Agreement reached for threatened Northern Pine Snake and Timber Rattlesnake in New Je
 

NEWS RELEASE
The Center for North American Herpetology Lawrence, Kansas
http://www.cnah.org
16 November 2004

Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 November 2004

Agreement reached for threatened Northern Pine Snake and Timber Rattlesnake in New Jersey

A tentative agreement has been reached between the Pinelands Commission and the developers of a housing development called the Sanctuary in New Jersey. The agreement involves the completion of a road within the development where construction was halted due to the presence of the threatened Northern Pine Snake and previously halted by the endangered Timber Rattlesnake. The developer and the Commission agreed to create large culverts for the snakes to use, as well as more permanent barriers to prevent the snakes from crossing on the road. Conservationists were disappointed in the agreement. "They have abandoned their regulatory mandate to protect the habitat of endangered species," said Carleton Montgomery, executive director of the environmental group Pinelands Preservation Alliance. "They have very consciously not studied these [snake] populations because they're afraid they'll find more. They don't want to know what's there. It's get it off our plate."