Connect with us

New Jersey

October is Monarch Butterflies Month in NJ thanks to local teen’s efforts

Published

on

October is Monarch Butterflies Month in NJ thanks to local teen’s efforts


play

Over the last few years, a North Jersey Girl Scout has turned a pandemic project into a statewide effort to promote awareness for monarch butterflies as well as protect and improve wildlife habitats in her town and around the state.

Advertisement

The monarch butterfly, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, is the most iconic butterfly in North America. Monarchs hold scientific and environmental value as well as economic and cultural value in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Tourists once flocked to Cape May to see the monarchs fly through New Jersey on their annual fall migration to Mexico. However, over several decades, the monarch population has steeply declined.

Monarch butterflies are currently listed by the NJDEP as a species of interest.

During the pandemic in 2020, Elizabeth Gillen, 17, of Mountain Lakes joined a competition with her friends to improve something within the community. Although it was challenging as much of life was still virtual, they decided to turn to social media and connect with butterfly enthusiasts around the state.

The group created a Facebook page called Morris Monarchs and shared a survey in online gardening groups, offering free milkweed seeds to anyone who wanted to plant them before the winter of 2021.

Advertisement

Milkweed is vital to monarch butterflies as it is the only plant upon which monarch caterpillars can live and feed, according to the NJDEP.

Over 1,000 people responded, and Gillen and her friends began sending out seeds and tracking the seeds’ location on a map. This effort won them first place in New Jersey in the competition.

As June 2023 approached, it was time for Gillen to start working on her gold award, the most prestigious award that a Girl Scout can receive.

“My gold award was a natural continuation of the seed giveaway,” said Gillen, who is a senior at the Morris County School of Technology. “I wanted to continue to raise awareness for monarch butterflies.”

Advertisement

In obtaining her gold award, Gillen worked with Mountain Lakes local leadership to connect the borough with the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge. According to the National Wildlife Federation’s website, by taking the pledge you are “committing to both restore habitat in your community and encourage your residents to do the same.”

Mountain Lakes Mayor Khizar Sheikh signed the pledge in 2023.

Gillen also connected the borough to the National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitats program, which partners with “communities of all kinds to become healthier, sustainable, and more wildlife friendly.” Gillen is the community manager for the Mountain Lakes Certified Wildlife Community.

“I am fortunate that Mountain Lakes is a borough that has a strong history of protecting wildlife and maintaining the natural beauty of the area,” said Gillen. “Everyone I approached in the borough supported my proposal.”

Advertisement

October is Monarch Butterflies Month in New Jersey

Another goal that Gillen set out to accomplish while obtaining her gold award was to dedicate a month to monarch butterflies in New Jersey.

“I researched existing town and county proclamations for monarchs across … I could not find any state dedicating a month to monarchs and wanted New Jersey to be the first,” said Gillen.

At the beginning of the year, Gillen wrote a detailed letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, sharing what she had accomplished with her friends during the pandemic and the work she has been doing since then in Mountain Lakes.

She described how a proclamation would complement the many existing conservation efforts in the state by New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, the New Jersey Audubon, and many other organizations dedicated to preserving land for the benefit of native plants and insects like the monarch.

Gillen submitted her request to the state in early 2024 and it was signed by Murphy on Sept. 13, proclaiming October of 2024 as Monarch Butterflies Month in New Jersey.

Advertisement

“I hope New Jersey’s proclamation inspires monarch lovers in other states to request similar proclamations. Proclamations show symbolic support for monarchs and raises awareness of their importance,” said Gillen, who hopes that her project will help create more appreciation for monarchs and other pollinators and will encourage people to experience monarchs first-hand.

Gillen was awarded her gold award in August.

Going forward, Gillen plans to continue managing her Facebook pages, Morris Monarchs and Mountain Lakes Wildlife, and connecting with butterfly enthusiasts.

She will be giving away milkweed seeds to plant through the end of October. If you are interested, you can contact girlscoutgold7707@gmail.com.

Monarch butterfly population in decline

Monarch butterflies have a large habitat range, according to the NJDEP, spanning across the entire North American continent.

Advertisement

In the Garden State, they are among the group of native pollinators that assist in the reproduction of crops, playing a crucial role in the success of New Jersey’s agriculture and economy.

Every fall, migratory monarch butterflies fly through the state on their trek to Mexico for the winter, stopping in Cape May to rest before continuing their journey across the Delaware Bay.

“Cape May, New Jersey is a crucial stopover for monarch butterflies during their migration. Cape May is perfectly situated along the monarchs’ migration path,” said Suzanne Tilton, also known as the Butterfly Lady. “The peninsula acts like a natural funnel at the southern tip of New Jersey, drawing thousands of butterflies as they travel from Canada to Mexico.”

Cape May is home to the New Jersey Audubon’s Monarch Monitoring Project, which has been tracking and studying monarchs for over three decades, helping scientists understand their migration patterns and the challenges that they face.

