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LOWER TWP! - A management plan for the South Cape May MeadoWs, 180 acres of coastal meadows and wetlands at the tip of the Jersey Cape, is being prepared by The Nature Conservancy, the national, non-profit land conservation organization Because the area is prime habitat for migratory birds — including the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle — it was acquired last fall by the Conservancy for protection as a

nature sanctuary.

THE FIRST DRAFT of the management plan will be completed sometime this summer, according to Bud Cook, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Pennsylvania/New Jersey of-

fice in Philadelphia.

Cook announced the conservancy has hired Patricia Sutton to coordinate the development of the management plan. Sutton is a Cape May County resident and also works parttime as a naturalist at Cape May Point State Park, which is adjacent to the Naturfe Conservancy’s South Cape May Meadows

property.

“PAT SUTTON’S broad background in natural history and her knowledge of the Cape May area made her an ideal candidate for this work," Cook said. "She is also getting much help from an excellent advisory committee of local residents and conservationists. as welffe from the scientific staff of The

Cape Meadows'Management Planning Underway

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Clamming Area May Be Opened Reopening of portions of the area off Atlantic City currently closed to surf clam fishing has been proposed by federal fishery authorities. The closure area was expanded Jan. 7, 1981 because of concentration of undersized clams. A special study of the closed area was conducted last summer, and the information used by the MidAtlantic Fishery Managment Council to identify a sub-area that would meet the criteria for reopening. THE COUNCIL recommended a sub-area in the southeasterly edge of the closed area be opened for the period Oct. 1-Dec. 31. The regional director has developed an alternative proposal intended to make available slightly more surf clams. It is also designed to establish boundaries that are less complicated. The director is also interested in public response to an alternative schedule for reopening whatever area is chosen as early as Aug: 1 Comments should be sent to Management Division, Northeast Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, .State Fish Pier, Gloucester, MA.

Nature Conservancy. The committee was

formed last March and Sutton waft elected to coordinate its activities. The committee's mailing address is P.O. Box 86, Cape May. 08204. Information about activities permitted on the property is available from Petef Dunne, director of the Cape May Bird Observatory and. a member of the South Cape May Meadows committee,

at 884-2736.

COOK SAID that many aspects of land management are being studied, but Identified four main topics of concern: beach erosion, management of groundwater and surface" water,

mosquito control, and public use of the land He stressed the Conservancy’s interest in cooperating with local public officials as well as private landowners in

land-use questions.

“We will strive to be a good neighbor. I think the establishment of a nature preserve at South Cape May Meadows will be an asset to the area and com* patible with thfe area economy's two major industries, farming and tourism Good farmland provides good wildlife habitat, so we hope that agriculture continues to be a viable economic activity in Cape May County's fiHure, and we will

cooperate with local farmers to achieve that

end.

PENDING THE adoption of our longterm management plan, we’re trying to maintain a status quo operation. For example, we've cooperated with local citizens in maintaining the man-made dune and we've continued the practice of cattle grazing on part of the tract. I have met with a number of of-, ficials of the local municipalities and have maintained telephone contact with them. We are also in touch with the County Mosquito Control Commission, the County Planning Department, and various

state and federal agencies involved in coastal zone

management.

“HOWEVER. I should make it clear that JJic Nature Conservancy is a private organization We are not a government agency, and we don't get our operating funds from the government Our support comes primarily from, charitable contributions by individuals, foundations and corporations " The Nature Conservancy has more than 130,000 dues paying members, including some 4,000 in New Jersey. The Nature Conservancy is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of

ecologically significant land, which retains and manages some 700 natural areas, the largest privately owned network of nature sanctuaries in the United States TO DATE THE Conner vancy has.already worked to preserve more than 7.000 acres of prime woodland and wetlands throughout New Jersey Some of these projects have beerwritical additions to such nationally significant resources as Barnegat National Wildlife Refuge and the Lebanon State Forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens National headquarters of the Conservancy are in Arlington. VA