Commissioners’ Conservation Challenge Completed

Warren County is now the first county in New Jersey to be certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation after an eight-month effort to achieve that status.

At the annual reorganization meeting of the Warren County Board of County Commissioners in January, Commissioner Director James R. Kern III issued a challenge to county residents to help Warren become the first county in New Jersey to earn Community Wildlife Habitat certification. Later that month the full Board of County Commissioners and the Warren County Environmental Advisory Committee introduced the challenge, leading to eight months of hard work and dedication to gain official certification from the National Wildlife Federation.

Through this program, the community has worked to become healthier, greener, and more wildlife-friendly by creating wildlife habitat throughout the community while educating and engaging residents with events, educational workshops and hands-on service projects.

Karen Nash Memorial Butterfly Garden at Memorial School in Washington Borough is one of the first places in Warren County to be certified as a Wildlife Habitat Garden by the National Wildlife Federation, which contributed to the effort to have Warren County become New Jersey’s first county to be designated a Community Wildlife Habitat. Photo by Diana Dove, founder of the Karen Nash Memorial Butterfly Garden.

In addition to being the first complete county in New Jersey to earn this designation, Warren County is the 166th community in the country and the 8th location in New Jersey.

 “Congratulations to Warren County for coming together to earn this certification, which will have a lasting impact for wildlife and residents alike,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, Senior Director of Community Wildlife for the National Wildlife Federation. “Providing a home for wildlife in our communities, where we live, learn, work, play and worship, will help both wildlife and people thrive,” Fitzgerald noted.

“Today’s exciting news is a culmination of voluntarism and advocacy at its best,” said Commissioner Director Kern.

“By working together, Warren County has achieved a status that truly will impact our shared environment. Not only did our challenge promote sustainable gardening and landscaping, but it also created habitats that supply food, shelter and water for our wildlife,” Kern said.

“From Allamuchy to Hope to Washington Borough, every corner of Warren County was well represented,” Kern said, adding, “I want to thank the Warren County Environmental Advisory Committee, particularly our vice-chair Clairanne Arcaro, our Park Naturalist Jennifer Correa-Kruegel, the New Jersey Youth Corps of Phillipsburg, Diana Dove, the many municipal environmental committees and local green teams, as well as the hundreds of residents who registered. Everyone should be proud of this historic accomplishment!”

“At its core, this program is about connecting people in the community to each other and to nature,” said Arcaro, a member of the county Environmental Advisory Committee since it was established in December 2021. “There were a couple municipalities and groups of people working towards their own certification, but this wouldn’t have been possible at the larger county wide scale without the leadership of Commissioner Kern and all the different groups working together as a broader community to educate people and build wildlife habitats,” she added.

Although the challenge is completed and Warren County is the first county in New Jersey to be a certified as a wildlife friendly community, the work is not finished. Warren County’s effort and partnership with the National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program to create wildlife habitat in backyards, container gardens, schoolyards, corporate properties, community gardens, parkland, places of worship, and other spaces throughout the community will continue.

“Certification from the National Wildlife Federation is great, but we’re just getting started here in Warren County,” said Arcaro, continuing, “We’ve now started our planned outreach to schools across the community with the hope to get them all certified. I’d like to thank Warren County Community College, Allamuchy Township School, Mountain Villa School in Allamuchy, Hope Township School, Knowlton Elementary School, the Karen Nash Garden at Memorial School in Washington Borough, Blairstown Elementary School, Warren County Technical School, Hackettstown Middle School, Great Meadows Elementary School, and the New Jersey Youth Corps of Phillipsburg for already registering their gardens.”

If you have a site that provides the four basic elements that all wildlife need to thrive: food, water, cover and places for wildlife to raise young, while integrating sustainable gardening and landscaping practices, don’t forget to certify your green space as a Certified Wildlife Habitat at https://nwf.org/Certify.

For more information about the National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat^TM network, please go to www.nwf.org/community.

For more National Wildlife Federation news, visit www.nwf.org/news.