DEP outlines multi-year Wetland Program Plan, highlights 250-site tidal monitoring network and $15M in climate grants

The commission heard a detailed briefing from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on the state's Wetland Program Plan, a nonbinding multi-year framework produced in part to qualify for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wetland Program Development grants.

"The first and foremost reason that we have a wetland program plan, was to satisfy a U.S. EPA requirement for receiving wetland program development grants under the state and tribal track," said Matia Yobsen, chief of the Bureau of Environmental Assessment, who led the presentation. Yobsen described wetlands as covering roughly 18% of New Jersey and providing water-quality improvement, wildlife habitat, flood mitigation and other ecosystem services.

The plan is organized around seven core elements: monitoring and assessment; regulation; restoration and protection;…