**Save Barnegat Bay is the Ocean County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America**
SAVE BARNEGAT BAY's mission is to restore and protect the Barnegat Bay and its ecosystem. We advance our mission by being a strong and independent voice for the Bay throughout the watershed, including all of Ocean and part of Monmouth Counties. We do this through effective educational programs and targeted advocacy campaigns that engage over 1,500 Save Barnegat Bay members who cherish the Bay as a natural, recreational, and economical resource for the community and all of New Jersey. The success of our educational programs and advocacy campaigns are the result of our strong connection to the Bay, environmental expertise, ability to collaborate with other organizations, and credibility as a 40 year community-based nonprofit organization with a record of accomplishment. Our members and donors generously support the work of Save Barnegat Bay, giving us flexibility and a strong foundation from which to grow.
Save Barnegat Bay programs serve citizens and institutions throughout the Barnegat Bay watershed. We seek to educate and engage all residents, but place a special emphasis on serving local and state decision-makers and homeowners by providing them with science-based information and examples of environmental best practices. Our education efforts focus on student research grants, educating homeowners and other residents or visitors at select events, and providing assistance to community activists working to address a localized threat to the Bay. Informed and active community members will strengthen Save Barnegat Bay advocacy campaigns that bring legislation and policies that reduce the nutrient load in the Bay, and eliminate or reduce the impact of physical threats. Whenever possible, we collaborate or partner with other organizations in order to avoid duplication of services, and to maximize our individual strengths and collective resources.
Save Barnegat Bay was founded by Charles Hetfield in 1971 as the Ocean County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America in response to a proposed development in what are today Traders Cove and F-Cove in Brick Township. In 1985, the organization became reinvigorated, expanded its scope to the whole watershed, and adopted the name Save Barnegat Bay. From the mid-nineteen eighties until well into the first decade of the twenty-first century, the group's primary focus was on resisting imprudent development and promoting conservation of open spaces in its natural state. In recent years, as the watershed has become largely built out, Save Barnegat Bay has been reacting to the vast number of factors that threathen the health of Barnegat Bay and its ecosystem.
Over the years, Save Barnegat Bay has been the group thinking innovatively to protect the Bay. Examples of particularly ingenious projects include: expanding the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge from Long Branch to Brick Township, creating the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust, creating New Jersey's first Marine Conservation Zone, creating the Barnegat Bay Study, known today as the Barnegat Bay Partnership, and creating New Jersey's strongest in the nation lawn fertilizer law, which has become the model for the Mid-Atlantic states.
The success of our efforts requires support from you. SAVE BARNEGAT BAY is financed primarily by contributions from people throughout the watershed and from non-residents who love Barnegat Bay. Beyond its economic impact, your tax-deductible contribution in any amount allows us to amplify your voice in the protection of Barnegat Bay and its environs. We thank you all for your continued support.
Contributions may be made here (see the "Donate" button on the right) or sent to 906-B Grand Central Avenue Lavellette, NJ 08735. We invite you to phone us at 732-830-3600, or to drop by our office.