N.J. Admin. Code § 7:7-13.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 7:7-13.5 - Determining if a site is forested or unforested

(a) The vegetative cover percentage that applies to a site in the upland waterfront development area or CAFRA area varies depending on whether the site is forested. If only a portion of a site is forested, separate vegetative cover percentages shall be calculated for the forested and unforested portions of the site.

(b) The following will be considered to be unforested for the purposes of determining vegetative cover percentages:

1. A site that is smaller than one acre; and

2. An area of trees, smaller than one acre, that is surrounded on all sides by areas with fewer than one tree per 100 square feet.

(c) To determine if a site or portion of a site is forested:

1. The limit of the forest shall be identified using aerial photographs obtained from the Department at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis; and

2. If the aerial photograph contains areas of sporadic coverage that have not been identified as forest by the applicant, the applicant shall lay a one-half acre grid system provided by the Department. Any grid block containing 33 percent or greater forest cover, shall be considered as forest for the purposes of this chapter, unless the applicant demonstrates in accordance with (d) below that the size and density of the trees in the area are not sufficient for the area to be considered forest.

(d) If the Department identifies forest areas on a lot that have not been so identified by the applicant, the Department shall require the applicant to measure the trees and determine the density of the trees on the lot using the following method:

1. Select two 25-foot by 25-foot plots in each acre of the site as follows:

i. The plots shall be located in the portion of each acre with the highest density of trees, based on a visual inspection;

ii. If the tree size and density are very uniform over some or all of the site, one plot may be selected in the area of uniformity. Where only one plot is measured, the point total from the one plot shall be doubled to determine the total point value for the sampled acre under (d)5 below;

2. In each plot, measure the diameter of each tree at four and one-half feet above ground;

3. Score each tree as follows:

Diameter of tree	Points
One to three inches	2
>Three to seven inches	4
Seven to 12 inches	6
>12 inches	8

4. Add together the scores for all of the trees in each of the plots;

5. If the total score for both plots is equal to or greater than 16, the sampled acre is forested. For example, if the two 25-foot by 25-foot plots contain a total of three trees which are two inches in diameter, two trees which are six inches in diameter, and one tree which is 15 inches in diameter, the score for the sampled acre would be: (3x2)+(2x4)+(1x8)= 22, and the sampled acre is considered forested;

6. If a sampled acre is forested, the Department shall assume that the half-acre surrounding all sides of the sampled acre is also forested, except for the surrounding areas that are sampled by the applicant and score under 16 utilizing the analysis specified in (d)1 through 5 above. In that case, a sufficient number of plots shall be sampled to delineate the forested portion of the surrounding area; and

7. If a plot is unforested, the Department shall assume that the half-acre of the site surrounding the plot is also unforested, unless a site visit, photographs, or other information indicates that it contains forested areas.

(e) The limit of the forest shall be the outermost edge of the canopy of the forest area identified in (c) and (d) above.

(f) Rationale: The Department has previously field tested three methods of forest identification to determine the most accurate method of determining if a site is considered forested or unforested. This designation affects the percentage vegetative cover and tree planting requirements that apply to the site. The Department determined that the Highlands method (see N.J.A.C. 7:38-3.9) was the most consistent in identifying a forest. The procedures set forth above are thus consistent with the Highlands method.

Aerial photography is an appropriate first step in identifying a forest since it is easier and less costly than doing extensive sampling. If an area includes areas of sporadic coverage that an applicant believes do not constitute forest area, the applicant must overlay a grid system (available from the Department's website) on the photographs to determine whether areas with sporadic coverage contain sufficient coverage to be identified as forest. The use of the grid to identify forest cover is consistent with the New Jersey No Net Loss Reforestation Act, N.J.S.A 13:1L-14.1 et seq.

The on-the-ground methodology for determining a forest on a site by measuring the trees and their density on the ground reflects the Highlands methodology. Onsite sampling is only necessary if the Department identifies additional areas of potential forest that were not identified by the applicant using aerial photography. Diameters and corresponding point values are based on data from the U.S. Forest Inventory Field Procedures Manual (U.S. Forest Service), Forest Statistics for New Jersey 1987 and 1999 (Griffith and Widmann, 2001), and Forests of the Garden State Resource Bulletin NE163 (Widmann, 2005) and are consistent with the Highlands method.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:7-13.5

Renumbered from 7:7E-5.5 by 47 N.J.R. 1392(a), effective 7/6/2015

Amended by 50 N.J.R. 361(a), effective 1/16/2018

Administrative Change, 51 N.J.R. 1193(a).