35

The State We’re In.

A Beneficial Side Effect For The Environment

by David F. Moore Onee upon a time a state like New Jersey could ante up a minimal amount of money and then extend a hand, palm upraised, toward our nation's capital with reasonable assurance that it would soon be overflowing with cash, in the form of federal grants and subsidies vastly exceeding the percentage the state had to provide. Such money was used for construction of sewerage facilities, open space land purchases and numerous other purposes. Ah, but that was long ago, to borrow a line from a popular song. As long ago as thfc recent Carter administration, anyway. For our new president, Ronald Reagan, appears to have growing bipartisan support for sweeping cuts in federal spending. WHAT WITH STEERING THf&course toward stringent economies in environmental, welfere and human services Parade (From Page 34) PARADE FOR 1981. The decision hasn’t been arrived at lightly but rather reluctantly. The parade and its promotion of the Borough has been an intricate part of me personally for 16 years. Since West Cape May doesn’t have any outstanding landmarks, amusement parks or beaches, it was a genuine way of promoting this wonderful community. People from New York to Chicago; Washington p c. to Trenton know we have a good little community here. They Came, they saw and they liked what they

areas, plus appointments of people to sensitive jobs who have track records counter to philosophies usually associated with those jobs (like the Secretary of the Ipterior, for one example), environmental spokesmen across the land are voicing alarm. It’s still early in a new administration, and I’ve always been inclined to let people have a chance to demonstrate what they will or won’t do, so my purpose in writing this is not to heat any premature abuse. In fact, I want to point out one of those funny quirks of fate which sometimes create beneficial side-effects from basic actions where you might not expect them. It'S this way: £ * IF YOU’RE LIKE ME and many other environmental people in this state we’re in, you've had genuinely mixed emotions about New Jersey’s rush to apparently endliss sewerage development. Granted, we need to protect our water supply through adequate sewage treatment (although more action, sooner, on catching up with toxic waste dumpers would have been of at least equal overall benefit). 1 But the thing that scares us about sewer lines is that, in reaching from point A to point B, they tend to attract development all along their alignments. New highways do the same thing,too. The end result is that destruction is furthered in what open space (especially including farmlands) remains in Amafica's most densely populated state. And, with h population beginning to show signs of shrinkage, this means that existing urban areas are hastened in their downward trends as more people move

to what used to be the countryside. NOW. HOWEVER, WITH PREDICTED erasure of most federal sewerage money, New Jersey is hastily reexamining its priorities, sewer-wise. Better yet, because Jhe Reagan administration seems to dislike subsidizing sewerage systems to benefit private interests. I’m hoping for more common sense in state planning, for sewerage systems. That's the unexpected beneficial side-effect I refer to. Another, of course, is the reduction in interstate highway funding, which serves the same end. Reading the March 1961 issue of Preaervatlon News, the publication of the National Trusf for Historic Preservation, my attention was drawn to.a federal inequity of long duration, in terms of dumping cities and encouraging suburbanization. IT’S THE INDUSTRIAL REVENUE BOND (IRB), which, jike the familiar tax-free municipal bon<i is issued by various levels of. government to help pay for new business construction. The publication credits New Jersey with being one of the few states where this activity has been generally limited to helping already blighted areas. But in general, big, healthy businesses (like chains of retail stores and fast-food emporiums) have profited greatly at public expense through issues of IRB’s. A good argument can be made for refocusing the IRB to help rebuild decaying cities, instead of encouraging new suburban shopping centers. If the Reagan administration wants to do the most for the neediest of places, at the least overall expense, this would be an admirable way to start. Davled Moore la executive director of the N.J. Conservation 'Foundation in Morristown.

Dot, Jeanette and I would like to thank you for all your prayers, contributions and moral support. Special thanks go out to Mayor Vasser and Commissioner Reeves for giving us fortitude under trial. We have many fond memories of many wodderful people and events. We hope you will remember our efforts with as much fondness. Charlotte Daily wrote this "open letter to our Chriatmas Parade Friends" on behalf of herself, longtime parade associate Dorothy Burton, and Charlotte's daughter (and original parade participant) K. Jeanette Daily Urquhart. Defect In CAPS Law Remedied by Gerald Mr Thornton I agree that the CAPS law is effective in curtailing the growth of government. The Board of Freeholders has always supported this law. Personally, I feel that the CAPS law is one of the most responsible legislative bills to come from the State Legislature in many years. The only criticism I had of the law was that it didn’t provide for those portions of the budget which we are unable to control: fuel, utility, insurance cost, etc., in a highly unflationary economy, over which we have no control. Recently, the State Legislature recognized this oversight and amended the CAPS law for fuel and utility cost. I’m extremely critical of the State of New Jersey when it mandates programs to counties without funding, thereby placing the fiscal burden of such programs on the county taxpayer. I was waiting to respond to see what the State Legislature was going to do with the above mentioned amendment. Gerald M. Thornton is vice director of the county Board of Freeholders. This letter is In response to an earlierletter on the CAPS law by Arthur R. Hall.

