We have extraordinary, beautiful natural areas in New Jersey, but they're not well protected, because we don't have a law to protect threatened and endangered plants and rare ecological communities.

By protecting threatened and endangered plants and rare ecological communities, we can better support New Jersey's biodiversity, which will benefit not only the plants, but also the natural communities at large, including the animals that need these plants.

We owe it to ourselves and our children to preserve New Jersey's biodiversity. It's a gift that has been given to us, and it's preservation is a responsibility we all share.

Right now, we have a law called the Endangered Plant Species List Act, but all it does is give the NJDEP the authority to maintain a list of endangered plants. It gives no authority to actually protect them! 

New Jersey can boast that it's a leader in the nation in many ways. Why not become a leader in protecting our biodiversity as well? Our native plant biodiversity shrinks year after year. Isn't it time to reverse that trend?

Hopefully, years from now, our children and grandchildren will look back on this time with gratitude toward us for preserving for them what we have now. Let's make that happen by establishing legal protection for our threatened and endangered plant species.