About Us

The New Jersey Field Office is located in Galloway, New Jersey, a short distance outside of Atlantic City. We are the local Ecological Services field station, serving all of New Jersey in four program areas: endangered species, conservation planning assistance, environmental contaminants, and private lands restoration. 

Our Mission

The New Jersey Field Office protects endangered species, supports federal planning, mitigates environmental contamination, and partners with landowners to restore wildlife habitats. We work with others across New Jersey to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

Our History

The New Jersey Field Office was established in the 1980s in Absecon, New Jersey. We have moved twice -- first to Pleasantville around 1990, and then again in 2015 to our current location in Galloway. Some of our key past activities and accomplishments include:

  • Our office was awarded the Coastal America Partnership Award from the removing barriers to fish passage fish passage
    Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

    Learn more about fish passage     on the Musconetcong River.
  • We have helped remove many antiquated dams -- including Riegelsville, Finesville, and Columbia -- opening dozens of miles of streams to migrating fish. 
  • The office partnered with Duke Farms and the Natural Resource Conservation Service to restore the largest wetland restoration project to date in northern New Jersey -- 500 acres.
  • We worked for more than 10 years to prevent the filling of hundred acres of wetlands in the Hackensack Meadowlands for residential and commercial development, including the area that eventually became the 237-acre Richard P. Kane Natural Area.
  • Five New Jersey Field Office biologists assisted at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
  • Our office provides regional leadership for oil spill response.
  • We have provided leadership and technical expertise in the assessment of contaminated sediments prior to urban wetland restoration. 
  • The New Jersey Field Office has developed Programmatic Biological Opinions to protected listed species -- while streamlining and standardizing project reviews -- for beach nourishment, dredging, aquaculture, and road work. 
  • We worked for nearly 8 years to ensure the success of coastal resilience and coastal habitat projects following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
  • We lead the effort to list the rufa red knot as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 2015.
  • In partnership with the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Program, we have worked with municipalities and other land managers to develop Beach Management Plans to protect listed species on most New Jersey beaches.