Project Description

Although a substantial amount of data was collected on New Jersey's fish and wildlife resources before the 1990s, a majority of the information resided only on paper and microcomputer files at the main office of the NJ Division of Fish, Game, and Wildlife (NJDFGW) in Trenton. In emergencies, this information was not readily accessible to response personnel. A centralized repository of up-to-date information was needed for timely, informed response during emergency situations, such as oil spills.

Utilizing funding from the Exxon Bayway oil spill settlement, an inventory of the wildlife in the NJ portion of the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary was conducted and entered into the NJ Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Geographic Information System (GIS). A GIS workstation to digitize the data was purchased and housed at the NJDFGW's main office, and two full-time employees were hired to work on the project. Fish and wildlife information was gathered from various field offices and other sources, including data collected on heron rookeries, fish nursery habitats, shellfish beds, waterfowl wintering areas, key migration corridors, and other environmentally sensitive areas. These areas were then mapped in the field using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. Digital maps were created and the associated resource information was entered into the centralized GIS. In the final year of the project, end product maps were created and distributed to emergency response personnel within and outside of NJDEP through the Bureau of Geographic Information Analysis (BGIA). The GIS database created in this project has been used to plan restoration projects in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary and aid in Natural Resource Damage Assessments after subsequent oil spills.

Restoration Land Ownership

County or Municipal; Fish and Wildlife Service; Private; State

Parties Implementing Restoration

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

DOI Project Representatives

Fish and Wildlife Service