“People protect the places they love” could be the tagline for Julia Somers, Executive Director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. I see that it’s true every day.

I have the pleasure of working with dedicated champions throughout the NJ Highlands to protect the important cultural and historic places, the beautiful natural features, and the ecosystems that make our Highlands communities not just livable but treasured and worth protecting. The best-case scenario is that towns will proactively take measures to protect these features: through good, solid planning; through community education and outreach; through conformance to the Highlands Regional Master Plan (which provides guidance, grant funding, and legal protection against inappropriate development).

If, for whatever reason, the town has chosen not to conform and, as it often does, a bad development (that would have been prohibited in a conformed municipality) is proposed, many individuals and groups are left wondering, “what do we do now?” That is when the New Jersey Highlands Coalition is called. Part of our mission is to give guidance to these uncertain (often panicked) community members, to give administrative support through Fiscal Sponsorship once a grassroots organization is created, and to make critical connections to legal and technical experts. Essentially, we help them become effective grassroots advocates in their communities.

One of our fiscally sponsored member organizations, Citizens for Sustainable Development (CFSD), opposed the Jaindl warehouse in White Township for almost exactly 5 years. This passionately dedicated group of volunteers battled against a proposal that would have built a 2.5 million square foot warehouse on 566 acres of Prime Agricultural Farmland Soils along the Delaware River miles from a major highway. We joined them at every Planning Board meeting; our Small Grants Program supported the group with grants to help with attorney and expert witness fees; and we provided technical and strategic guidance throughout. That farmland is now permanently preserved by the State of New Jersey! Tom Bodolsky, P.E., VP for CFSD, stated that, “Our decision to join the NJ Highlands Coalition was the best choice we ever made. NJHC earned our respect. We cannot thank them enough.”

This on-the-ground advocacy can feel overwhelming and scary for residents who may be new to land use law, especially when losing would mean serious detriment to their drinking water supply and air quality, increased noise pollution and truck traffic—all things that diminish the quality of life and peaceful character of a community.

One voice is important and may make a difference, but when many voices come together, it amplifies the message. Two recent success stories that highlight the importance of working together with partners: a denial for a quarry expansion in Glen Gardner Borough and the defeat of a 500-foot communications tower proposed in Ramapo Valley County Reservation.

When the quarry in Glen Gardner was purchased by Vulcan Materials with the intention to resume blasting on ground rife with seismic instability that is both adjacent to residential neighborhoods and near a veterans rehab facility, locals contacted us with environmental, community health, and regional ecological concerns. Not only did we provide our own expert testimony to the Planning Board, but we were able to engage a variety of experts to testify in opposition to the variance. Our coordinated opposition succeeded and the variance was denied.

A 500-foot communications tower was proposed in the heart Ramapo Valley County Reservation; on land purchased with Green Acres funds to be held in trust for the public. While the stated reason for this tower was public safety, it soon became clear that it was not about public safety, but about transmitting data from Wall Street to Canada for the benefit of private interests. Local objectors joined with the Coalition and with advocates from many of our member organizations to publicly testify against this project at the Bergen County Commissioners’ meetings—before this project went any further. And we were successful.

It is by working together, by standing together against bad projects, by sharing our knowledge, that we can achieve what we do. We are glad to lend a hand to our local and statewide partners, and we are gratified when they reciprocate by acting as our eyes and ears. It is the strength of our partnerships that we can protect the Highlands—on which 70% of the residents of New Jersey depend on every day for clean water (that is, over 6.5 million people).

You, as an individual and with your neighbors have the power to protect the places you love. We welcome your involvement.