Trail survey

If you use trails in New Jersey, here is a survey from the NJ DEP about trails and trail use.

Lost species

How can we lose a plant species? Especially one that is common and naturally occurring? Well, this is such a concern that every year we "celebrate" a Day of Commemoration for Lost Species. And the list keeps growing.

Another $65,000 in the fight against climate change?

 Is this our best response to increased flooding in a changing climate? New gates to close the roads? 

UNESCO World Heritage list in the US

 You don't need to travel to Europe or South America to visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are multiple sites within an easy drive of Rutgers. And there are even more all throughout the US (28, to be precise), with the National Park Service and the Department of Interior maintaining a list of future candidate sites to list. Here is a list/map of the US sites.

What should be added? What is a site that is significant to the entire world's population?

FlowingData's warning about dishonest charts

 In the GISciences, people often cite Mark Monmonier's How to Lie with Maps. It is a very accessible guide to the ways that maps can trick us and how cartographers, even well meaning ones, can create maps that mislead.

So I am quite taking with the chart equivalent. FlowingData has posted an accessible explanation about Dishonest Charts that can help us both as the creators of charts but also as critical readers of data that need to be wary of what at first seems obvious.

Serious about recharge

 Drought-challenged areas can get serious about the water supply. Consider this story from Texas where the community acquired land that was the aquifer recharge zone as a way of protecting their water supply.

Good neighbor policy?

In New Jersey, Home Rule gives the municipality substantial autonomy over its own planning and zoning decisions. As such, even a development on a shared border with a neighboring town is left largely to the one community. Hence, Edison just approved a new warehouse on its border with Metuchen despite objections from "Metuchen's land use attorney and planner." 

Pinelands CMP

Southern New Jersey has an unique landscape called the Pinelands. The UN-recognized landscape benefits from a variety of strategies and protections including the New Jersey Pinelands Commission's Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP). First adopted in 1980, the plan is an important tool for guiding growth while protecting these unique resources, including the very large Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer. If the CMP is too much for you, this StoryMap offers an easy point of entry.

Why are Wetlands Important?

The National Parks Service on Why are Wetlands Important?

People and perception

Planning and designing for people is tricky because community perception doesn't always match reality. A striking example of this is the Mean World Syndrome in which people express grave concerns over crime and public safety at times during which these concerns are not well founded. What else might a community perception that can sometimes be shown to be misaligned with the facts?

Large wetlands

 Where are the great wetlands of the world? 

Why so many sinkholes in Morris County?

 Interstate 80 is closed again because of a sinkhole. Why does this keep happening? Mine shafts.

Hudson Square public plaza

Matthews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA) has released a design proposal for Hudson Square. The design includes interactive seating and a cool and shady area they list as a tree and umbrella bosque. If you ever visit the Film Forum, this is just a couple blocks over. See a movie, chill out in the park.

Don't walk, pedal?

Are we designing or planning communities to support the trendy activities? There is an increased interest in biking to school in groups, called bike buses. It help young students develop physically while building relationships and gaining some personal autonomy - all good things. But what are we doing to make our communities fit this trend? Are we creating safer routes? Are we making connections that reward the young cyclists? Does the route make them feel like they are welcome and encouraged to travel this way?

Topo maps

In class we are talking about ways to access the free USGS topographic quads for NJ online.

Think how much the use of these has changed aver the years even though the maps themselves have changed so little. For those that are new to the maps, I am sharing some different scenes from around New Jersey that may be of interest. Just click on each and they'll expand.










A special thanks goes out to Mike Siegel and the Rutgers Cartography Lab.  This is a great resource for students and for pros.  A national resource is the Libre Map Project, but it is a bit harder for first time users.

Losing value

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that climate change is going to hammer home values and dramatically increase the cost of home insurance. Explaining the data from a report by First Street, the WSJ explains that we should anticipate a $1.75 trillion reduction in value by 2055.  And they even tell us where to watch:

First Street projects the hardest-hit places will have rising home-insurance costs and population declines. The counties with the biggest projected population loss over the next 30 years are Fresno County, Calif.; Ocean County, N.J.; and Monmouth County, N.J. 

Sould you trust their data? The article mentions that First Street is providing climate change data to Zillow which accompanies each house on the website. Here is a house that is 10/10 high risk in three categories.

Groundhog Day poem

The movie Groundhog Day includes the very end of Phil Connors reading the Kilmer poem Trees:

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Happy Groundhog Day!

New Turrell piece

James Turrell has unveiled a new commission in Saudi Arabia worth noting.

National Parks jobs on hold

Before you plan a summer vacation in one of our National Parks, you might want to be sure that they will be staffed up. Among the flurry of Federal news there is a temporary pause in hiring of seasonal staff in the parks. Maybe it will be resolved quickly, or maybe it will be a lingering issue. Seems like something worth watching while making summer plans.

Odd and interesting places

Every place is a little different. Finding and celebrating those differences is such a treat. For that reason, Scouting NY was one of my favorite resources when it was active. I still love to check it before taking a group out in the City.

The newest entry that field is Howard Veregin's Oddsconsin, which is a blog about the interesting spots across the landscapes of Wisconsin. It will be exciting to see what they have in store.

 

How old is your canoe?

The North American landscapes may have a richer cultural heritage than many think. The Smithsonian magazine has a feature on the water-logged archaeologists that are finding ancient canoes. These are older than many might expect: "Once in a while, though, they’ll find a specimen that shares a timeline with Beowulf, the Phoenician alphabet or even early math."

Planning Board Meeting

The next meeting of the City of New Brunswick Planning Board will be February 10, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, New Brunswick City Hall, 78 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey.