Nesting bald eagles bar development

The Times of Trenton recently reported that the University filed a set of documents with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2009 that included “blueprints that depicted several athletic fields and expanses of groomed parkland proposed for the site.” University spokeswoman Emily Aronson said, however, that this report contained “misinformation.”

“There are no current development plans, and there are no plans to develop the land in the foreseeable future,” Aronson explained in an e-mail. “The Times incorrectly linked the long-range plans for other lands with this specific property.”

Aronson said the documents only contained long-range plans for development of pieces of University property located between Alexander Street and Harrison Street.

Aronson added that if the University were to begin to develop the Sarnoff property, it would “assure that any further development would comply with [NJDEP] regulations in effect at the time of the application.”

The lands owned by the University on both sides of Route 1 are classified as “Environmentally Sensitive Areas” not only because of the bald eagles, but also because of the presence of two threatened species, long-eared owls and wood turtles.

The controversy began over the question of whether the Sarnoff property should be included as part of Mercer County’s sewer service area. The county is currently revising its sewer service area maps with the help of NJDEP for the first time in nearly 35 years.

Current NJDEP regulations include restrictions on building new sewer lines in ESAs because such sewer lines may encourage further widespread development.

“Obviously, it is easier to intensively develop an area on sewer,” Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association director Jim Waltman ’86 said in an e-mail. “Areas that are not served by sewers can still be developed with alternative wastewater treatment technologies but typically at much lower densities than those that are served by sewers.”

The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association is a nonprofit environmentalist organization focused on protecting and restoring the clean water and natural habitats of Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, Monmouth and Hunterdon counties.

Aronson, however, noted that the Sarnoff property currently has sewer service and that the property is listed on current sewer service maps.

Aronson added that there are no eagles currently in the nest on the Sarnoff property.

For Waltman, the bald eagles are essential aspects of the local ecology. Their presence, he added, explains that “our water is in decent shape.”

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“We were concerned to find out that Princeton University was trying to change the map,” Waltman added. “We’re very lucky to have this rare species in our midst, and we really need to do everything we can to protect them.”

It is possible to simultaneously develop an area for human use and maintain the natural habitat of eagles, according to David Wilcove GS ’85, an ecology and evolutionary biology professor at the University.

“It’s certainly the case that eagles can tolerate some disturbance, and they don’t require a complete wilderness,” Wilcove said. “If that were the case, we wouldn’t have them in this part of New Jersey.”

Wilcove noted, however, that “too much disturbance or too much development will drive them from their nest sites.”

Furthermore, the level of disturbance is dependent on seasonal patterns. Birds are more sensitive when they are laying eggs or incubating, Wilcove added.