AJR48

A Joint Resolution designating May of each year as “Birding Month in New Jersey.”

Whereas, New Jersey’s diverse geography includes the Atlantic Ocean, tidal bays, beaches and shores, small streams, large rivers, saltwater, brackish, and freshwater marshes, freshwater swamps, mountains, rolling hills, pinelands, forests, and farmland, which together provide a rich variety of habitats for birds, other land and aquatic animals, and plants; and

Whereas, New Jersey’s position midway along the Atlantic Coast is such that it is at or near the northern limit of many animal and plant species, including birds, characteristic of the southeastern United States and at or near the southern limit of many animal and plant species, including birds, characteristic of the northeastern United States and Canada; and

Whereas, New Jersey is part of the critical Atlantic Flyway for birds migrating in the spring and fall from and to the southern United States, various Caribbean islands, Mexico, and other nations in Central and South America; and

Whereas, For these and other reasons, New Jersey may be properly regarded as one of the major crossroads of bird migration in the nation; and

Whereas, Cape May provides further evidence in that regard because the narrowing peninsula there funnels southward-bound migrating birds to its tip, and, consequently, Cape May is a world-renowned birdwatching (or birding) hotspot; and

Whereas, Tens of thousands of hawks and eagles migrate every fall over the mountains of northern New Jersey or along the coast, and hundreds of thousands of seabirds migrate just offshore; and

Whereas, The 47,000-acre Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Forsythe NWR) in Atlantic County, one of the gems of the national wildlife refuge system, is a critical feeding and resting area for thousands of migrating shorebirds and other water birds and for overwintering waterfowl, showcasing the importance of preserving natural habitat for birds and other animals and plants, not only for their benefit, but also for the enjoyment and benefit of the people of the State, the nation, and the world; and

Whereas, The 7,800-acre Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (Great Swamp NWR) in Morris County and three more national wildlife refuges in New Jersey - Cape May National Wildlife Refuge in Cape May County, Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Salem County, and Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge in Sussex County – serve similar important functions as Forsythe NWR by preserving habitats for birds and other animals and plants so that they may thrive and contribute to the vitality of the myriad of ecosytems in the State; and

Whereas, Similarly, the Delaware Bay is a world-renowned stopover for multitudes of shorebirds migrating north in the spring to their respective nesting grounds in Canada, including the high Arctic; and

Whereas, This stopover is critical to these birds because, by gorging on horseshoe crab eggs laid on Delaware Bay beaches, the birds hopefully put on enough fat reserves to provide the energy needed to finish their migration to their northern nesting grounds and successfully reproduce; and

Whereas, Some other examples of well-known birding sites in New Jersey include the hawk and eagle migration lookouts located along the Appalachian and other mountain ridges in northern New Jersey and at Cape May Point, the Avalon Seabird Watch in Cape May County, the Delaware National Recreation Area in the counties of Sussex and Warren, farmlands throughout the State (which can provide habitat for grassland and other bird species), the Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook in Monmouth County, the Hackensack Meadowlands in the counties of Bergen and Hudson, High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest (which provide prime nesting and migratory habitat for neotropical songbirds) in Sussex County, and the Highlands Region of the northern part of the State; and

Whereas, Still more examples of well-known birding sites in the State are Liberty State in Hudson County and the Pinelands National Reserve and the State pinelands area located in the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Ocean; and

Whereas, Most of these sites are regularly visited at all times of the year by birders from all around the State, the nation, and the world; and

Whereas, New Jersey, although the fourth smallest and most densely populated state, hosts over 350 regularly occurring species of birds, which is nearly one half of the total number of regularly occurring species in the continental United States and Canada, and, because of its location, is regularly visited by vagrant birds from Europe, the Arctic, and the western United States, resulting in some 450 species having been recorded in New Jersey, a statewide total exceeded in the nation by only a few, much larger states; and

Whereas, As a direct and indirect result of all the birding activities taking place in the State, only some of which are described in brief above, the State and its many businesses derive substantial economic benefits; and

