The Pinelands National Reserve includes portions of seven southern New Jersey counties, and encompasses over one-million acres of farms, forests and wetlands. It contains 56 communities, from hamlets to suburbs, with over 700,000 permanent residents. In 1978 it was established by Congress as the country's first National Reserve -- a Reserve being an area of nationally significant resources that are protected through a program of local land use management supported by federal financial and technical assistance.

In the Pinelands, specific areas have been designated for environmental protection, forestry and agriculture, with growth being directed and encouraged in and around areas capable of accomodating further development. As a United States Biosphere Reserve, the Pinelands also serves as a laboratory for fostering a harmonious relationship between humans and their environment through a program of research that integrates the social, physical and biological sciences.

The Pinelands is truly a special place. Its people are distinguished by a unique relationship with their environment, and the environment is distinguished by being habitat for over a thousand species of plants and animals--almost 100 of which are threatened or endangered.