Greetings from Chairman Lori Grifa

New Jersey
Meadowlands
Commission
ELECTRONIC NEWS
JULY/AUGUST 2010
FLYWAY
GALLERY
“Quintessential
Meadowlands”
NJMCtoday
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW JERSEY MEADOWLANDS COMMISSION
VOLUME FIVE t ISSUE SEVEN
Greetings from Chairman Lori Grifa
Welcome to the latest edition of NJMC Today, the New Jersey Meadowlands
Commission’s monthly electronic newsletter. In July the Commission advanced
a plan to reduce traffic delays in the District and hosted a wildly successful
Butterfly Day event at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, the home of the NJMC. The
Commission also recently received a National Science Foundation grant to help
fund a study that could lead to reduced flooding in the District. There is still
time this summer to join one of our river cruises, or sign up for a day of birding
activities on Aug. 21 at DeKorte. For more information, click on the “Events &
Alerts” button on our website, njmeadowlands.gov.
Thanks for reading.
Lori Grifa
Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
Chairman, New Jersey Meadowlands Commission
NJMC Wetlands Study Receives National
Science Foundation Grant
An NJMC study measuring the capability of urban, tidal
wetlands to capture
and contain harmful greenhouse gases shared in a $300,000 National
Science Foundation grant awarded in late June. The grant allows the NJMC’s
Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute to continue the project for the
next three years. The study could lead to marsh enhancements designed to trap
harmful emissions that contribute to global warming and reduce the impacts of
flooding, among other problems. For more information click here.
A landscape and
nature photography
exhibit by Marco
Lips, will be at the
NJMC’s Flyway
Gallery through
Aug. 27. The Flyway
Gallery is located in
the Meadowlands
Environment Center,
in DeKorte Park, in
Lyndhurst, and is open
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
weekdays and 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m. weekends.
For more information,
click here or call
201-460-8300.
Butterfly Day A Huge Success
Nearly 300 visitors of all ages participated in the Commission’s Butterfly Day event at DeKorte Park
in Lyndhurst on Sunday, July 25. The program, co-hosted by the New Jersey Audubon Society and the
Northern New Jersey Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association, coincided with the NJMC’s
release of a new DeKorte Park Butterfly Guide and the 10th anniversary of the dedication of DeKorte’s Jill
Ann Ziemkiewicz Memorial Butterfly Garden. The garden honors the memory of a 23-year-old Rutherford
resident who was a member of the flight crew on TWA Flight 800, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean
in July 1996.
Traffic Reduction Effort Moves Forward
The NJMC is working on agreements with local, county and
state agencies to advance its plan to smooth traffic flow in the
Meadowlands by upgrading traffic signal timing systems at 14
District intersections. The Meadowlands Adaptive Signal System
for Traffic Reduction (MASSTR) project is designed to help reduce
roadway congestion, delays, travel time, fuel consumption and
airborne emissions. In August the NJMC will apply for a federal
transportation grant that could allow the Commission to extend the
project throughout the District.
NJMC Rescues Black Skimmer
In July NJMC staff was called to the attention of a
badly injured Black Skimmer – a bird on the NJDEP
endangered species list – that was discovered at
Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus. Commission
staff brought the bird, which was found dazed and
unable to fly, to the Raptor Trust rehabilitation
facility in Millington. Raptor Trust officials did not
think the bird would live, but the skimmer made a
miraculous recovery, and NJMC naturalists released
the bird back into the wild in the Saw Mill Creek in
North Arlington.
Save the Date
On Saturday
Aug. 21 the
NJMC will
host noted
shorebird expert
and nature
photographer
Kevin Karlson
for a day of
free events at
DeKorte Park.
The event will
run from 8:30
a.m. to 4 p.m.
and will include
Photo courtesy of Kevin Karlson
a bird walk, a
slide show talk, a seminar on bird identification
and a wildlife photography workshop. To rsvp,
contact the NJMC’s Jim Wright at jim.wright@
njmeadowlands.gov or 201-460-2002.