When you join the Sierra Club in Monmouth County, New Jersey, you automatically become a member of the Jersey Shore Group.

Note that it is not necessary to be a member in order to make our acquaintance.

Shore Group Happenings:

We have had several cleanups with a coalition with Monmouth University, all the towns on the Whale Pond Brook watershed, and the N.J. Friends of Clearwater. Our goal is to clean up the watershed and educate local residents about the detrimental effects of lawn fertilizers and storm water run-off, and the importance of integrated pest management. We have held several hikes along part of the watershed and have shown the documentary film, A Chemical Reaction, hich chronicles the harmful effects of common lawn and garden pesticides and one town's fight to ban them.

Help Needed for Cleanups:

If you would like to participate in cleanups of our local waterways, please contact Laura Bagwell at l.bagwell3@verizon.net. In this vital effort, our Group joins forces with the Navesink Swimming River Group which, since 2002, has removed more than 20 tons of debris from our local banks and streams.

General Meetings:

The general meetings of NJF Clearwater and Sierra Club are hosted by Brookdale Community College Environmental Club to encourage BCC students to be involved in statewide and national debates on the importance of strong environmental regulations. At the Lincroft meeting, a cash buffet begins at 6:00 p.m. and our presentation begins at 6:30 p.m.

To get to Brookdale, take Parkway Exit 109 to Route 520 West (Newman Springs Road, which becomes E. Main Street at the Lincroft campus). Take the traffic circle into the campus and follow the signs to the Warner Student Life Center (SLC), where the meeting will be in the Twin Lights 1 Room. Use parking lot 7. As you walk towards the building complex, Warner will be on your left. If lot 7 is full, use parking lots 5 or 6. A map is at BCC campus map

April 22 - How should we rebuild the Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy?

Two speakers will explore how the Jersey Shore could and should be rebuilt at a joint membership meeting of the N.J. Friends of Clearwater, the Jersey Shore (Monmouth) Group of the Sierra Club, and Brookdale Community College's Environmental Club, at 6:30 pm April 22 at BCC. The membership meeting is at a new location, Main Academic South Building, Room 001 (MAS 001)

Some critics, including speaker Jeff Tittel, director of the N.J. Chapter of the Sierra Club, are asking why we keep building where we shouldn't be. Others, including the second speaker, film producer and columnist Brian Donohue, wonder if efforts to rebuild the Jersey Shore may irreparably destroy the Shore's unique social, cultural, and egalitarian character that helps define the state.

Tittel, a long-time critic of what he regards as the state's permissive and dangerous zoning regulations along the Shore, will explain how development interests have elevated profits over safety by building too close to our coastal shorelines. He will explain how global warming makes construction along fragile and dangerous ocean and bay shorelines a major national economic and policy problem, since half the 310 million people in the U.S. lives within 50 miles of a coastline.

Donohue produced a web-based film, "Splinters and Sand," which takes a nostalgic journey back in time to when his mother and father first met on the beach; his own childhood memories of summer vacations; and his rediscovery of the Shore through his children's eyes. He wonders as we recover from Sandy whether we will retain the Shore's unique character, rebuild to more sterile, modern recreational standards, or evolve it into a totally different world. He is a columnist with the Star-Ledger.

The BCC joint meeting has changed from its usual location at Twin Lights Room to the Main Academic South Building, Room 001 (MAS 001), Lincroft campus. The presentation is hosted by BCC's Environmental Club to encourage students to be involved in statewide and national debates on the importance of strong environmental protections. A cash buffet and a special film presentation begin at 6:00 p.m. and the speakers begin about 6:30 p.m. To get to Brookdale's Lincroft campus, take Parkway Exit 109 to Route 520 West (Newman Springs Road, which becomes E. Main Street at the Lincroft campus). Take the traffic circle into the campus and follow the signs to the Main Academic South (MAS) Building and parking lot 6, where the meeting will be in MAS, Room 001. Use parking lot 6. As you walk northward, the MAS building will be directly ahead. If lot 6 is full, use parking lot 7. From that lot, the MAS building is across the main walkway from the Warner Student Life Building. A campus map is at http://www.brookdalecc.edu/PDFFiles/MAPS/MAP_04_08.pdf.

Contact:

George Moffatt
Program chairman, NJF Clearwater and (Monmouth) Sierra, 732-544-1726, or email gmoffattgt@aol.com

Dennis Anderson, 732-970-4327, or email dennisaza@aol.com

Joellen Lundy, President, NJ Friends of Clearwater 732-741-4756

Need more information? Call Dennis Anderson, 732-970-4327, or email dennisaza@aol.com and check upcoming meetings and other dates for your diary .

Previous years events

Conservation

Please join us as we forge ahead in our efforts to form a grassroots coalition of people who want to actively participate in helping to restore the beautiful resources of the Navevink/Swimming River and the Whale Pond Brook\Takanassee Lake watersheds. We'll be planning clean-ups, hikes, bike rides, efforts to educate the public on subjects such as the proper use of pesticides and fertilizers and the colorful history of the watersheds.

Get involved in an area that interests you, or make your own area......but please join us.

Contact: Faith Teitelbaum, 732-513-5445 - Jersey Shore Group - Conservation Chair

Activities

The Jersey Shore Group provides opportunities for the following types of activities:

• assisting local agencies in ongoing conservation projects
• working to influence environmental decisions at local, state and national levels
• enjoying our environment through hiking, canoeing, camping etc

If you have questions of any sort, you can always contact our membership chair, Robert Grize: nyucwnyppb@aol.com