Unfortunately, monarchs currently face many challenges including habitat loss, extreme weather, predators, toxic pesticides and climate change, which have all taken a toll on fragile populations, according to the New Jersey Audubon.

Advertisement

“The destruction of milkweed plants, which are essential for monarch caterpillars, is a significant threat. Urban development and agricultural practices, especially the use of herbicides, have reduced the availability of milkweed which is the only plant monarchs use to lay their eggs,” said Tilton. “Changes in climate affect the migratory patterns and breeding grounds of monarchs.”

She continued, “Extreme weather events and shifting temperatures can disrupt their life cycle and migration routes. Perfect example is Hurricane Helene wreaking damage along important migrating routes monarchs use along the Appalachian Mountains.”

Tilton also pointed out the fact that pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids can be harmful to monarchs, killing them or reducing the availability of nectar plants and milkweed.

Finally, Tilton said that deforestation in their wintering grounds in Central Mexico reduces the areas that monarchs cluster for warmth and protection.

According to the NJDEP, the monarch population is estimated to have declined some 90% between 1990 and 2014, dropping from approximately one billion butterflies to 35 million butterflies.

Advertisement

“The monarch is an umbrella species, it tells us how other pollinators are struggling,” said Tilton. “The monarch butterfly is a great indicator, and we need to start paying attention. If the monarch butterfly is struggling, other pollinators and insects are struggling too.”

According to Tilton, the most important thing that people can do to help is to create a habitat in their yards for monarchs by planting milkweed for the caterpillars and flowers for the adults to feed on. It is also extremely important to stop using pesticides in our gardens.

“People need to realize the importance of protecting and creating habitat for monarchs,” said Tilton. “Projects like Lizzie’s help bring awareness to the public.”



Source link

Advertisement

New Jersey

Monmouth County hospital among World’s Best Hospitals for 2026

Published

on

Monmouth County hospital among World’s Best Hospitals for 2026


play

Hospitals are an important need in the world.

And finding a facility with high-quality medical care that’s reliable is also important.

Advertisement

Newsweek, the premier news magazine and website, has partnered with Statista to release a dependable guidance list of the World’s Best Hospitals – United States for 2026.

In it’s eight year, these ranking highlights the leading hospitals around the globe so readers can find information tailored to their needs and location the report stated.

Each hospital was reviewed and given a score based on four data sources: recommendations from medical experts; hospital quality metrics, existing patient experience data and Statista’s Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Implementation Survey. 

In typical New Jersey fashion, the Garden State makes the list among the 2,500 hospitals that were evaluated this year.

Advertisement

Nine hospitals from the Garden State made the list with one representing Monmouth County. With an overall score of 61.79% and the Infection Prevention Award, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch made the top 9 list for roster in World’s Best Hospitals 2026 from Newsweek.

World’s Best Hospitals 2026 in New Jersey

  • No. 53: Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center in Morristown; overall score: 70.74%
  • No. 56: Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack; overall score: 70.07%
  • No. 134: The Valley Hospital in Paramus; overall score: 65.36%
  • No. 186: Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center in Summit; overall score: 64.42%
  • No. 254: Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood; overall score: 63.13%
  • No. 320: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick; overall score: 62.26%
  • No. 364: Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark; overall score: 61.82%
  • No. 366: Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro; overall score: 61.80%
  • No. 367: Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch; overall score: 61.79%



Source link

Continue Reading

New Jersey

Newly released body cam footage shows response to massive industrial explosion in Gloucester County

Published

on

Newly released body cam footage shows response to massive industrial explosion in Gloucester County


LOGAN TWP., N.J. (WPVI) — Newly released body camera footage gives us a first look at the heroic actions of first responders on the scene of a massive industrial explosion in Gloucester County earlier this month.

The explosion happened at an industrial facility in Logan Township, New Jersey, on March 4 and left several workers injured.

The initial blast could be heard miles away.

Now, we are getting a look at the frantic rush to help in the moments after it happened.

Advertisement

New details released after massive explosion at Logan Twp., New Jersey factory

In the footage, you can hear the police officers frantically trying to locate people who were injured by the blast at Savita Naturals.

Large propane tanks burned in the background as rescuers tried to account for any survivors.

At one point, first responders are seen running inside the building to look for people. You can see damaged walls and debris everywhere.

Four people were injured in the blast, with one of them being thrown off the roof and into the woods near the water tower.

Advertisement

Amazingly, the worker was found alive by a fence. He was badly burned, but able to talk.

First responders had to load him in a truck and get him to the road, where a Logan Township officer tried to keep him calm as they waited for an ambulance.

Body cam video shows an officer calling the man’s wife to let her know he was alive.

That officer stayed by his side until he was finally loaded into a police car and rushed to the hospital.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

Advertisement

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

New Jersey

How hunters are helping to feed those in need throughout New Jersey

Published

on

How hunters are helping to feed those in need throughout New Jersey


play

For more than 25 years, hunters around the Garden State have been making a difference by working with Hunters Helping the Hungry, a nonprofit organization that raises money and coordinates the efforts of hunters, butchers, and food banks throughout New Jersey to help put food on the table for those in need.

