The Natural Heritage Priority Sites coverage is a valuable tool which can be used by individuals and agencies concerned with the protection and management of land. However, the coverage was not developed for regulatory purposes, and should not be used as a substitute for the on-site surveys and Natural Heritage Database searches required by regulatory agencies.
Natural Heritage Priority Site maps are used by individuals and agencies concerned with the protection and management of land. The maps have been used by municipalities preparing natural resource inventories, public and private conservation organizations preparing open space acquisition goals, land developers and consultants identifying environmentally sensitive lands, and public and private landowners developing land management plans. Natural Heritage Priority Sites contain some of the best and most viable occurrences of rare plant species and ecological communities, but they do not cover all the known habitat for these elements or most rare animal species in New Jersey. If information is needed on whether or not endangered or threatened species have been documented from a particular area, a Natural Heritage Database search can be requested by contacting the Office of Natural Lands Management at:
Office of Natural Lands Management, Division of Parks and Forestry, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, P.O. Box 404, Trenton, NJ 08625-0404 Phone: 609-984-1339 Fax: 609-984-1427
Agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of the following:
I. Description of Data to be Provided
The data provided herein are distributed subject to the following conditions and restrictions.
Subject Data Layers
For all data contained herein, (NJDEP) makes no representations of any kind, including, but not limited to, the warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use, nor are any such warranties to be implied with respect to the digital data layers furnished hereunder. NJDEP assumes no responsibility to maintain them in any manner or form.
II. Terms of Agreement
1. Digital data received from the NJDEP are to be used solely for internal purposes in the conduct of daily affairs.
2. The data are provided, as is, without warranty of any kind and the user is responsible for understanding the accuracy limitations of all digital data layers provided herein, as documented in the accompanying Data Dictionary and Readme files. Any reproduction or manipulation of the above data must ensure that the coordinate reference system remains intact.
3. Digital data received from the NJDEP may not be reproduced or redistributed for use by anyone without first obtaining written permission from the NJDEP. This clause is not intended to restrict distribution of printed mapped information produced from the digital data.
4. Any maps, publications, reports, or other documents produced as a result of this project that utilize NJDEP digital data will credit the NJDEP's Geographic Information System (GIS) as the source of the data with the following credit/disclaimer:
"This (map/publication/report) was developed using New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Geographic Information System digital data, but this secondary product has not been verified by NJDEP and is not state-authorized."
5. Users shall require any independent contractor, hired to undertake work that will utilize digital data obtained from the NJDEP, to agree not to use, reproduce, or redistribute NJDEP GIS data for any purpose other than the specified contractual work. All copies of NJDEP GIS data utilized by an independent contractor will be required to be returned to the original user at the close of such contractual work.
Users hereby agree to abide by the use and reproduction conditions specified above and agree to hold any independent contractor to the same terms. By using data provided herein, the user acknowledges that terms and conditions have been read and that the user is bound by these criteria.
Outside the Highlands Region the coverage was developed as lines on USGS topographic paper maps and subsequently edited to fit on either 1995/97 color infrared aerial imagery, 1991 black and white aerial imagery or scanned USGS 1:24,000 topographic maps as an ArcView shape file. Within the Highlands Region the coverage was developed using the NJDEP 2002 Land use/Land cover: Highlands Study Area (DRAFT) coverage, and then subsequently edited using 2002 High Resolution Orthophotography, as well as scanned USGS 1:24,000 topographic maps, as references.
Within the Highlands Region, the coverage was developed using the NJDEP 2002 Land use/Land cover: Highlands Study Area (DRAFT) coverage and subsequently edited using 2002 High Resolution Orthophotography, as well as scanned USGS 1:24,000 topographic maps, as references.
Each Priority Site is ranked according to its significance for biological diversity on a global level. Within the Highlands Region the global biodiversity significance rank has been combined with a state biodiversity significance rank which provides information about the significance of the site on a state level. These ranks are based on the quality of the individual element occurrence(s) at the site, as well as the rarity of the species or community on a global and statewide level.