ABSTRACT
It is doubtful if many of the nation’s municipalities could honestly say that they have a good grasp of the “health” of their community ecological infrastructure and/or natural resources. This has been one of the major omissions and deficiencies of localized land use planning. Fortunately, state, federal, and sometimes county environmental protection and health agencies have been somewhat more diligent, establishing large-scale ambient monitoring networks to collect the scientific data needed to make these types of assessments. The New Jersey ambient monitoring networks shown in Figures 10.1 to 10.3 * for example, are being used to monitor and assess the water quality chemistries of the state’s surface and groundwaters and the health of aquatic insect populations so important to the aquatic food chain. Nationwide, other state and federal programs also are tracking the condition of threatened and endangered species, the quality of our air, the health of our forests and woodlands, and the health of the nation’s valuable wildlife resources including fish. These ambient data are supplemented by decades of intensive research and other special studies, also carried out under the auspices of many of these same groups as well as academic institutions. (From Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Mont., New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203758960/c6d1bac0-b2a5-4185-873b-bcd76fe77fe8/content/fig10_1.tif"/> (From Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Mont., New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203758960/c6d1bac0-b2a5-4185-873b-bcd76fe77fe8/content/fig10_2.tif"/> (From Bureau of Freshwater and Biological Mont., New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203758960/c6d1bac0-b2a5-4185-873b-bcd76fe77fe8/content/fig10_3_OB.tif"/> https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203758960/c6d1bac0-b2a5-4185-873b-bcd76fe77fe8/content/fig10_3_OC.jpg"/>
