Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge Manager Edward Henry and biologist Kevin Holcomb joined regional planners Beth Goldstein and Brad Mille recently to brief State of New Jersey officials on refuge expansion plans. The state's Green Acres program (its land acquistion arm), the state parks and forestry division and the division of Fish and Willdife all attended.

The meeting was important to working with and informing our partners on the plan. The meeting led to a valuable discussion of coordination efforts in land protection, an agreement of the necessity of preseving the areas within the proposal area and confirmation of the partnership model that is essential to preserving larger tracts of land in the state. The meeting also led to additional contacts with regional supervisors in the parks and forestry department, whose agency borders the refuge and a refuge expansion proposal on both sides.