177 acres: Saved

This is quite a place, apparently.

It's an area of vernal pools that are critical for amphibian breeding, wetland areas that provide bird habitat and the headwaters of Bear's Head Branch. More than 30 rare plants and animals live here. It includes forest pools, headwater streams and one of the healthiest freshwater marshes in New Jerysey.

And now, the Nature Conservancy and the Diocese of Camden have taken steps to preserve it. Although the property was under what Robert Allen, Director of Conservation Programs for The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey, called "significant development pressure," the diocese agreed to sell to the conservancy instead.

The property is in Cumberland County, N.J., near Vineland. Nearby is Peaslee Wildlife Management Area, known to birders as prime habitat for migrating warblers, tanagers and vireos. The project includes portions of the Cumberland forest, a swath of oaks and pines that protects freshwater wetland and provides migratory bird habitat.  It also includes portions of the Manumuskin River watershed.

The purchase is the first step in a plan to protect 493 acres of habitat over the next few years. The first phase is expected to cost just over $700,000 and was supported by a matching grant from the State's Green Acres Program as well as private funds. Ultimately, the conservancy needs more than $2 million over the next three years to preserve the full 493 acres of habitat.

Since 1955, the conservancy has protected more than 50,000 acres in the state.