The program began during the 1997/1998 hunting season, a result of the efforts of three Hunterdon County hunters along with help from a butcher named John Person and Kathy Rummel, the director at the time of Norwescap.

Advertisement

“We started out 25 years ago just as hunters, you know, wanting to go out and get some extra deer. New Jersey had very liberal deer quotas and bag limits. You could get unlimited does,” said Lester Giese, one of the founders of Hunters Helping the Hungry. “I was on a trip, and I was going through West Virginia, and I saw at one of the gas stations a brochure for Hunters Helping the Hungry. I picked up the brochure and looked at it and said, ‘What a great idea.’ When I got back, as it turned out, the state legislature just recently passed a law to allow venison donations.”

Five deer were donated during that first season, according to Giese. Today, the organization averages about 1,000 donations per year, which amounts to between 23,000 and 28,000 pounds of venison, he said.

Overall, since the program’s inception, Hunters Helping the Hungry has facilitated the donation of nearly 2.5 million servings of venison.

While the program originally started as a way to assist hunters who could harvest more deer than they could use, the organization’s mission has expanded. According to its website, Hunters Helping the Hungry currently aims to:

Advertisement

  • Continue paying butchering costs for hunters who are able to take more deer than they can use;
  • Support municipal and private property owners that pay for the butchering process directly while they attempt to reduce the deer population on their property;
  • And set aside a portion of grants from the state Department of Agriculture to support and pay for the butchering of deer taken by farmers and their agents during depredation hunts.

These efforts ultimately help New Jersey’s food bank system and provide a source of protein to those in need, while also keeping the state’s deer herd in check

“So, kind of a nutshell, we started out just a small group of us with a small focus,” Giese said. “And now we’re trying to do a lot of things for a lot of people.”

The process: From forest to food pantry

In New Jersey the deer hunting season runs from the second week of September through the second week of February. According to Hunters Helping the Hungry board member Mark Charbonneau, this is one of the longest hunting seasons in the United States.

Hunters who want to make a donation bring their legally harvested deer to one of the state-inspected butchers that partner with the organization. Processing fees are paid to the butcher by Hunters Helping the Hungry from a fund consisting of donations and grants.

Advertisement

The butcher processes the deer at no cost to the hunter and gives it to one of the participating food banks, such as Norwescap, which partners with pantries in Warren, Sussex, and Hunterdon counties.

Venison issued to the food banks is distributed to over 400 charities around the state.

Although New Jersey’s deer hunting season starts in the fall, Charbonneau, a board member of about 20 years and a hunter of about 40, says that the process starts well beforehand.

“The process actually starts before hunting season starts. What I mean by that is hunters will start scouting certain locations to be able to know where deer are, to be able to prepare to harvest them legally and as ethically and quickly as possible,” said Charbonneau, adding that less than 2% of the New Jersey population are deer hunters.

Charbonneau continued, “So when you start that process of scouting areas, setting up your locations, then going afield, then harvesting your game, then removing your game from the field, then field dressing it properly, then bringing it to a butcher, then making that donation, there’s a lot of steps involved and there’s a lot of time involved.”

Advertisement

JB Person, an Hunters Helping the Hungry board member and the owner of GameButcher in Lebanon, is one of several participating butchers that process the donated deer.

“What the hunters do is come here, they have to fill out some paperwork, and along with the paperwork we request they also fill out a donation slip. They donate the whole deer,” Person said. “What we do is skin it and process it into various cuts – roast, steak, chops, and ground meat. Everything is cut, wrapped, and frozen and then when we have a bunch ready to go, I get in touch with Norwescap and then they come and pick it up.”

Game Butchers averages between 150 and 200 donated deer per year, according to Person, who added that Hunters Helping the hungry is “in desperate need of butchers.”

How to donate deer to Hunters Helping the Hungry

Hunters looking to make a donation can take their legally harvested deer to any of the participating butchers listed on the Hunters Helping the Hungry website.

Advertisement

Once the required forms have been filled out, the butcher will process the deer. The food bank will then pick up the processed deer from the butcher and distribute the frozen venison to various food pantries, emergency shelters, churches, etc.

If the dressed weight of the deer is more than 50 pounds, Hunters Helping the Hungry will pay the entire processing fee, according to the organization’s website. If the dressed weight of the deer is less than 50 pounds, the hunter will be required to pay the first $50 of the processing fee.

Throughout the 2025/2026 hunting season, a total of 802 deer were donated to Hunters Helping the Hungry. This amounts to 26,846 pounds of venison which yields 107,384 servings.

“The number one thing that people need to know about our organization is that the hunters of the great state of New Jersey are the reason for our success,” Charbonneau said. “The hunters have taken it upon themselves in the great state of New Jersey to go afield every year and harvest game to help those not as fortunate as most.”

For additional information about Hunters Helping the Hungry and how you can donate and/or get involved as a hunter or a butcher, visit the organization’s website at https://www.huntershelpingthehungry.org/.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending