New Jersey Outdoors: archive now available online

New Jersey is far more than just a “garden” state. While well known for its vast network of fields and farms, fresh produce and fruit orchards, New Jersey boasts incredible ecological diversity. Even those who only know New Jersey from the Sopranos have heard of the Pine Barrens. The 1.1 million acre swath of forest and wetland that confounded Chris and Paulie in the episode “Pine Barrens,” was actually the country’s first National Reserve and designated by UNESCO as a single-site biosphere reserve. It is the largest body of open space on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard and home to dozens of rare and endangered species.

Yet even though the Pine Barrens claim some 22% of the state’s land, it is not the only highlight when it comes to New Jersey’s environmental diversity. Our state hosts portions of the Appalachian Trail and the black bears who live along it, streams full of native brook trout, fields where wild turkey roam and song birds compete for blueberries, and homes for marine wildlife all along the Jersey Shore.

New Jersey Outdoors was created with the idea of highlighting and celebrating New Jersey’s rich environmental heritage. First published in 1950 by the Department of Conservation and Economic Development – the precursor to the modern Department of Environmental Protection – New Jersey Outdoors featured articles on hunting, fishing, and conservation related topics. The combination of photography and illustration by local artists gave each issue a unique personality.

The New Jersey State Library is pleased to provide free online access to its entire collection of New Jersey Outdoors. Issues from 1961-2002 have been digitized in color and are available through the Library’s Digital Collections.

Browsing the table of contents reveals the breadth of topics in each issue – from in-depth commentary on particular species, to fishing tips, and profiled conservation projects. The issues also provide a glimpse at how environmental concerns changed over time.

For example, the January 1963 issue features commentary on what could happen to New Jersey’s wildlife and food supply in the event of nuclear disaster. Tensions between sportsman and environmentalists were highlighted in the August 1971 issue – just a year after the first Earth Day and the rise of the new environmental movements. In July/August 1983, an article on urban waterfront restoration projects showed the culmination of years’ worth of work. Peppered throughout the issues are articles on historical and archaeological topics, as researchers explored human interaction with their environment.

New Jersey Outdoors was published monthly from 1961-1973, bimonthly 1973-1991, and then seasonally from 1991-2003.  Publication ended in 2003 after the publication of the Department of Environmental Protection’s new magazine, Fish and Wildlife Digest. Fish and Wildlife Digest eventually split into three separate, annual magazines: Hunting and Trapping Digest, Freshwater Fishing Digest, and Marine Digest. These magazines are also available through the Library’s Digital Collections.

Unfortunately, we are missing the earliest published issues (1950-1960) of New Jersey Outdoors from our collection.  Anyone who would like to donate copies of these issues to the New Jersey State Library can contact Caitlyn Cook in Reference Services at refdesk@njstatelib.org.