The DEP's Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife has made it easy for even the novice wildlife watcher to enjoy our wildlife resource which savvy naturalists have coveted for decades. The Guide lists 87 of the best sites in our state where people can observe and learn about our incredible array of wild animals and the habitats that support them. The New Jersey Guide is one in a national series of wildlife viewing guides published by Falcon Press and created through a national watchable wildlife partnership coordinated by the Defenders of Wildlife. The New Jersey project is being funded through grants from the National Park Service , US Fish and Wildlife Service , Environmental Protection Agency , the federal Partnerships for Wildlife program and proceeds from the 'Conserve Wildlife' license plate. The Guide takes residents and visitors to a diversity of sites throughout the state that all have one thing in common.
People can see, enjoy and learn about our wildlife resource.
Viewing site hosts are as varied as the wildlife that can be seen. The mosaic of wildlife viewing sites consists of wildlife management areas, state parks and forests, national wildlife refuges and recreation areas, county and municipal parks and conservation organization lands. Wildlife viewing sites in the Ridge and Valley and Highlands regions of northern New Jersey feature mountain ranges, lush valleys, dense deciduous forests, numerous lakes, ponds, streams, bogs and freshwater marshes that support bear, bobcat, beaver, otter, deer, turkeys and hundreds of other species. The rolling hills of the Piedmont provide some of the best agricultural land in the state dotted with productive woodlots and bordered by forested ridges. Viewing sites here support a variety of wildlife species that have adapted and benefited from the farming that has shaped the landscape over the centuries like red-tailed hawks, grassland birds, deer, coyote and a variety of reptiles and amphibians.