New Jersey Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan
The New Jersey Pinelands is one of the most important ecosystems in the United States.
With its unbroken forests of pine, oak and cedar (including a unique "pygmy forest") the
Pinelands are the largest open space on the mid-Atlantic seaboard. The Cohansey
Kirkwood Aquifer in the Pinelands contains over 17 trillion gallons of pure water, and
580 mature plant species, 54 of which are threatened or endangered.
Recognizing its importance and the threat that overdevelopment posed, the U.S. Congress
in 1978 designated the New Jersey Pinelands as the country's first National Reserve.
New Jersey followed this action of Congress with the Pineland Protection Act in 1979,
conferring further protection.
The boundaries of the Pinelands National Reserve and the Pinelands Area, as defined by
New Jersey state legislation, differ somewhat. The Reserve, totaling 1.1 million acres,
includes land east of the Garden State Parkway and to the south bordering Delaware Bay,
which is omitted from the 927,000-acre state Pinelands Area. The two jurisdictions are
spread across seven counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland,
Gloucester, and Ocean.
The Pinelands region is governed by the 15-member Pinelands Commission and is
divided into eight areas of different land use capability. (However, local governments
have primary responsibility for implementing the Plan.) The delineation of these areas,
and their permitted land uses are a central feature of the Pinelands Plan. The districts are
as follows:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Preservation Area District
Forest Area
Agricultural Production Area
Rural Development Area
Regional Growth Area
Pinelands Town
Military and Federal Institution Area
Pinelands Village
Special Agricultural Production Area
Maurice River Township and the City of Vineland are the only Cumberland County
municipalities that are affected by Pinelands regulations. The large majority of Maurice
River Township falls within the Forest Area. In general, only new land uses compatible
with the ecology of the central Pines are allowed in the Forest Area. Examples of
acceptable activities are forestry, cultivation of berries and native plants, and operation of
recreational facilities, such as canoe rental services and campgrounds designed for
minimal impact on the landscape. However, municipalities are given the option of
including certain other new uses, such as limited commercial establishments. Each
municipality is also assigned a number of new housing units which may be built in its
Forest Area. The Plan allows one new house for each 15.8 acres of privately owned,
undeveloped upland. To minimize environmental damage, municipalities are permitted
to cluster development on 3.2 acre lots.
A smaller portion of Maurice River Township is located in the Rural Development Area,
which is concentrated along Route 47 between Port Elizabeth and Delmont. Modest
development is permitted in this area; new housing is allowed at an overall density of 200
units per square mile of privately owned, undeveloped upland. The Rural Development
Areas serve as a transition area between more and less developed areas, alleviating
development pressures which Regional Growth Areas cannot absorb.
Higher density development is permitted in Pinelands Villages; within Maurice River
Township, these include Cumberland, Delmont, Dorchester, Hesstown, Leesburg,
Milmay and Port Elizabeth.
Only a small portion of this northeastern corner of Vineland lies within the Pinelands, in
the Rural Development and Forest Area districts.
Anyone who wishes to develop land within the Pinelands must file an application with
both the Pinelands Commission and municipality. Applications are first reviewed by
Commission staff to determine whether they are complete, and then forwarded to a
municipality for its normal municipal review process. Municipal authorities are required
to notify the Commission when they are scheduled to consider an application and when it
receives preliminary or final local approval. These local approvals are then subject to
Commission review to ensure that they are consistent with the Pinelands Comprehensive
Management Plan.
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!
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696
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x
{
SALEM
Deerfield
Seabrook
x
{
UPPER DEERFIELD TWP
g%
553
g%
"56
!
g%
626
"49
!
x
x{
{
GREENWICH TWP
552
x
{
BRIDGETON
Springtown
Othello
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HOPEWELL TWP
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553
x
{
Greenwich
g%
670
g%
x Fairton
{
FAIRFIELD TWP
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x
{
552
MILLVILLE CITY Union
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Lake
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xCedarville
{
"55
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555
DOWNE TWP
g%
667
Laurel Lake
x
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Port Norris
x
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x Dorchester-Leesburg
{
x
{
Heislerville
Municipal Boundaries
Delaware Bay
4
xPrt Elizabeth-Bricksboro
{
x Mauricetown Station
{
Mauricetown
Pinelands District
0
"47
!
x
{
Dividing Creek
xFortescue
{
County Route
x
{
COMMERCIAL TWP
553
State Route
"49
!
x
{
Centers
Source: NJDEP, NJOSP 2001 and 1995 Census Tiger Data
x
{
Centre Grove
x
{
xMoney Island Beach
{
x Gandys Beach
{
PUR
552 S
610
LAWRENCE TWP
ATLANTIC
655
555
x
{
Newport
Pinelands
Management Area
g% g%
VINELAND CITY
g%
Carmel
553
Sea Breeze
615
"55
!
698
Cohansey River
g%
rice
xRoadstown
{
Rosenhayn
x
{
DEERFIELD TWP
SHILOH
STOW CREEK TWP
x
{
658
617
x
{
"47
!
r
540
690
Rive
g%
%g
GLOUCESTER
Mau
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8 Miles
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{
Delmont
MAURICE RIVER TWP
CAPE MAY