Sen es cen ce—Shared By Man & Beast

tty tr* tortort* t _ . body, thick »h*ti and ia'« habrtat dPUa lonoavify potubto

A field mouse in the wild • is lucky to live to be a year old. Yet, its cousin, the pocket mouse mAy live to five years of age. Why do some animals live longer than others? And how do different animal specias regard their elders? According to International Wildlife magazine, scientists are studyng senescence, or aging, in wildlife to find out the answers to these questions, and in turn, to better understand the processes involved in human aging. THE ANSWER to the mouse mystery is simple. "Some small mammals may live longer than others of similar size because they spend part of their lives in hibernation or in dormancy, their bodies barely functioning,’’ explains the National Wildlife Federation's bi-monthly publication. Thus the pocket • mouse, which spends the hot desert season in a state of torpor, will live much longer than the on-the-go field mouse. Until recently, almost

everything we knew about animals that live to be old came from zoos. Longevity records for zoo animals, says International Wildlife, include: a TT-yeariold elephant; a 65-year-old vulture; a 49-year-old hippopotamus; a 38-year old zebra. Cold-blooded animals last even longer, with tortoises reaching 150 years; sturgeon, 100; carp, 50; and toads, 36. unfortunately, zoo reords can be misleading since animals tend to live longer in the security of a zoo than they do in the wild. However, such records do give us an appreciation for some species' potential life spans. "Animals that are most likely to live to be old in the wild are those which, as adults, have no predators except man," says International Wildlife. Most of these are large — elephants, hippos, rhinos, lions, tigers and wolves. But some, such as the Galapagos tortoise, survive not only because of their large size, but also because of their isolated

habitat. Scientists have found that a wild animal's age can be estimated in many ways, such as by inspecting the lens from a rabbit's eye, the thickness of baleen plates in the mouths of whales, the annual rings in the horns of sheep and antelope, and tooth wear, or in some species, "rings" in a tooth. Teeth are, in fact, one of the most important considerations for life in the wild; research shows that most wild' animals live only as long as their teeth hold out. AFTER SPENDING years living among some species in the wild, animal behaviorists have observed that in the "social" species — those animals that live and travel in

groups — dlder male* and females are treated quite differently. "Males are generally of prime importance to a social group only when they u re dominant," says Internationa'! Wildlife. Eventually, older males are driven from a group by younger males. when their strength and breeding capacity have been reduced by age. Older females, in contrast, do not seem to suffer this loss of social status. Among most species, old females ’ ausually continue to reproduce, although they have fewer offspring than the younger females. Female elephants up to 50 years of age continue to function as "matriarchs"

Home & Commercial Services Guide

WALTER R. BOBINSKY

^tntxaL cHondymon

Carpentry

Mabonry Painting

Small Repairs No Job Too small

2761 DUNE DRIVE. AVALON. N.J. 08202 TEIEPHONE 609-967-4029 or 967-4519

TO PUCE AN AD CALL 967-3312

•Homo\ •Offices

•Rcntolt •ChangBovBfi

AVALON HOME CLEANING SERVICE. INC.

DAVID l REED 967 5446

P O BOX 367 AVALON N J 0830?

CAPE NURSES REGISTRY

8863473

• NURSED AIDES • L.P.N.'S • R.N.'S

PRIVATE DUTY NURSES FOR HOME Of HOSPITAl^CARE

NJ ST licensed & Bonded A NURSING CARE PLAN 104HAVERFORDAVE TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS NORTH CAPE MAY HRIY DAILY WKIY

WALTER H. KRUSE •THE OFFSHORE t RAFTSMAN”, KT I BOX 440N CAPE MAY COURT HOU^E. NEW JERSEY 0*210 PHONE (609)861.3)41

E. THOMAS ENSTICE Account Executive Tax Free Bonds Government Bonds Stocks DEAN WITTER REYNOLDS INC 1726 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City. NJ 08401 (609) 345 4181