An osprey builds a nest on a platform constructed by the SJTA\’s Roadway Environmental Advancement Initiative (READI) team.
SJTA\’s READI to Present at 31st Annual Pinelands Short Course
Daylong program co-sponsored by Stockton University and NJ Pinelands Commission will feature field trip directed by SJTA
HAMMONTON, NJ – 02-24-20 – The
South Jersey Transportation Authority
is proud to announce its Roadway Environmental Advancement Initiative (READI) will conduct a field trip at the
31st
Annual Pinelands Short Course
co-sponsored by
Stockton University
and the
NJ Pinelands Commission
, Saturday, March 14, 2020.
The field trip is designed to show how the
Atlantic City Expressway
works to co-exist with wildlife and the land it occupies, which includes over 1,200 acres along its 44-mile span, much of which is in the pinelands of South Jersey.
The field trip is being run in coordination with the
New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Division
and will examine animal and wildlife fencing, wildlife crossings and a tour of the SJTA\’s Pinelands Interpretive Center at the Expressway\’s
Farley Plaza Service
area, where participants will learn about the pinelands and READI. The trip\’s activities will also feature a visit to see native flower plantings along the Expressway, including a hummingbird garden.
The SJTA launched READI several years ago when the Expressway Operations Department began reintroducing perennial and native wildflowers across 35 acres of the Expressway\’s right-of-way. The wildflowers attract and support important pollinators like bees and butterflies that are suffering from habitat loss and pesticide use. The goal is to reverse the population decline of these crucial pollinators.
The initiative evolved further when the Expressway installed a series of bat boxes or bat houses along the highway\’s right-of-way in 2017. While bats play a vital role in the ecology of local environments, they face numerous threats including the loss of habitat. The bat houses provide shelter and safety from predators.
The efforts of READI go beyond only supporting bats; it has installed structures for a variety of species including the American Kestrel, blue birds, screech owls and nesting platforms for ospreys near Atlantic City. The initiative has created animal crossings that allow wildlife to travel underneath the Expressway as they naturally migrate between different areas. The crossings will be examined during the field trip.
READI also has an educational component that involves presenting programs at local schools to support their environmental curriculums. Every year around Arbor Day, the Expressway Operations Department is invited to local elementary and middle schools to plant a tree(s) and present assemblies that impress on students the importance of practicing good environmental stewardship. The SJTA has visited more than 26 schools since 2011 and planted as many as 35 trees in a variety of species during the past four years. These programs invite student participation in the planting of a native tree(s) at each school visited.
September 20 – 23, 2020, the SJTA is joining the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife to co-host the
Northeastern Transportation and Wildlife Conference
in Atlantic City as READI expands its reach and work.