Debate over New Jersey plan to revise endangered-species list

For the first time in eight years, New Jersey officials are tinkering with the state's endangered-species list, resulting in praise and criticism from environmental groups.

Five species would be added to the list under a preliminary plan approved by Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin. Several species whose populations have made recoveries would be reclassified.

Protected habitats would be remapped based on the revised list and new scientific research, officials said.

The proposal was prepared by the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee in an attempt to simplify the list and update it to reflect changes in species populations, said Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesman.

In one change, eight species would be considered endangered only at certain times of the year, such as during breeding or nesting. The proposal also would streamline category classifications, eliminating designations such as "declining" and replacing them with "special concern."

New to the endangered species list would be three birds - the red knot, the golden-winged warbler, and the black rail bird - along with the Indiana bat and the gray petaltail dragonfly.

Bald eagles, which have rebounded remarkably in recent years, would be on the endangered list during breeding season - from January to August - and on the threatened list the rest of the year. Seven other bird species would be similarly reclassified.

The public has until March 19 to submit comments to the DEP, which could make revisions to the plan.

The endangered list - which includes 46 species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, mammals, and fish - was created by the state Legislature in 1973 to conserve New Jersey's biological diversity.

Reappraising the list is a complicated task, but it was "way past the time to do it," said Dave Jenkins, chief of the Endangered and Nongame Species Program.

"You can't revise it every time there is a change for an individual species, but it is now eight years since this has been changed. . . . It is essential to reexamine the status of the whole suite of species," Jenkins said.

Wildlife experts - DEP officials as well as academics and scientists from the private sector - used a process called the "Delphi Technique" to make recommendations. Information on species populations, distributions, habitat needs, and other ecological and biological data were considered, Hajna said.

"Absent our ability to count every single bird or butterfly, this is the best science-based technique we have," said Margaret O'Gorman, executive director of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation.

Environmental groups have endorsed and knocked the plan, which was published last week.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter, said the plan represented a "significant rollback" of state environmental protections for water quality, flood-prone areas, and forests.

"The protection of threatened and endangered species is not just about safeguarding animals and plants, but also protects sensitive lands and critical ecosystems that improve residents' quality of life," Tittel said.

Though some of the property in question is subject to coastal and Pinelands regulations, among other protections, about half is privately held, Hajna said.

Tittel fears that delisting land designated habitats could expose up to 31,000 now-protected acres - about 48 square miles - to developers.

The state says the changes would simply reflect different habitats and would not reduce the amount of protected land.

New Jersey Audubon officials believe the concept that land would be "lost" is inaccurate.

"The proposed amendments are the culmination of an exact, science-based process," said Eric Stiles, chief operating officer of the state Audubon Society, which strongly supports the plan.

Emile DeVito of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation agrees.

"There may be very good reason to protect 30,000 acres . . . but we can't hang our hat on one species to do that job for us when listing that species as threatened is no longer scientifically defensible," DeVito said.