To the Editor:

On behalf of the Sourland Conservancy’s staff, board, and members, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the residents, volunteers, businesses, and community partners who have dedicated their time and energy to restoring the Sourland forest. This week, we achieved an incredible milestone: planting 10,000 native trees and protecting them from deer browse this year alone. Together, we have planted over 50,000 trees and shrubs since 2020, a vital step toward healing our forest.

Our work couldn’t be more urgent. The New Jersey Forest Service estimates that our 90-square-mile region has lost more than one million trees in recent years to the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect. That’s nearly 20 percent of our forest devastated by a single threat. And the challenges don’t end there: overdevelopment, invasive plants, an overpopulation of white-tailed deer, and various pathogens all compound the damage. These threats impair the forest’s ability to filter our air and water, mitigate flooding, and provide food and shelter for wildlife — including the 57 threatened and endangered species that depend on the Sourlands for survival.

A healthy forest is essential to our health and well-being. More than 800,000 Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents rely on the Sourlands for drinking water, according to the Watershed Institute. The forest also plays a critical role in reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change.

The work we do today will determine the legacy we leave for tomorrow. Restoring the forest is not just an environmental effort — it’s an investment in our collective health and safety. To learn more about our forest restoration efforts and how you can make a difference, please visit sourland.org/act-ash-crisis-team.

Let’s continue to grow this vital work together.

Laurie Cleveland
Executive Director, Sourland Conservancy
Hollow Road, Skillman