The Moorestown Environmental Advisory Committee is celebrating the completion of the Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI), an effort that started in 2022.
The inventory must be published on a 10-year cycle; the previous edition was published in 2013. After thousands of hours of volunteer time, the new document was announced at the township’s annual dinner for the staff and members of township committees.
Along with financial and staff support from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), members of the committee have spent thousands of hours over the last two years completing the inventory. The resulting 176-page document includes 21 updated maps and 47 tables organized into seven chapters on subjects like history, the environment, culture, parks and open spaces. It also includes a printable updated street map.
Along with the environmental advisory committee, there were contributions from both government and citizen groups such as the Moorestown Historic Society; township council; the community development, public works and parks and recreation departments; the township’s tree committee; its open space committee; Sustainable Moorestown, the township police and fire departments; and Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM).
The purpose of the ERI is to identify and describe the natural and cultural resources of a community. It is an important tool for environmental and other groups to not only identify challenges and opportunities, but prioritize them. The ERI can also support the development of resource protection ordinances and resource-based land-use planning.
The latest ERI document has now been reviewed and adopted by the Moorestown planning board for publication. It is available on the township website at the end of the Community section and on the environmental committee’s web page.
DVRPC will make hard copies available for major contributors and multiple copies will go to the township and school libraries.
For more information, visit https://www.moorestown.nj.us/396/ERI—Environmental-Resource-Inventory.
