Conservation Resources Announces Inaugural Awards for the Carbon Sequestration and Restoration Small Grant Program in New Jersey
CHESTER, NJ, September 8, 2009 - Conservation Resources Inc. (CRI) in conjunction with Elizabethtown Gas, today announced four inaugural grant awards totaling $25,000 to three non-profit conservation organizations and a local government to undertake restoration projects that will sequester carbon under an innovative Carbon Sequestration and Restoration Small Grant Program. “This exciting new small grant program provides non-profit organizations and local communities with an opportunity to address climate change with direct action - now.” said Michael Catania, President of Conservation Resources Inc.
This new Carbon Sequestration and Restoration Small Grant Program provides funding to non-profits and local governments to undertake land restoration projects that demonstrate carbon sequestration and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. In so doing, it also helps to create pilot projects where the amount of carbon sequestered can be measured and monitored, as a means of demonstrating the efficacy of restoration as a way of reducing and offsetting green house gas emissions.
“We are very pleased to partner with Conservation Resources Inc. and provide matching funding for this innovative program” said Donald Carter, Vice President and General Manager of Elizabethtown Gas. “Together, we can help non-profits and local governments by providing an incentive to implement substantial and verifiable contributions towards reaching New Jersey’s laudable goals for greenhouse gas reductions.”
With the enactment of the “Global Warming Response Act” on July 6, 2007, New Jersey became only the third state in the nation to mandate greenhouse gas reduction by law. The legislation mandated the reduction of greenhouse gas emission to 1990 levels by 2020 (an estimated 20 percent reduction) to be followed by mandatory additional reductions of emissions to 80 percent by 2006 levels by 2050.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA), Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Bureau of Public Utilities (BPU) have developed several grant programs through the Global Warming Solution Fund Law signed by Governor Corzine in January 2008, to provide funding for greenhouse gas reductions by local governments.
The new CRI grant program, which is being undertaken with the support of Elizabethtown Gas, is unique in that it provides funding to non-profits as well as local governments to support conservation restoration projects that sequester carbon. Non-profit organizations and local governments own and manage tens of thousands of acres of farmland and open space in New Jersey and have a significant role in adapting their management to sequester carbon. The restoration projects funded through this groundbreaking small grant program are being conducted in forest, wetland and grassland areas. The projects funded in this initial round are all located within the service territory of Elizabethtown Gas.
The four different projects funded in this initial award of the Carbon Sequestration and Restoration Small Grant Program include two grassland restorations and two forest restoration projects in Sussex, Warren, Middlesex and Mercer Counties. CRI hopes to expand this program statewide in the coming years.
About Elizabethtown Gas
Elizabethtown Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources, provides natural gas delivery service to approximately 273,000 residential, business and industrial natural gas customers in New Jersey. It serves parts of Union, Middlesex, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Morris and Mercer counties. For more information, visit www.elizabethtowngas.com
About AGL Resources
AGL Resources (NYSE:AGL), an Atlanta-based energy services company, serves approximately 2.3 million customers in six states. For more information, visit www.aglresources.com
Summaries of Funded Projects
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Ridge and Valley Conservancy (RVC)
Dark Moon Preserve
$7,500 Small Grant Award
Green Township, Sussex County
Project Type: Grassland Restoration
The Ridge and Valley Conservancy will monitor the carbon sequestered in soils at a 32-acre grassland restoration site on the Dark Moon Preserve. The grant funds will provide for establishing baseline mapping and developing monitoring points and protocols for subsequent monitoring.
The Dark Moon Preserve is approximately 85 acres of large meadow and stream with adjoining cedar forest. The preserve also contains a deep deciduous forest with several sinkhole ponds and swampy areas. Black bear and coyotes frequent the preserve and its history dates back to Native Americans who used it for hunting as well as a small village.
New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS)
Wattles Preserve
$7,500 Small Grant Award
Mansfield Township, Warren County
Project Type: Grassland Restoration
New Jersey Audubon Society is restoring 40 acres of warm season-grasses at their recently acquired Wattles Preserve. This preserve will serve as the new location of the NJAS Conservation Program. The warm-season grasses will be harvested and pelletized and used to fuel a biomass-pellet furnace that will heat the new NJAS offices. The grant funds will be used to pay for the restoration project as well as proposed monitoring of the biomass harvested at the site - one measure of the amount of carbon sequestered.
Township of Woodbridge
Pin Oak Afforestation Project
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County
Project Type: Forest Restoration
Woodbridge Township in partnership with its Environmental Commission and the non-profit Woodbridge River Watch plans to afforest 2-3 acres of the headwaters of the Woodbridge River. The funds will be used to purchase native trees that will be planted by the local public works department on the 97-acre Pin-Oak Forest at Avenel -protected by Middlesex County in 2003. The grant will also support establishment of baseline monitoring for this project. Woodbridge Township has been active in the Sustainable Jersey Program and working to gain recognition for its efforts. This proposed forest restoration project will complement their efforts to create a sustainable community.
D&R Greenway Land Trust
St. Michael’s Afforestation Project
$5,000 Small Grant Award
Hopewell Township, Mercer County
Project Type: Forest Restoration
D&R Greenway Land Trust proposes to reforest an approximately 1-acre field at its new St. Michael’s Preserve. The funds will be used to cover the costs of the restoration as well as necessary monitoring. The project will occur on an existing clearing on this 337-acre preserve. The property consists of crop fields, young successional forest, mature forests and stream corridor along the Bedens Brook. The area will be fenced from deer to ensure the establishment of the trees and shrubs. The restoration site is located near a proposed trail, and signs will be placed to provide information on forest restoration and carbon sequestration.
Contact Information
Michael Catania, President
phone: (908) 879-7942
email: Michael@ConservationResourcesInc.org
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