SCHEDULE O
(Form 990 or 990-EZ)

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OMB No. 1545-0047
2019
Open to Public
Inspection
Name of the organization
NEW JERSEY AUDUBON SOCIETY
 
Employer identification number

22-1539642
Return Reference Explanation
FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION A, LINE 6 The Society has an estimated 16,000 members.
FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION A, LINE 7A The Society has members who may elect one or more members of the governing body.
FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION A, LINE 7B The decisions of the governing body are subject to approval by members of the organization by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at the Society's annual or business meeting.
FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 11A & B Consistent with our donor privacy policy, Information contained in schedule B for the names and addresses of donors was not included in the 990 provided to the board for their review. The Form 990 was prepared by the outside audit firm that has experience in the preparation of the form and was reviewed by the executive and finance commmittees and then provided to the full board of directors.
FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 12C Each member of the board of directors is required to sign an annual disclosure report regarding any conflicts of interest and risks of fraud within the organization.
FORM 990, LINE VI, SECTION B, LINE 15 The executive committee of the board of directors reviews and approves the compensation of the president & ceo of the Society annually. Key elements of the process include use of benchmarking to determine comparable compensation and to facilitate a process where persons with conflict of interest with respect to the compensation agreement are excluded from the process.
FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION C, LINE 19 the Society does not make public its by-laws which are its governing documents. The by-laws were amended to affirm inclusion and diversity and allow virtual annual member meetings during the year ended August 31, 2020. The audited financial statements and the Form 990 are made available on the organization's website.
FORM 990 PART III, Line 4 Introduction New Jersey Audubon Society (the Society), founded in 1897, is a New Jersey not-for-profit corporation incorporated in 1937. The overall purposes of the Society are to connect all people with nature and to steward the nature of today for all people of tomorrow. New Jersey Audubons (NJA) conservation programs are focused on recovering wildlife, stewarding habitat and connecting people to nature. NJA has set forth its 2020-22 organizational and programmatic Conservation Priorities which contain ambitious goals in connecting people with nature, saving wildlife and restoring habitat. NJA implements strategies that address directly address the impacts of climate change and seek to create resilient communities for wildlife and people, while also ensuring that NJA is a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) is a key priority for New Jersey Audubon. Following incidents of racial injustice in 2020, NJA reaffirmed its commitment and belief that conservation is for all. We have held that belief at our core for decades as reflected through our education teams Nature for All initiative. NJA has recently revised its By-Laws to reflect its commitment to DEIJ and our DEIJ Task Force formalized a DEIJ Organizational Statement and DEIJ definitions that are being shared with board members and staff as resource tools. A DEIJ toolkit created by NJA staff was also created and shared with staff and Board. A DEIJ staff work group was created and met weekly, brainstorming and prioritizing ways to move forward with DEIJ initiatives for the Organization and its programs to become diverse, inclusive and just. NJA also provided professional development opportunities and webinars, educating staff and board members on all aspects of DEIJ. Board, senior leadership and staff have integrated our commitment to DEIJ into our mission, the coalitions we lead, as well as our conservation priorities. Where we work NJA provides leadership for large-scale conservation initiatives and organizes its work around three regions: forests and farms, coasts and wetlands, and cities and towns. The Program Service Accomplishments shown below support the summary of the Societys accomplishments during the year ended August 31,2020, which include: Forests and Farms In the Delaware Watershed we led stewardship of >5,000 acres of forest and farmland, tracked bog turtles and restored their habitat, and coordinated the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, which achieved a 10-million-dollar federal appropriation. Forest Stewardship Planning and Implementation saw >10,000 acres positively impacted. Young forest stewardship saw the first Golden-winged Warbler in newly created habitat. Northern Bobwhite Restoration Initiative findings were published in the Journal of Wildlife Management. We advocated for increased prescribed burning statewide and recruited private landowners to burn several thousand acres. Staff engaged with NJDEP on off-road vehicle impacts in the Pinelands; closure of parks during COVID-19; forest stewardship; native plants and seeds. Outreach efforts resulted in the passage of a federal law ensuring permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Coasts & Wetlands NJA continued its leadership role in shorebird conservation, research, and monitoring despite stalled international collaborations given COVID-19. The Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition was launched, including working with pharmaceutical companies to adopt a synthetic alternative to using horseshoe crab blood in medical testing. Staff engaged with NJDEP on climate change impacts in NJ and offshore wind projects and participate in the NJ Climate Change Alliance. Policy efforts helped achieve a ban on single use plastics. Cities & Towns Statewide NJA educated and engaged > 400,000 people through direct programming and a diversified platform of communications. We engaged with several thousand people in ecology, birding, nature exploration, sustainability, land stewardship, gardening for wildlife and wildlife migration, despite COVID-19. We met several hundred teachers who reached several thousand students utilizing STEM practices. Volunteers provided several thousand hours, helping with land stewardship, programs, visitor engagement, and administrative tasks. Through coalitions, NJA is engaging with environmentally overburdened communities.
