the Sourlands are facing growth pressure from all sides.  In the bull’s eye of a region that experienced unprecedented growth and suburban development during the 1990s, the Sourlands had remained pretty intact.  That is changing.

The Sourland Mountain Region spans approximately 90 square miles from the Delaware River and Lambertville to the west to Hillsborough Township to the east.  The region includes parts of eight municipalities in three counties making conserving this region a challenge-- East Amwell and West Amwell townships, Lambertville and a sliver of Delaware Township in Hunterdon County; Hopewell Borough and Hopewell Township in Mercer County and Hillsborough and Montgomery townships in Somerset County.

Long spared from suburbanization by its inhospitable conditions, the Sourlands have become an attractive place to developers building for clients who want to live in a wilderness only a half-hour from the traffic on Route 1.  McMansions are creeping up through the Valley grasslands and into the mountain’s flanks, threatening the future of the largest unbroken forest and grasslands in central New Jersey.

Anyone who has ever hiked the trails or biked the unpaved roads in the Sourlands knows first-hand that this place is a special refuge.  Its parks supply a world-class natural area for families and friends to explore.  The ridge and its surroundings has been a secret getaway for those fortunate enough to experience its magic.  Aviator Charles Lindbergh sought solace in the Sourlands, as did John Hart, who successfully hid here from advancing British soldiers during the Revolutionary War and later signed the Declaration of Independence.  But this place of rich history, legends and lore, heroes, poets, artists and outlaws, has always been an extra special place for its remarkable collection of non-human inhabitants and visitors.

The Sourlands is an essential part of the Atlantic Flyway that has been used by migratory birds for thousands of years.  The Sourlands provides the only large forest complex remaining in central New Jersey.  It plays a large, irreplaceable role accommodating hundreds of thousands of migrants like black-throated blue warblers seeking food and cover on their sojourns north and south!  The forest along the slopes of the low ridge is rich in food resources like insects and fruit that fuel birds traveling to wintering and breeding grounds. 

Dozens of Neotropical migrant species such as the scarlet tanager also breed in the Sourlands and over winter in the forests of Central America and South America.  Equally important, the adjacent grassland agricultural communities of the Amwell and Hopewell Valleys constitute some of the best remaining sites for threatened and endangered species like Bobolinks in New Jersey which require early successional habitat.

Over 90 percent of the region is habitat for threatened and endangered species.  Among the species are barred owl, bobcat, bobolink, Cooper’s hawk, grasshopper sparrow, savannah sparrow, upland sandpiper and wood turtle.

The Sourlands are important for more than just birds.  Vernal ponds abound – teeming with breeding spotted salamanders and wood frogs.  The large areas of mature, unbroken forest and perched wetlands provide the conditions needed to create the headwaters of many area streams.  The quality and quantity of central New Jersey's drinking water supply depends on protecting our natural resources.

Thankfully, local activists realize that the features that make the Sourlands so special must be scrupulously protected to ward off poorly planned development.

The Sourland Planning Council, a grassroots citizen organization formed in 1986, is facilitating an exciting project funded by the state’s Office of Smart Growth.  The work has included creation of a natural resources inventory; hydrogeology studies; a build-out analysis that provides a snapshot of what the Sourlands might look like in the future; and an open space and conservation plan.  The New Jersey Audubon Society is participating in the project and will be involved in crafting recommendations for government at all levels to protect the Sourlands.

The municipalities are already discussing how they can use these important studies to implement joint land-use strategies.  This kind of regional planning is critically important.

While the Sourlands municipalities in recent years have increased the minimum lot size for a house in the mountain's core, they also need to revisit the appropriateness of current zoning on the edges, which are much more vulnerable to development pressure.  Municipalities need to map and protect critical wildlife habitat and aquifer recharge areas and encourage clustering options that would create denser development in appropriate locations while preserving large swaths of forest and grassland habitat.  Large-lot sprawl scattered throughout the region will destroy habitat.

Recently, several organizations including regional nonprofit organizations including Delaware & Raritan Greeenway and the state have made preservation of the Sourlands ridge and Amwell and Hopewell Valleys a high priority.  But there isn’t enough money and time to buy it all up before it's too late.  Additional initiatives are needed:

1. Governor Codey should issue an Executive Order outlining a comprehensive strategy directing state agencies to protect the Sourlands resources.
2. Governor Codey should issue the long overdue threatened and endangered species habitat protection rules.
3. Government and non-profit entities should bolster their efforts to acquire development rights.
4. The Sourlands should become a focal region for federal and state landowner incentive programs that would pay for innovative conservation practices on private property especially on farmland.  Private landowners should be rewarded for helping conserve our children’s natural heritage.  Preserving the area’s pasture and hay farming community is critical to Sourlands conservation!
5. The state should identify the Sourlands as a Special Resource Area in the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan.

It is important to recognize that state government alone cannot save the Sourlands.  The fate of this rare New Jersey wilderness rests largely in the hands of local officials who can choose to be good stewards and use all of the tools in their land-use tool boxes, such as shrinking the size of the building envelope on a site, adopting ordinances to protect critical wildlife habitat and establish vegetation requirements. 

The Sourlands, which had remained almost frozen in time for centuries, are at risk from rapid poorly planned development.  Absent immediate action, the Sourlands' natural resources and quality of life will be forever altered.  The prospects appear encouraging and all of the key ingredients for success exist.  Municipalities, working with the counties, the state and nonprofit organizations like New Jersey Audubon Society and the Sourland Planning Council -- while involving landowners and other stakeholders including the general public -- can make it work.