Mission and Purpose
“This mission of the New Jersey conservation partnership is to provide leadership in the planning and implementation of natural resource management programs for the agricultural and development of communities and the general public through a locally based delivery system in coordination with local, state and federal partners”
The Ocean County Soil Conservation District (OCSCD), which originated in 1952, is one of fifteen Soil Conservation Districts in NJ that all work together to implement the New Jersey Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act, which governs various aspects of new development. The OCSCD is a sub-division of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, however is locally governed, and operates within the boundaries of Ocean County.
Due to the crisis of the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s, Congress passed Public Law 46, declaring soil and water conservation a national policy, and in 1937 President Franklin D. Roosevelt recommended that states allow landowners to form soil and water conservation districts. Today, there are close to 3,000 conservation districts across the country.
The birth of the Ocean County Soil Conservation District came in 1952 from a group of passionate citizens, who wanted to set themselves apart from the then established “Camburton Soil Conservation District” (comprised of Ocean, Camden and Burlington Counties). In 1975, the NJ State Legislature enacted Chapter 251, P.L. 1975, or the Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act, which mandates that a municipality cannot issue a construction permit unless the local soil conservation district has reviewed and certified a soil erosion and sediment control plan for that construction. The OCSCD implements this law on construction and development sites, as well as supporting the agricultural industries within Ocean County.
The OCSCD has also developed an education program designed to heighten awareness about the importance of natural resources and their conservation and to promote environmental stewardship throughout theBarnegatBaywatershed. Partnerships and combined efforts with agencies such as the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, the USDA-NRCS and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County have served to enhance our education efforts.