Form 990, Part III, Line 4a - Program service accomplishments PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS - EDUCATION AND SANCTUARIES 2020 New Jersey Audubons education team creates and conducts programming that meets the organizations mission of connecting all people with nature and stewarding the nature of today for all people of tomorrow. Staff worked across the state to inform, educate, and engage 426,214 people through a diversified platform of communications, outreach, and direct programming. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted in person program participation with an almost complete shutdown of nature centers and programs for six months and with reduced participation limits for an additional six months we still engaged 106,214 people on our sanctuary trails, at our migration watches, and through in-person and virtual programming. We conducted 1,265 programs focused on ecology, birding, nature exploration, sustainability, land stewardship, gardening for wildlife and wildlife migration which directly reached 5,404 children and 25,656 adults. Of the total number of adults 1,117 were teachers who impacted an additional 26,808 students (24 students/teacher) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) practices. New Jersey Audubons programs are designed with a focus on the organizations conservation priorities. Programs range from connecting children with the wonders of nature to training teachers in environmental science and sustainability to sharing the magic of bird and butterfly migration with adults across the hemisphere. With COVID-19 constraints, all programs needed to be redesigned, including summer camps, school field trips, festivals, afterschool programs, adult natural history field trips and general nature programs for families. Programs that traditionally were conducted in person were transformed to online, virtual platforms or done completely outdoors. New technologies needed were learned and those programs that could be conducted in person were done with reduced program capacity and following strict health and safety protocols. Despite restrictions, New Jersey Audubon continued to innovate with a highly successful World Series of Birding (At Home Version), online spring and fall birding festivals, a hybrid monarch festival utilizing both a virtual and in person model, a Birders Bucket List Bash to engage people from around the world in eco-tourism, and multiple series of learning webinars focused on bird families, gardening for wildlife, nature photography and de-stressing through nature-based yoga. The fall migration watch, which occurred September through December 2019 and pre-COVID, continued to command high visitation numbers, while the spring migration watches, in Cape May and Montclair, were conducted, but were not open to the public due to the pandemic. New Jersey Audubon values our partners, collaborators, and sponsors. With funding from the PSEG Foundation in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, New Jersey Audubon staff worked alongside the NJ School Boards Association to identify and recognize nine school teams for innovative projects and prototypes designed to solve real world problems. All projects in this STEAM Tank competition had to include an environmental sustainability piece. New Jersey Audubon continues to oversee, with the NJ Department of Education, the national Green Ribbon Schools program. BASF continues to support New Jersey Audubons efforts to connect middle school students and teachers to environmental science learning through implementation of the BASF Nature of Chemistry series. Spring field trips and classroom visits are an integral part of this program and with New Jersey schools operating virtually or in a hybrid model, no in person experiences were allowed. Instead, staff worked directly with the teachers to support their efforts in conducting science from home. As a result, students and teachers created projects that they could implement at home or follow up with recommendations for school changes based on their school problem solving. This years projects ranged from removing school rugs to improve indoor air quality to creating rain gardens to reduce stormwater runoff and erosion. All programs are implemented in support of the Eco-Schools USA program that New Jersey Audubon administers as part of the partnership with the National Wildlife Federation. In person programs supporting urban communities were curtailed due to COVID-19, but virtual summer programs were conducted in Newark, Plainfield, and Wildwood. Additionally, staff created summer nature quests for children to explore their own yards and neighborhoods. Through Ocean First Foundations Good Neighbor Fund, we were able to provide these quests to military families at no cost. Teacher workshops, summer institutes, webinars and face-to-face meetings are essential to train and support teachers to integrate ecology, environmental science and sustainability into their curricula. With schools operating remotely and struggling to provide equitable access to technology for remote learning, as well as to train their teachers to utilize new forms of technology, there was less engagement with teachers during this time period. Teachers who did participate in remote learning, or limited in person learning, expressed gratitude for the assistance and resources. The John B. Snow Memorial Trust and Verizon Foundation provided support for teacher professional development around watershed health