Evaluation of Artificial Salt Marshes in New Jersey

Since the passage of the Wetlands Act of 1970, the State of New Jersey has been regulating most forms of development or disturbance on coastal wetlands. The Act is administered by the Division of Coastal Resources (DCR) of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which makes permit decisions pursuant to the standards of the Rules on Coastal Resource and Development Policies. The Rules require permit issuance to be conditioned upon mitigation of adverse impacts. Mitigation usually takes the form of restoration of a disturbed natural marsh or creation of a man-made marsh. As of March 1986, more than 100 such mitigation projects have been carried out.