Highlighted
MMAs: Sedge Islands Marine
Conservation Zone
Tidelands Act (Title 1 – N.J.S.A. 12:3 – 1 et seq.)
The Sedge Islands/Island
Beach State Park Marine Conservation
Zone as example of marine zoning
in New Jersey
As New Jersey’s first Marine Conservation
Zone, the Sedge Islands/Island Beach State Park Marine
Conservation Zone was designed to reduce the environmental
impacts of personal watercraft and better manage wildlife,
recreation and traditional uses of the area.
Protecting and preserving this sensitive
marine habitat and the natural vegetation of this shallow
tidal marsh area of Barnegat Bay is critical for the
environmental health of the bay and its resources. The
Marine Conservation Zone plays an important role in
protecting sensitive habitat, including bird-nesting
and foraging sites, and successfully resolves conflict
issues between personal watercraft and living resources
within the area.
NJ Senate Resolution (SJR 30) supported
the efforts of the Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) to establish a marine conservation zone in Barnegat
Bay adjacent to Island Beach State Park. The Tidelands
Resource Council approved a license for management of
the submerged lands issued to the State Park Service
and Natural Lands Council for a period of 22 years.
Further, SJR30 directs the DEP and the council to ensure
the prompt implementation of a management plan for this
marine conservation zone.
Creating a marine conservation zone
restricts personal watercraft from knee-deep waters
within 300 feet of the Sedge Islands and backbay area
of Island Beach State Park while still allowing traditional
boating, kayaking, fishing and hunting activities to
continue.
The partnership establishing this Marine
Conservation Zone involved approval by the Tidelands
Resource Council the Division of Parks and Forestry
and the Division of Fish and Wildlife within the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Note: Map
is courtesy of Save Barnegat
Bay.
Relevant
Agencies/Programs:
Marine Managed
Area Systems:
|
Natural
Areas |
|
Natural Areas
System Act (N.J.S.A. 13:1B-15.12a
et seq.) |
New
Jersey Meadowlands Green
Plan |
|
Hackensack
Meadowlands Reclamation & Development
Act (NJSA 13:17-1 et seq.) |
Wild
and Scenic Rivers |
|
New Jersey
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
(N.J.S.A. 13:8-45 et seq.) |
State
Parks |
|
State Parks
Acquisition (N.J.S.A. 13:8A;
13:1L) |
Wildlife
Management Areas |
|
Wildlife Management
Areas (N.J.S.A. 13:8-64) |
Barrier
Island Corridors |
|
Coastal Area
Facility Review Act (CAFRA;
N.J.S.A. 13:19-1 et seq.)
Waterfront Development Law (N.J.S.A. 12:5-3) |
Endangered/Threatened
Vegetation/Wildlife Habitat |
|
Coastal Area
Facility Review Act (CAFRA;
N.J.S.A. 13:19-1 et seq.)
Waterfront Development Law (N.J.S.A. 12:5-3) |
Existing
Lagoon Edges |
|
Coastal Area
Facility Review Act (CAFRA;
N.J.S.A. 13:19-1 et seq.)
Waterfront Development Law (N.J.S.A. 12:5-3) |
Finfish
Migration Pathways |
|
Waterfront
Development Law (N.J.S.A.
12:5-3)
Tidelands Act (N.J.S.A. 12:3-1 et seq.) |
Higbee
Beach - Pond Creek Meadow
Area |
|
Coastal Area
Facility Review Act (CAFRA;
N.J.S.A. 13:19-1 et seq.) |
Intertidal
and Subtidal Shallows |
|
Waterfront
Development Law (N.J.S.A.
12:5-3)
Tidelands Act (N.J.S.A. 12:3-1 et seq.) |
Marina
Moorings Areas |
|
Waterfront
Development Law (N.J.S.A.
12:5-3)
Tidelands Act (N.J.S.A. 12:3-1 et seq.) |
Submerged
Vegetation Habitat |
|
Waterfront
Development Law (N.J.S.A.
12:5-3)
Tidelands Act (N.J.S.A. 12:3-1 et seq.) |
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