As the state considers long-overdue updates to its development plan, environmental advocates are mounting an urgent campaign to protect the Sourland Mountain Region—one of New Jersey’s most ecologically vital but threatened landscapes.
The Sourland Conservancy is calling on the New Jersey State Planning Commission to immediately designate the region as an Area of Critical State Concern (ACSC), a move that would bring heightened protections and resources to an area under intense ecological pressure. A public petition supporting the effort has now surpassed 1,200 signatures.
“The Sourland Forest works hard for all of us,” said Laurie Cleveland, executive director of the Sourland Conservancy. “This is our chance to give back.”
Spanning over 90 square miles across Mercer, Somerset and Hunterdon counties, the Sourlands form the largest contiguous forest in Central Jersey. The region helps filter pollutants, store carbon, prevent flooding, and supply clean drinking water to more than 800,000 residents in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But in recent years, it has seen massive losses: more than one million trees—nearly one in five—have died due to a single invasive insect, the Emerald Ash Borer.
“As the ash trees die, invasive plants move in,” Cleveland said. “Once the forest is degraded, restoration work is much more difficult, and in many cases impossible.”
Despite the mounting challenges, the state’s preliminary draft plan stops short of action. It lists the Sourlands as a site that could be considered for ACSC designation in the future. Advocates say that timeline is dangerously out of sync with the ecological reality on the ground.
“We say the time is now,” said Cleveland.
The Conservancy and its volunteers have been leading restoration efforts across the region—removing invasive plants such as autumn olive, multiflora rose and mugwort; planting native species, including thousands of trees every year; and coordinating seasonal amphibian crossing events to protect migrating wood frogs, spring peepers and spotted salamanders. The amphibian crossing program also helps collect population data to monitor ecosystem health.
“For every female salamander we help across the street, that could be hundreds of eggs saved to hopefully get more salamanders,” said volunteer coordinator Juanita Hummel at a recent crossing where dozens of salamanders and frogs were helped across the street.
In February, the Conservancy submitted a formal letter of support for ACSC designation to the State Planning Commission, co-signed by 25 environmental organizations, including the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Highlands Coalition, The Watershed Institute, D&R Greenway Land Trust, and Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space.
Six municipalities have also adopted resolutions supporting the designation: the City of Lambertville, Hillsborough Township, Montgomery Township, Hopewell Township, East Amwell Township and Raritan Township. The Conservancy continues to encourage residents of neighboring communities to ask their local officials to do the same.
The ecological importance of the region is undisputed. The Sourlands are home to 57 state-listed threatened and endangered species, as well as deep forest habitat, wetlands and vernal pools. The National Audubon Society has designated the entire region as a Continental Important Bird Area—one of just 113 in the U.S. Migratory birds that travel between South America and the Arctic rely on Sourland resources to complete their journeys.
“If the chain breaks, ecosystems from the Arctic to South America will be impacted,” said Cleveland.
Advocates argue that official ACSC designation would help secure resources for forest restoration, support coordinated wildlife management, and ensure that new development does not further erode the region’s ecological integrity.
“This is a fight for clean water, for biodiversity, for climate resilience—and it’s happening right here in New Jersey,” the petition reads.
The Conservancy is urging residents to act ahead of the state’s comment deadline. The public can sign the petition at Change.org and is encouraged to contact state and local officials to voice their support by April 16. Learn more at Change.org and the Sourland Conservancy.
photos by Seth Siditsky