in the Passaic River watershed. Working with the NJ Natural Lands Trust, thanks to financial support from the William Penn Foundation, enabled continued teacher professional development related to the Delaware Watershed and Pettys Island. New Jersey Audubon has encouraged thousands of people to create habitat for birds, butterflies and other species through programs, native plant sales and incentive programs. Due to the pandemic, staff had to re-envision all programs related to Gardening for Wildlife. We planned and conducted the organizations first ever society-wide native plant sale where people pre-ordered and picked plants up curbside. Gardening for Wildlife certifications, a partnership with National Wildlife Federation, increased by 47% during 2020 (over 2019) as people stayed home and improved their yards for wildlife. We also launched a pilot program Gardening for Wildlife - to engage more people in gardening and working with others to do the same. Over 41,645 people visited our nature centers and walked miles of trails enjoying all manner of nature exploration. New Jersey Audubon kept trails open throughout the pandemic for people to enjoy, understanding that connecting with nature during this very difficult time was a high priority. Many local and state parks were closed during the early months of the pandemic. With buildings remaining closed, much needed habitat stewardship and restoration occurred using newly developed Field Work Health and Safety Protocols. Staff undertook the majority of this work including removing invasive plant species, creating native plant gardens (especially for pollinators) and conducting trail maintenance and enhancement as volunteers were only able to assist on a very limited basis. No large groups of volunteers were engaged during this time. New Jersey Audubon operates seven migration watches during the year through its Cape May Bird Observatory (Cape May Hawkwatch, Avalon Seawatch, Songbird Morning Flight, Cape May Springwatch, Monarch Monitoring Program, Montclair Hawkwatch spring and fall). Funds to support these signature programs come from individual donors, Swarovski Optik, Zeiss, Actions@EBMF and others. These sites provided over 32,392 people with access to wildlife migration phenomena (hawk migration, seabird migration, songbird migration, butterfly migration) and information about the species through direct interpretive programming. Data from these watches helps monitor species population trends and inform conservation actions. During 2020, New Jersey Audubon had 828 volunteers who contributed 7,160 total hours to the organization. This is about 50% of the total number of volunteers that the organization engaged pre-COVID-19. In addition to the stewardship work, these volunteers conducted programs, led field trips, participated in bird and butterfly monitoring, helped in our nature stores, and provided assistance with all manner of administrative tasks.
Form 990, Part III, Line 4B, Program service accomplishments PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS CONSERVATION 2020 New Jersey Audubons Stewardship efforts largely concentrated on the more than 2-million acres of forests and farmland throughout the Garden State. This past year we continued, with many partners, to advance the Delaware River Watershed Initiative thanks to support from the William Penn Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and others. Outreach to and engagement of farmland managers and owners resulted in the implementation of more than 20 conservation practices affecting more than 5,000 acres. As examples, staff implemented a planting of 6,500 trees along the Musconetcong River, conducted maintenance on a 15-acre buffer in Salem County, converted a 4.5-acre corn field to native warm season grass and wildflowers, planted 2-acres with native trees, maintained a 30-acre riparian buffer, and certified numerous on the farm projects as complete. Sub-grants to farmers have ensured cover crops were installed and protecting soil, and pollinator habitat was created to host butterflies, moths and more. In addition, more than 2.5-miles of fencing helped protect important wetlands and waterways. Work also continued to restore 30-acres of wetland habitat for American Black Duck, with outreach to additional private landowners conducted through a targeted mailing. Bog Turtle habitat assessments were conducted at seven sites, yielding two new turtles. At the Salem Bog Turtle site, restoration work continued as well as monitoring nine turtles that ranged from young to pregnant. Through a cooperative agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, nine conservation plans were completed, addressing habitat management on >400 acres. With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Swamp Pink protection advanced, a Federally Threatened species of the lily family that grows in forested wetlands. Non-native invasive plant control on Cape Island and nearby sites progressed with control measures implemented at Lake Lily, Triangle Park, Center for Research and Education, Nature Center of Cape May and Cape May Point State Park where 9-acres were managed, and a volunteer event planted 116 trees and shrubs. Working primarily in northwestern New Jersey and the Pinelands, more than 100 Forest Stewardship Planning and Implementation projects advanced, impacting 10,000 acres of forest land. From the development of Forest Stewardship Plans for large (1,000 acres plus) properties to the implementation of conservation