Rules governing the Pinelands National Reserve (PNR) are being significantly amended to improve management of the Pine Barrens forests for ecological and economic purposes. PNR is the largest area of contiguous open space on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard between Richmond and Boston. Congress established it in 1978 as the nation's first national reserve. Reinforced in 1979 with the state's creation of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission (Commission), the 1.1 million-acre PNR is protected in perpetuity and is widely acknowledged as a national treasure.

With the region protected from conversion and development, the challenge has been to manage the PNR to sustain the full array of significant ecological and societal functions for which it was reserve was created. Since approval in 1981, the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) has been used by the Commission to guide human activities tightly on both public and private lands within the PNR. Greatly reduced levels of forest management and fire suppression have resulted in a dense, shaded forest with reduced understory diversity and vigor. In what historically had been largely an extensive, fire-maintained pine/grassland ecosystem, the unintended consequence of the forest management guidelines, including fire suppression. Particularly evident has been a severe decline in birds that require grassland and early successional habitats, including northern bobwhites.

In 2004, the Commission asked its Forestry Advisory Committee (FAC) to recommend specific forestry practices and approaches to improve forest management, yet avoid negative environmental impacts. In a 2006 report, the FAC issued its recommendations to improve planning and management of forests for ecological, commercial and societal benefits. In June 2009, the Commission published proposed amendments to the CMP to implement the FAC recommendations. These amendments would address social and economic needs for better forest management, in part by allowing more commercial forestry operations and active management, such as prescribed fire.

The proposed amendments generally have been supported by state conservation agencies and sportsman's organizations, such as the New Jersey Quail Project, as needed changes to enable improved management and better wildlife habitats. Also, the National Bobwhite Technical Committee supported the proposal for improved management, recognizing that "The New Jersey Pinelands Reserve offers a unique opportunity to actively manage extensive landscapes to sustain viable populations of bobwhites and other early succession species."

The public comment period for the proposed amendments closed August 14. The anticipated approval and assertive implementation of these amendments for an area of the size and caliber of the PNR set the stage for the eventual possibility that New Jersey could become a national leader in landscape-scale bobwhite and grassland bird restoration. (dfm)