Whereas, A 2013 United States Fish and Wildlife Service report, for example, estimated that the Forsythe NWR generates every year $8 million in economic activity in its region, including $4 million in direct spending, and that the Great Swamp NWR generates every year $4.8 million in economic activity in its region, including $1.7 million in direct spending; and

Whereas, A study prepared for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2000 estimated that the shorebird migration spectacle along the Delaware Bay has an economic impact of at least $17 million each year in New Jersey alone; and

Whereas, A 2016 Cape May County Tourism Report estimated that over 11 percent of tourism expenditures in the county are attributable to birding; and

Whereas, According to a 2011 report issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, there were 47 million people in the nation who watched birds, generating $41 billion in expenditures, 666,000 jobs, and $13 billion in state and federal tax revenue; and

Whereas, It is certain that New Jersey, as one of the prime birding locations in the nation, contributes significantly to, and greatly benefits from, those economic impact statistics; and

Whereas, For all of the above reasons, and many more, it is appropriate to designate a month of the year as “Birding Month in New Jersey,” and the month of May is particularly appropriate for that purpose because it is the pinnacle month of the spring migration for birds in the State, both for those that will nest in New Jersey and for those that will nest further north after passing through the State; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. May of each year is designated as “Birding Month in New Jersey.”

2. The Governor and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection may annually issue proclamations encouraging citizens of the State to observe “Birding Month in New Jersey” with appropriate programs and activities.

3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This joint resolution would designate May of each year as “Birding Month in New Jersey.”

New Jersey’s diverse geography, its location along the Atlantic Coast and as part of the Atlantic Flyway, and its great variety of natural habitats makes it one of the best places in the world to “go birding” (also known as birdwatching). It may be accurately stated that New Jersey is one of the major crossroads of bird migration in the nation.

Some examples of well-known birding sites in New Jersey include the hawk and eagle migration lookouts located along the Appalachian and other mountain ridges in northern New Jersey and at Cape May Point, the Avalon Seabird Watch in Cape May County, the Cape May Peninsula and Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, the Delaware Bayshore counties of Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem, the Delaware National Recreation Area in the counties of Sussex and Warren, farmlands throughout the State (which can provide habitat for grassland and other bird species), the Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook in Monmouth County, the Hackensack Meadowlands in the counties of Bergen and Hudson, High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest (which provide prime nesting and migratory habitat for neotropical songbirds) in Sussex County, and the Highlands Region of the northern part of the State. Additional examples include the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Atlantic County, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County, Liberty State Park in Hudson County, the Pinelands National Reserve and the State pinelands area located in the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Ocean, the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Salem County, and the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge in Sussex County. Most of these sites are regularly visited at all times of the year by birders from all around the State, the nation, and the world.

New Jersey, the fourth smallest and most densely populated state, hosts over 350 regularly occurring species of birds, which is nearly one half of the total number of regularly occurring species in the continental United States and Canada. Because of its location, the State is regularly visited by vagrant birds from Europe, the Arctic, and the western United States, resulting in some 450 species having been recorded in New Jersey, a statewide total exceeded in the nation by only a few, much larger states.

As a direct and indirect result of all the birding activities taking place in New Jersey, the State and its many businesses derive substantial economic benefits. For example, (1) a 2013 United States Fish and Wildlife Service report estimated that the Forsythe NWR generates every year $8 million in economic activity in its region, including $4 million in direct spending, and that the Great Swamp NWR generates every year $4.8 million in economic activity in its region, including $1.7 million in direct spending, (2) a study prepared for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2000 estimated that the shorebird migration spectacle along the Delaware Bay has an economic impact of at least $17 million each year in New Jersey alone, and (3) a 2016 Cape May County Tourism Report estimated that over 11 percent of tourism expenditures in the county are attributable to birding.

For all of the above reasons, and many more, it is appropriate to designate a month of the year as “Birding Month in New Jersey.” This joint resolution would designate May as that month, in part because it is the pinnacle month of the spring migration for birds in the State, both for those that will nest in New Jersey and for those that will nest further north after passing through the State.