projects at the scale of a few to dozens of acres, the steps required to undertake forest conservation projects are many, detailed and critically important to ensure the long-term health of New Jerseys forests. Young forest habitat management in northwestern New Jersey saw the first occupancy of newly created habitat by a Golden-winged Warbler (https://bit.ly/GWWAFound). A process that can take many years, six in this case, before the Warbler begins to find its habitat needs met! Habitat management and creation for young forest wildlife, including Golden-winged Warbler, continued at the Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area, in collaboration with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, and on numerous private lands throughout northwestern New Jersey. New Jersey Audubon was pleased to see the New Jersey Forest Fire Service along with public and private landowners throughout New Jersey conduct prescribed burns on more than 26,000 acres, before COVID-19 impacts. New Jersey Audubon assisted with burns at the Hovnanian Sanctuary, Center for Research and Education, Sherman-Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary and the Natural Resources Conservation Services Plant Materials Center. The Northern Bobwhite Restoration Initiative has transitioned to data analysis, data modeling, private landowner outreach, and habitat management on public and private lands. The Bobwhite Initiative realized its first research publication in The Journal of Wildlife Management entitled: Landscape Connectivity Influences Survival and Resource Use following Long-Distance Translocation of Northern Bobwhite (http://bit.ly/JWMBobwhitePaper1). Through Pinelands landowner outreach efforts, Stewardship staff assisted in the recruitment of thousands of acres for Northern Bobwhite habitat management and prescribed fire application, with several hundred acres burned this year. Working closely with New Jersey Audubon Education staff, a new webinar series was launched in April focused on Gardening for Wildlife. Webinars were targeted to individuals seeking to create habitat at home, whether that is a backyard, side-yard, community, or container garden. Several participants went on to certify their space as a Certified Wildlife Habitat (http://bit.ly/GardeningforWildlife). Also, in the Gardening for Wildlife context, new native plantings were installed at the Center for Research and Education and a second Chimney Swift tower was installed at the Wattles Stewardship Center, where Swifts are already using the first tower! With New Jersey Audubons President & CEO serving as moderator, Stewardship staff participated in a panel discussion focused on the loss of three billion birds since 1970. The event held at Stockton University had more than 200 attendees and included partners from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Friends of Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, the NJ Conservation Foundation, Delaware Valley Ornithological Club and Environmental Club at Stockton University (http://bit.ly/birdsgonemissing). The annual World Series of Birding went virtual, sort of. Birding occurred as individuals in defined areas with an end-of-the-day online tally and story swap of the days migration finds. Stewardships Fight'n Femelschlagers rallied for a 3rd place finish in the Boundless Birding category, a 2nd place finish in fundraising, and most importantly welcomed eight new team members - expanding engagement and spreading the joy of birdwatching! While there were many successes and accomplishments, the impacts of COVID-19 were real. Programs and projects were slowed, permitting of projects took longer, engagement with landowners was more challenged, and working as a distributed team and at home can be trying. Nonetheless New Jersey Audubons Stewardship staff persevered, conducting internal staff training remotely and distanced in the field, volunteer engagement began with online safety orientations, and field work necessitated driving separately, masks and no sharing of equipment. We also reflected more, on the wildlife and habitats we cherish and the significance of the work we undertake. New Jersey Audubon continued its leadership in cutting edge conservation policy at the state and federal level, including continuing its long-standing efforts advancing several legislative issues as well as critical state and regional coalition leadership. New Jersey Audubon continued leading the four-state, over 160-member organization, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. The Coalition, a partnership with National Wildlife Federation, was successful in advocating for the second round of federal funding for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program in the amount of $9.7 million, representing a 62% increase from the fiscal year 2019 funding level, an especially significant success during the pandemic. Federal dollars appropriated to the Program supported 53 on-the-ground projects to date, designed to conserve and protect fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and more. When considered with the mandatory match, the projects total a conservation impact of $20.78 million. New Jersey Audubon continues to lead the effort to support continued robust and increased yearly funding for this program. The Coalition also initiated work on a roadside signage project that will help the public know when they are entering Americas Founding Waterway. Signs have been installed in NY and DE.
