Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Inc.

PPA’s Pinelands Action Network is comprised of dedicated activists concerned with the well-being of the New Jersey Pinelands. Safeguarding the Pinelands requires diligent monitoring of policies, development proposals, and other activities that can adversely impact ecosystem health. At times, quick action is needed. When threats emerge, PPA’s community of citizens, nonprofits, experts, and committed officials who make up the Pinelands Action Network can always be counted on to answer the call.

PPA teamed up with other environmental groups throughout the state, Rutgers University engineers and landscape architects, and local municipalities to launch the Landscape Makeover program. The program prevents polluted water from entering Pinelands waterways from stormwater runoff on private, public, and working lands. Through participation in Landscape Makeover, homeowners attend rain garden design workshops and obtain rebates for rain garden installations. Municipal and other public properties receive technical assistance and funding for implementation of green stormwater infrastructure projects, and farmers receive professional assessments and grants for employing best stormwater management practices. With over 20 public projects, 35 residential rain gardens, and 11 projects for farmers and agricultural businesses successfully completed so far, the program results in demonstrably cleaner lakes, creeks, and rivers while providing added protection to the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer.

Pinelands Is for Everyone seeks to overcome the barriers to enjoying and exploring nature that people with disabilities experience. The initiative works with partners in the disabilities community to address the physical and cultural obstacles to accessibility, such as inadequate trails or facilities, safety concerns and isolation, and the lack of detailed, reliable information people need in order to plan excursions. Through the Pinelands Is for Everyone initiative, we are inventorying natural areas for accessibility, publishing site descriptions on AccessNatureNJ.org (to be launched in July 2022), helping create accessible nature trails, hosting inclusive nature-based programming, and supporting advocacy that empowers people with disabilities through the Access Nature Forum. The state of New Jersey has invested mightily in our public spaces. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that nature provides.

PPA started Rancocas Creek Farm on its property in 2020 to demonstrate environmentally and economically sustainable farming. Historically, the 72-acre property was conventionally farmed for soybeans, contributing to stormwater issues and pollution in the Rancocas Creek watershed. Today, the land is managed as a chemical-free, regenerative farm that offers diverse, high quality seasonal produce to our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shareholders, local food banks, and area restauranteurs. Rancocas Creek Farm showcases best agricultural practices, having solved the prior severe stormwater runoff problem through strategic water management and planting design, while providing fresh food to nearby communities and habitat for pollinators and other native species.