Tranquility Ridge Clear-Cut is a Warning Bell on Sparta Mountain Plan Sierra Club criticizes Audobon Society proposal

By Jeff Tittel
The Department of Environmental Protection has issued a warning letter to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation for not receiving prior approval for the removal of trees in 15 acres of Highlands forest. The project was located in Tranquility Ridge County Park, in the Highlands communities of Ringwood and West Milford where they planted 17,000 specimens of native grasses, shrubs and wildflowers to create habitat for the Golden Winged Warbler and Timber Rattlesnake. We are concerned with this project because it involved killing most of the trees on 15 acres in the 2,110-acre park, to leave only 15 percent of the canopy in place in that area. On an additional 30 acres, the Conservation Foundation removed about 30 percent of the canopy, to create small breaks that let sunlight through to the forest floor. This warning could be an alarm going off with the plan to clear-cut Sparta Mountain and remove the canopy with the state’s Forest Stewardship Plan.
These forestry practices have environmental impacts, especially on sensitive areas like Tranquility Ridge, which is part of Sterling Forest or Sparta Mountain. The fact they are doing this work without permits just shows how bad these protects are. We shouldn’t be cutting down environmentally sensitive forests in the Highlands to turn them into grassland for bird habitat. This is nonsense. This warning is an alarm going off on the DEP’s plan to clear-cut Sparta Mountain. Sparta Mountain is a treasure of the Highlands. Many people fought to save Sparta Mountain, but now it’s being threatened by DEP’s proposal. This area is part of an important forested greenway, whose canopy protects wildlife species and our clean water. I worked to save Sterling Forest 30 years ago and was the former chair of the Environmental Commission in Ringwood. I know first-hand that they have to come in for permits because I was there the last time they needed one. Anytime you cut more than four trees you need a permit from the Ringwood Town Council. They also need approval for any Forest Stewardship Plan from the town’s Environmental Commission.
The NJDEP requires permits when more than a quarter of an acre of forest habitat is destroyed within the Highlands region, an area under special state protection to prevent degradation to the region’s water supply. We are additionally concerned with the construction from the Sparta Mountain plan because believe logging operations will lead to more erosion and stormwater runoff impacting pristine streams and reservoirs and aquatic ecosystems. Opening up the canopy will lead to a loss of biodiversity in our forests as more deer and invasive species take over. Invasive species infestations would require herbicide use which could impact sensitive streams and areas above reservoirs and water supply intakes.
We are concerned with many of these clear-cut practices when there are clearly other alternatives for Golden Winged Warbler other than harming the forest. Even NJ Audubon opposes what happened at Sterling Forest because it makes their Forest Stewardship Plan look bad. The DEP and the NJ Audubon Society have proposed to remove 210 acres of environmentally sensitive Highlands forest. We are concerned that this plan is really about logging, not about creating bird habitat. There are clear alternatives for Golden Wing Warbler habitat, but they rather take down 120-year-old oaks Logging will remove the canopy, bring in siltation and run-off, impact pristine C1 trout streams. This plan goes against the purpose of the Highlands Act, which was enacted to keep the contiguous canopy forest in place. If you remove the canopy, it will cause great long-term ecological damage.
The Highlands is a breeding ground for endangered neo-tropical song birds, that require a deep forest at least 300 ft. of undisturbed habitat to protect their nests from another species. This proposal would threaten the WMA’s biodiversity including the federally threatened Northern Long-Eared Bat and federally-endangered Indiana Bat.
Based on the damage from clear-cutting at Sterling Forest, the DEP should now withdraw the Sparta Mountain clear-cut plan. The Sparta Mountain plan is a horrible sell-out our open space for private logging companies initiated by the DEP and carried out by NJ Audubon. This plan is not only environmentally destructive; it is part of the Christie Administration’s attempt to take over our state parks and public lands. The DEP should be protecting forests, not logging them. The public must continue their outcry on this terrible proposal and tell DEP these lands belong to all of us, not commercial loggers and not NJ Audubon.

Jeff Titell is director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.