History of the Ringwood Environmental Commission

In 1968 The New Jersey State Legislature passed a law authorizing municipalities to set up “conservation commissions” whose purpose was to advise the governing bodies on natural resource planning and protection and open space issues. In 1972 the State Legislature amended the law to expand the commission’s responsibilities to other areas of environmental concern, renaming them “environmental commissions” to reflect the expanded mission. Today the Ringwood Environmental Commission, which was established in 1974, is involved in a broad range of activities, from recycling and waste reduction to an outdoor recreational program and efforts to reverse the effects of global warming by reducing our carbon footprint. Its first Chair was Jerry Wyckoff, who co-wrote the town’s first Natural Resources Inventory and laid the foundation for the Commission. We named a park in the center of town the Jerry Wyckoff Natural Preserve.