2026 Year in Review

A livable climate, healthy communities and thriving nature…The Nature Conservancy has been working around the world since 1955 on behalf of this vision, one harmonious future we can all share. And it is achievable – if we work together with urgency and commitment.

As TNC turns 75 this year, it is rewarding to reflect on the organization’s successful approach to conservation. By rooting our work in cutting-edge science and operating through a nonpartisan lens, we can engage across areas of common ground and great divide. Yes, it can be a tough space, but it is also where we find solutions that reach beyond boundaries and borders, where innovative paths to transformative conservation funding begin and where authentic, community-centered partnerships are secured.

In my 23 years as a leader at TNC, I have seen our evolution from a small land trust to a global force for the planet, and our environment has never been more in need of the help. We are tackling growing climate challenges and a shocking loss of species diversity all around the world with bold goals we aim to achieve by 2030, from buffalo restoration and rainforest conservation in the Americas to river protection and clean energy in Europe to coastal restoration and community-led fisheries and wildlife management in the Asia Pacific region and Africa.

New Jersey is an important part of nature’s mosaic, and I am so pleased to share what we have accomplished for people and wildlife this last year in our home state. Highlights include preserving critical acres in Bobcat Alley where iconic species roam, removing dams to make rivers healthier, restoring salt marshes to bolster our coast, planting trees to make life in Newark a little greener, and updating our preserves to welcome and encourage new outdoor enthusiasts – including an orphaned river otter! Wins in policy and media round out the year.

Conservation in New Jersey is good for New Jersey and also has positive ripple effects for the natural systems we are part of, like the Appalachian Mountains, the Atlantic Coast, North America and yes, Earth itself. Your donation right now is the needed catalyst to ensure our one future includes a livable climate, healthy communities and thriving nature. Together, we find a way.

Yours in conservation,

Dr. Barbara Brummer

Last year, TNC authored, promoted and successfully saw a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan bill signed into New Jersey law. In the spring of 2026, our policy team introduced another bill that would establish a program and investment fund for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to implement that plan, which centers on making species movement safer and reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions. State Senator Bob Smith and Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese are sponsoring the bill, which is in preliminary review with relevant committees.

The New Jersey TNC team also joined colleagues in launching a video series called Northeast Habitats and Highways to educate transportation experts about the reasons for and best ways to build safer roads and wildlife crossings. The segments highlight success stories, provide practical tools and showcase real-world examples demonstrating how wildlife-friendly design can become standard practice. Several New Jersey staff members and partners were featured in the videos, which were promoted widely to transportation professionals, municipal planners, and local and state agencies with the authority to implement these life-saving solutions.

Wild and rugged Johnsonburg Swamp Preserve has always been a prime location for wildlife watching, and some new additions this year now guarantee “sightings” while celebrating critters that call this special place home.

TNC in New Jersey commissioned and installed sculptures of six resident native species—black bear, bobcat, coyote, otter, porcupine and heron—around the preserve as a special enhancement to attract and engage visitors, and to provide educational opportunities around the animals of Bobcat Alley and the Appalachian Mountains.

Each piece was carefully created by Uruguay-based artist Joaquin Arbiza, who hand-welded tens of thousands of recycled scrap metal parts to form the creatures. The black bear statue is the largest; it contains 10,000 pieces and required a crane and forklift to move! The bobcat features special antique camera parts that were donated by an enthusiastic collector in Uruguay.

The Columbia Dam on the Paulins Kill was the first dam TNC removed in New Jersey, as well as the largest dam removal in state history. We theorized that its removal would improve water quality and allow migratory fish to return to their native, freshwater spawning grounds, which the dam blocked them from reaching for more than 100 years. And being a science-based organization, we collected data to determine whether our hypothesis was correct.

Before, during and after the Columbia Dam was removed in 2019, TNC monitored water quality up- and downstream of the dam site and sampled for migratory fish like American shad and American eel, as well as macroinvertebrates – small aquatic insects that are sensitive to changes in water quality.

We analyzed 10 years of data and gleaned exciting results: the dam removal did contribute to improved water quality! In April 2026, our findings were published in a peer-reviewed article in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Adding to the reasons for celebration, we verified young-of-the-year American shad during fish sampling, proving that this struggling species has successfully spawned above the former Columbia Dam site!

The TNC New Jersey team continues to restore New Jersey’s coastal salt marshes through a nourishment technique that recycles sediment dredged from nearby boating channels. Last year, we launched a matchmaking process to pair up dredging projects and drowning marshes, and the first of five of those projects is successfully progressing.

In February 2026, the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Office of Maritime Resources completed placement of 20,000 cubic yards of sediment from an adjacent state boating channel at Boot Island, a marsh owned by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Operators concentrated the dredged material on a low intertidal zone of the marsh, located in Brigantine Wildlife Management Area in Atlantic County, to expand valuable mudflats while protecting the once-eroding edge.

Success of the matchmaking program depends on engagement from navigation managers and marsh owners, so this Boot Island milestone was especially meaningful as the first instance of cross-coordination from New Jersey wildlife, transportation and dredging agencies on the same marsh. It is also an encouraging sign of similar cooperation to come.

The Newark Tree Canopy Initiative (NTCI) is a five-year collaborative effort among TNC in New Jersey, nonprofit, university and city agency partners. Primarily supported by an $8 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, the NTCI will help to reduce urban heat, manage stormwater runoff and improve air quality – enhancing residents’ health and quality of life. So far, we have engaged more than 1,300 Newark residents through outreach for this program.

Right Tree, Right Place

Each of the trees we plant through the NTCI is chosen with care to ensure the species will thrive in its specific location. Our goal is not just to plant trees ourselves but to encourage homeowners and businesses to add trees to their properties, too. TNC’s Cities Forestry Project Manager and the Tree Canopy Coordinators from each of our community-based partner organizations went door-to-door in Newark neighborhoods prior to planting trees in front of homes. The outreach engaged residents and laid the groundwork for civic pride in the new street trees.

TNC also created a guide to help with choosing the right trees for these spaces. It includes more than 80 species suitable for planting in Newark with a chart that indicates the size of each species at maturity, along with its preferred sun exposure and drought tolerance. We are excited to share this community resource throughout Newark and beyond.