Form 990, Part III, Line 4B, Program accomplishments (con'T) New Jersey Audubon continued coordination of the state-wide Keep it Green Coalition, supporting over $100 million dollars in appropriations for open space, parks, farmland and historic sites in 2019. Additionally, we were able to secure implementation legislation that will guide the expenditure of roughly $150 million for these purposes from 2020 into the future. The continued funding for these projects comes at a critical time as NJ is slated to reach full buildout by the middle of the century. All members of the 150-member organization coalition were invited to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training to help the group foster a culture of inclusion. The goal is to increase the number of member organizations, particularly at the leadership level, who are from environmentally overburdened communities. Coalition-wide training in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice was conducted by The Equity Paradigm to help the Coalition, a partnership with national wildlife federation, develop a culture of inclusion. Developing a coalition that is welcoming to communities of color is paramount to invite, engage and retain members moving forward. We anticipate additional training as we work to increase membership of these communities in the Coalition, a partnership with National Wildlife Federation. Regarding parks, we were successful at ensuring an additional $22 million from state appropriations to fund NJ State Parks management and prevent proposed diversions from two important local environmental grant programs. At the federal level, New Jersey Audubon worked with partners to pass the Great American Outdoors Act which establishes permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Over the past 50 years, this fund has provided $350 million to the state to be used for important land and water conservation projects. In the past, we have worked annually to ensure funds were made available. With the passages of the Great American Outdoors Act, permanent funding has been allocated for the fund, ensuring adequate project support moving forward. We also continued efforts collaborating with state, regional and federal groups to provide meaningful support for the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act, the Environmental Justice Act, Migratory Birds Treaty Act protections, the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and more. Finally, we worked to protect against environmental rollbacks such as the opening of offshore lease areas for offshore oil and gas exploration and development, and rollbacks of the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act. At the state level, we continued to focus on and advance key priorities, including plastic pollution. In 2020, we successfully worked with a state-based coalition to support the regulation of plastics, preventing them from entering the environment and harming people and wildlife. With this law, New Jersey will adopt one of the strongest plastic laws in the country. New Jersey Audubon continues to collaborate with organizations such as the Natural Resource Defense Council to protect pollinators from toxic pesticides. Specially, we are working with policy makers to regulate the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are particularly harmful to bees and other pollinators. We anticipate passage of a bill designating these pesticides as restricted use in the upcoming year. We continue to serve as important technical and policy advisors to NJ Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Public Utilities on responsible siting, construction, and maintenance of offshore wind facilities. By partnering with National Wildlife Federation, we maintain a strong advocacy voice for wildlife, and habitat protection, and securing safe and welcoming access to nature as a human right. Government Relations staff serve as members of several work groups established by the agencies. We are also in consultation with several wind developers to ensure that they include adequate pre-and post-construction monitoring into their plans. Over the past year, we have actively been working to educate key state decision makers about forest health and current obstacles to management. Finally, we have positioned ourselves as a leading organization fighting for responsibly developed offshore wind. We provided input, and ultimately applauded, New Jerseys selection of the nations largest single offshore wind project, which is conditioned on the implementation of strong environmental protections. We are working at the local, state, and federal level on implementation of bird-safe construction and mitigation strategies to lessen the number of bird strikes.
