Planning, Conservation, and Education in the Pinelands National Reserve

The Pinelands National Reserve is one of the most integrated regional planning regimes for conservation in the world. Environmental protection is overlapped by the State Pinelands Area, the Pinelands National Reserve, and the New Jersey Pinelands Biosphere Reserve (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Stockton University, a 4-year state university with an 800-hectare campus operates within this mix of preservation and working landscape. In the Environmental Studies program, faculty engage students in the outdoor classroom to study the complexities of balancing development and conservation. This case highlights the creation of the first National Reserve and a University within the protected area and focuses on students analyzing species and habitat to encourage native cavity nesting animals to return and breed in the Pinelands. Readers will be able to navigate the complexities and opportunities of working in a protected area and apply these lessons in the classroom. With this case study, instructors, researchers, and students will be able to apply the symbiotic relationship between protected region and university to other areas of the world.