2. Introduction
• Purpose of Natural Resource Inventory
• Acknowledgements
• Inventory Revision History
• Editor's Note
• Previous Editors' Notes

Introduction

Purpose of Natural Resource Inventory

According to a law passed by the NJ State Legislature in 1975, every municipal environmental commission is to maintain an accurate and up-to-date "Natural Resources Inventory" of its relevant community.

Our first inventory was generated in 1980 and revised in 1990. Now, sixteen years later, it requires revision again. Aside from natural features of the community, a natural resources inventory often contains items which are not necessarily "natural". These cultural, historical and demographic comments will always need to be taken into account when considering the relationship between man and his natural world. Municipal agencies which should utilize the municipal natural resources inventory include: the planning board, the board of adjustment, the board of health, the recreation commission, and the town council. While they are not bound to any of the findings of the inventory, we certainly hope that it will inspire them to more protective husbandry of our municipality.

At first glance, one wonders why we bother keeping a natural resources inventory of such a heavily developed community. Well, we do still have our little natural treasures for those interested in seeking them out. Slade Dale Sanctuary, the Nellie Bennet Marshes, and Beaver Dam Wetlands are but a few of our little treasures. Do not forget the vast tidelands of our section of the Manasquan River and our very own Point Pleasant Canal. Our suburban forest harbors a multitude of native creatures. As a few of the unwary can attest, we have a sizeable population of native mammals including muskrat, oppossum, and raccoon.

Please take the time to peruse and enjoy our informational publication. If you have any comments regarding the next edition please feel free to let the commission know!

Shaun O'Rourke
Point Pleasant Borough Municipal Council Liaison to the Environmental Commission
May 17, 2006

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Acknowledgements

This is an incremental revision to the third edition of Point Pleasant Borough's Natural Resource Inventory. As per the enabling legislation, environmental commissions are expected to prepare, maintain, and disseminate such a document. We introduce Point Pleasant Borough's Natural Resource Inventory for the 21st Century. The Point Pleasant Borough Environmental Commission would like to acknowledge and thank the many people and municipal agencies who helped us compile this survey. Without their time and concern, this very important Natural Resource Inventory would not be complete.

We thank the people of Point Pleasant, who, through their Borough Council, aided in the production of this publication.

We thank the individuals who donated their time to author and edit. In many communities, thousands of dollars are spent to have their surveys completed by outside consultants. We avoided such costs by doing this in-house.

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Inventory Revision History

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Editors Note

Although ANJEC (Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions) only requires that municipal Environmantal Resource Inventories be revised and updated every 10 years, Point Pleasant Borough is constantly seeing minor changes to its environment. New Recreational Parks and Properties are built or acquired; existing properties experience makeovers; ordinances that affect these properties get passed and amended; and various environmental concerns, such as Gypsy Moths and Lyme Disease, fluctuate in severity.

As the previous revision had, as a major goal, the implementation of this document as a Book-on-CD, available on the Borough's Web Site, the ease of updating small portions of the document as they went out of date became a reality. To this end, the Environmental Commission plans to update the document in several "incremental" revisions between the full-scale "official" revisions.

This is the first of several such incremental revisions, which aims primarily to add the Recreational Parks and Properties that were not able to be inclueded in the last revision, in addition to providing more information on all the Borough's Recreational Properties.

Brian Parks
Associate Member, Point Pleasant Borough Environmental Commission
July 26, 2008

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Previous Editors' Notes

As set forth by ANJEC (Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions) Guidelines, each municipality is responsible for maintaining an updated Environmental Resource Inventory. This document is designed to provide an accurate analysis of the environmental situation of the town, from its natural and ecological features to the impact humans have had on the relevant natural areas. The purpose of this document is to aid the various municipal boards including, but not limited to, the Planning Board, the Zoning Board, the Recreation Commission, and ultimately the Mayor and Council.

The purpose of this third edition of the Point Pleasant Borough Natural Resource Inventory was twofold. It not only was an update of information from the 1990 revision but also gave us the opportunity to publish the document in an electronic form. While the Natural Resource Inventory may still be obtained in the traditional paper format, it is also available as a Book-on-CD with interactive hyperlinks to web sites and online resources.

I would like to make special mention of the following people and groups for their help in preparing this document: The Point Pleasant Borough Environmental Commission, without whom this project could not have been started and with whom the primary research responsibility lies; Shaun O'Rourke, Point Pleasant Borough Council Liaison to the Environmental Commission, Former Environmental Commission Chairman, and Editor of the first two editions of this document, for his expert knowledge, experience, and guidance; and Boy Scouts of America Troop 16, for aiding in the upgrades from the previous document.

Brian Parks
Eagle Scout Candidate, Boy Scouts of America Troop 16
June 2, 2006

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