Form 990, Part III, Line 4C, Program service accomplishments PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS RESEARCH & MONITORING 2020 In June 2020, New Jersey Audubon and partners launched the Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition. The work of the Coalition focuses on four primary objectives that will help restores horseshoe crab populations along the Atlantic Coast, and, consequently, the shorebird and fish species dependent on them. Specifically, the objectives are: 1) Manage horseshoe crab bait harvest to ensure populations can support the needs of species that consume their eggs (e.g., shorebirds, sportfish), 2) Encourage pharmaceutical companies to adopt RFC, synthetic LAL alternative, for use in Bacterial Endotoxins Test (BET) procedures, 3) Institute policies that reform the horseshoe crab bleeding industry to reduce mortality and other impacts and 4) Raise awareness about horseshoe crabs by engaging volunteers in efforts to conserve crabs along the Atlantic Coast. Currently, the Coalition has 31 active organization members including several from the pharmaceutical industry. New Jersey Audubon staff continued intensive monitoring of Semipalmated Sandpipers (SESA) during spring migration staging periods in Delaware Bay, a critical stopover for shorebirds to rest, feed and store fat reserves ahead of the final leg of their migration to the arctic breeding grounds. Semipalmated Sandpipers have been identified as a high priority conservation concern species, as their Atlantic Flyway populations have declined by 80% since the 1980s. Although somewhat constrained by COVID-19 in FY 2020, we still banded more than 1,000 SESA and attached 25 solar-powered radio transmitters to assess habitat use and stopover duration in Delaware Bay. We also attached digitally coded and solar-powered tags on Semipalmated Sandpipers in Brazil and installed a third automated tracking station to understand survival during their wintering period in northern South America. These data, combined with survival data during migration and breeding periods, will be used to better understand when and where Semipalmated Sandpipers are experiencing situations that significantly affect population declines. This work was bolstered by the installation of the first automated tracking stations in Brazil to complement the seven currently operating in Suriname (3) and French Guiana (4). New Jersey Audubon shorebird conservation efforts in South America also included working with partners in Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil to curtail illegal or poorly regulated shorebird hunting. Through grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, New Jersey Audubon has helped support law enforcement capacity in Suriname, which includes providing gasoline and maintenance for patrol vehicles, conducting a survey of hunters, and developed a program to educate hunters about game laws and the importance of conserving species of conservation concern, like Semipalmated Sandpipers and other migratory shorebirds. As part of a grant from the National Park Service, Research staff continue to monitor responses of beach nesting birds to the habitat restoration at Stone Harbor Point completed by New Jersey Audubon and partners in 2014 and 2015. The restoration, funded by a $1.28 million grant through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the US Department of Interior, improved critical habitat for endangered beach nesting and migratory shorebirds while protecting neighboring communities from storm surges. More than 40 acres were restored or enhanced during the project, which raised the elevation of nesting areas, thereby reducing potential flooding of nests of federally threatened Piping Plovers, state endangered Black Skimmers and Least Terns and American Oystercatcher, a species of special conservation concern. Since 2016, we received funding from the Department of Interior to continue collecting data to evaluate the persistent value of the restoration. In 2020, we were able to implement the project by following COVID-19 protocols. Data collected to date suggest that the number of nesting pairs and the number of chicks produced at the site has increased significantly compared to the period prior to restoration, although predation pressure is having adverse effects on nesting success. New Jersey Audubon staff continued to assess the response of wildlife species to routine maintenance activities on PSEG transmission line corridors in the Highlands. The goal of this project is to develop management recommendations that meet safety and regulatory requirements for powerline Rights-of-Way, while also providing habitat for early successional species of conservation concern. In 2020, we completed the fourth year of bird and habitat surveys along spans that received maintenance 2012 2019. We also worked closely with PSEG and the NJ Endangered and Nongame Species Program to develop span-specific maintenance plans for areas that provide critical habitat for breeding Golden-winged Warbler populations. Treatments continued during the winter of 2019/2020, and Golden-winged Warbler responses to habitat modifications were assessed during the 2020 breeding season. We focused more attention on nest survival and productivity as a metric of overall habitat quality and this approach will continue in future years. In 2016, New Jersey Audubon partnered with a private landowner in Sussex County, New Jersey, to help develop and guide forest stewardship practices on more than 3,000 acres of largely forested habitat. Management actions will be implemented over the next ten years following an approved Forest Stewardship Plan. One of the primary goals of the landowner is to manage habitat for Ruffed Grouse and Golden-winged Warbler, both considered species in decline throughout the Northeast. Active management will be required to maintain young forest habitat for these and a variety of other bird species of conservation concern. Starting in March 2016, New Jersey Audubons Research Department implemented a Before-After-Control-Impact survey design to determine whether Ruffed Grouse are currently present on the property. This work continued in 2020. Surveys were also conducted at two control sites in northwest New Jersey (Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area) known to support Ruffed Grouse populations. New Jersey Audubon staff continued to monitor bird populations in the urban landscape through surveys at brownfield sites in Linden, Pennsauken and the Hackensack Meadowlands. In 2020, we started a new project in the Meadowlands in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In August 2020, we reinitiated the Newark Bird/Building Collision Project with support from Public Service Electric and Gas. support from Public Service Electric and Gas.
Part XI, Line 9 - Other change in net assets Change in value of beneficial interest of $17,270
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see the Instructions for Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Cat. No. 51056K
Schedule O (Form 990 or 990-EZ) 2019


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