The Musconetcong River Restoration Partnership

The Musconetcong River Restoration Partnership is a multi disciplinary team of agencies, organizations and individuals working to improve and restore the Musconetcong River. The Musconetcong River Restoration Partnership includes the Musconetcong Watershed Association, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), American Rivers (AR), North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development (RCD), New Jersey Trout Unlimited (TU), the NJDEP-Division of Fish & Wildlife (DFW), National Park Service (NPS) and private landowners and others.

While the health of the river is generally good, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection has identified thermal pollution and nutrient enrichment as serious water quality problems for certain areas of the main stem of the Musconetcong River. In some areas, the riverbanks are severely eroded. In some cases land use activities have eliminated native trees and allowed invasive non-native vegetation to become established. These factors stress the ability of these critical ecosystems to function properly.

The Musconetcong River Restoration Partnership is examining many restoration alternatives available to improve the health of the river. There are many components to river restoration. Most common efforts focus on stream bank stabilization, enhancing riparian buffers by adding trees and natural grasses, enabling fish passage, the removal of dams and other man-made structures, adding meanders, and stocking the river with fish or other living organisms.

through Bloomsbury, Greenwich Township, Holland Township and Pohatcong Township. The four dams that span the river in this section of the watershed located in Finesville, Hughesville, Warren Glen, and Bloomsbury will be assessed.

The partnership hopes to preserve and protect the Musconetcong River and its watershed for present and future residents, restoring the natural flow, native vegetation and high quality fish and wildlife habitat there. In addition to being one of the most scenic river valleys in New Jersey and the surrounding region, the Musconetcong valley is a high-quality setting for a wide variety of recreational activities such as hiking, hunting, fishing, canoeing, camping, nature study and other outdoor activities.

Partner List and Contact Information

Natural Resources Conservation Service – technical assistance and possible financial assistance on riparian buffer restoration Contact: In Warren County contact Maria.Collazo@nj.usda.gov. In Hunterdon County contact Gail.Bartok@nj.usda.gov

US Fish and Wildlife Service – technical assistance and financial assistance from the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program Contact: Eric Schrading Eric_Schrading@fws.gov www.fws.gov

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration – technical and possible financial assistance through the American Rivers-NOAA Community-Based Restoration Program. Contact: Bethany Bearmore Bethany.Bearmore@noaa.gov www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/

American Rivers – technical, outreach, and regulatory assistance, and possible financial assistance through the American Rivers-NOAA Community-Based Restoration Partnership and other grant funding. Contact: Stephanie Lindloff slindloff@americanrivers.org www.americanrivers.org

North Jersey RC&D Council – technical assistance and possible financial assistance on riparian buffer restoration. Contact: Christine Hall chall@northjerseyrcd.org www.northjerseyrcd.org

Musconetcong Watershed Association –local landowner outreach, education, technical assistance. Contacts: Beth Styler Barry, beth@musconetcong.org Bill Leavens, bill.leavens@gmail.com

NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife – technical assistance on local fisheries issues. Contact: Pat Hamilton Pat.Hamilton@earthlink.net

Trout Unlimited – in-kind volunteer assistance from membership and possible limited financial assistance from local TU funds. Contact: Brian Cowden, bcowden@njtu.org

National Park Service Contact: Paul Kenney Paul_Kenney@nps.gov