The U.S. Fish and wildlife service new jersey field office and the conserve wildlife foundation of new jersey are entering into a cooperative agreement for tasks related to the conservation of…

The U.S. Fish and wildlife service new jersey field office and the conserve wildlife foundation of new jersey are entering into a cooperative agreement for tasks related to the conservation of federally listed species occurring onbeaches in ocean and atlantic and cape may counties in new jersey. Funding for this agreement is provided by the U.S. Army corps of engineers philadelphia district stemming from a federally funded beach nourishment program that covers most of the municipal beaches in these three counties. The major tasks covered by this agreement are beach management planning and protective fencing and coordination with local beach managers. Deliverable 1 is a summary of progress on 5 to 7 beach management plans including completion or substantial progress on at least 3 plans. Deliverable 2 includes raw data for locations of seabeach amaranth and a companion report detailing the municipal coordination and temporary fencing efforts carried out to protect these plants from damage by pedestrians or vehicles or and mechanical beach rakes. The expected outcome from beach management planning is maintaining and improving communication and cooperation between local beach managers and state and federal natural resource agencies regarding the conservation of listed beach species. The expected outcome from protective fencing is long term increases in the numbers of seabeach amaranth and expansion of its geographic distribution in new jersey. Intended beneficiaries include the american public from advancing recovery of listed species and local beach managers from improved communication and coordination and the state natural resource agency from increased effectiveness of conservation efforts and the U.S. Army corps of engineers from satisfaction of legal obligations under the endangered species act.