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New Jersey DEP outlines Youth Inclusion Initiative to train future environmental stewards
Summary
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced a multi-day Youth Inclusion Initiative that will rotate participants through hands-on activities across DEP programs — from wildfire prevention and wildlife monitoring to remediation, water treatment and recycling — to teach stewardship and career skills.
Officials from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection onstage described the Youth Inclusion Initiative, a multi-day summer program that will immerse participants in practical work across state environmental programs.
John Cecil, Assistant Commissioner of State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites, opened the program and said the three-day track will teach wildfire prevention, forest monitoring, park police canine demonstrations and historic-site interpretation to help ‘‘increase your knowledge and discover how you can be an active steward of New Jersey’s natural and historic resources,’’ he said.
The initiative will place participants with different DEP offices for focused, hands-on experiences. Dave Golden, Assistant Commissioner for Fish and Wildlife, said a two-day module will include ‘‘mosquito collection sorting, the use of high-tech equipment to catch and identify fish, investigations of wildlife crimes’’ and demonstrations by conservation police officers to teach habitat protection and field techniques.
Jennifer Moriarty, Assistant Commissioner for Watershed and Land Management, described wetlands and waterfront fieldwork aimed at protecting water quality and public safety, saying the sessions show ‘‘what DEP does to safeguard people and ecological resources and what you can do to help care for our environment.’’
David Haines, Assistant Commissioner of Contaminated Site Remediation and Redevelopment, said participants will spend a half day on remediation practices, including sampling strategies and delineating contamination, and framed remediation as a way to ‘‘prevent contamination from impacting people and the environment’’ and to revitalize communities while advancing equity and justice.
Trish Indelicato, director of the Division of Water Supply and Geoscience, previewed three days of water-quality monitoring, macroinvertebrate collection and tours of drinking-water and wastewater treatment plants, noting that these activities ‘‘give us a much more holistic view of the health of our waterways.’’
Paul Baldauf, Assistant Commissioner for Air, Energy and Material Sustainability (AIMS), outlined two days focused on recycling and sustainability, including a recycling-facility tour and sustainable gardening at the College of New Jersey to teach proper recycling practices and other sustainability skills.
Elizabeth Dragon, Assistant Commissioner for Community Investment and Economic Revitalization (CIER), said CIER will guide design and community-revitalization activities, including Green Acres planning at Liberty State Park and sessions with the Historic Preservation Office to connect environmental restoration and neighborhood improvement.
Staff closed by encouraging participants to ask questions, engage across DEP programs and consider the initiative a pathway to environmental careers. Program materials and organizers indicated activities will run across different DEP divisions over the coming weeks; organizers said participants will hear more about specific event dates and logistics during the next six weeks.
The session served as an orientation and preview of activities rather than a decision-making meeting; no votes or formal actions were recorded.
