HILLSDALE—It’s true:
- Hillsdale has trees that date back 150-plus years to Civil War days;
- In addition to hosting a wide range of native and introduced vegetation, Hillsdale residents co-habit with wildlife such as toads, mink and bald eagles; and
- Hillsdale has no publicly accessible electric vehicle charge stations, and that all municipal buildings and vehicles currently rely solely on traditional fuel sources.
These are some of the many facts presented in “An Environmental Resource Inventory of the Borough of Hillsdale, New Jersey” (ERI), prepared by the Hillsdale Environmental Commission (EC), which studies and makes recommendations to the governing body on open space preservation, natural resource management and historic preservation, as well as planting recommendations when a subdivision occurs in town.
The report’s author, EC member Fred N. Rubel, M.S., QEP, tells Pascack Press, “As we go about our busy lives, you may be fascinated to learn that there is way more here in Hillsdale’s 2.98 square miles of land than any of us realize.”
Rubel, an environmental protection and occupational safety professional with more than five decades of experience, recommends the 231-page report as “an important tool for governing bodies, environmental commissions, open space committees, planning boards and zoning boards of adjustment, the ERI contains tables, maps and other visual information about the Borough’s natural resource characteristics and environmentally significant features.”
He says it’s meant to provide baseline documentation for measuring and evaluating resource protection issues, it is an objective index and description of features and their functions.
The report can be accessed and downloaded for free (there are two parts) from the Environmental Commission’s website: hillsdaleec.org. Click on the Reports tab.
According to Meredith Kates, the EC’s chairwoman, “The ERI has been a priority for decades and its importance as a resource and reference tool can’t be overstated as we move forward in preserving and developing our community.”
She said, “Referencing the ERI in decision-making will ensure that development will also protect the public health, safety and future ongoing development of our community and its inhabitants.”
She said the ERI has been adopted by the EC and is expected to be adopted as an appendix to the master plan by Hillsdale’s planning board before year’s end.
According to EC vice chairman Scott Raymond, “The ERI will give guidance to future and ongoing development in our town for many years to come. This living document can be amended and changed in accordance with the future of Hillsdale.”
He said, “As our town grows and changes, this document will also change accordingly.”
According to Rubel, “In addition to fulfilling its obligation of maintaining an inventory of open space in Hillsdale, the EC seeks to record for Hillsdale citizens and its governing officials the many unique and often overlooked environmental aspects that result in Hillsdale being a very special place.”
He said he ERI can also serve as a valuable resource tool for local groups such as Girl and Boy Scouts, garden clubs, students and teachers, and other community members working on special-interest environmental projects and initiatives.
Get involved!
As a standard practice, said Rubel, the EC intends to conduct periodic reviews of the ERI to make any appropriate updates.
Rubel is in the process of tracking updates and is asking fellow Hillsdale residents for their help.
“Have you identified a species of plant or animal on your property or elsewhere in Hillsdale that is not listed in the ERI? If so, we invite you to snap a picture and send it along with a completed Form H.5 Hillsdale Wildlife/Vegetation Inventory [Data Input Report] so that we can recognize that you spotted this, and update our listing,” he said.
(You can download the form at hillsdaleec.org/2022/09/15/wanted-environmental-spotters.)
A printed copy and an online version of the ERI report are also available at the Hillsdale Free Public Library. For more information visit hillsdaleec.org.