Highlands environmental resource inventory for the township of Mahwah

An Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI), sometimes called a Natural Resource Inventory, identifies and depicts the natural and cultural resources present in a community. Natural resources maps and accompanying narrative provide the basis for inventorying a community’s natural resource components and provide the base source for resource conservation. Identifying a community’s natural resources is the first step toward establishing mechanisms for their protection. As an integral component of a master plan, an ERI functions as the basis for development of natural resources protection ordinances. The purpose of the Highlands Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) is to provide a framework that supports the efforts of the Township of Mahwah to bring its planning documents, including the ERI, into conformance with the Regional Master Plan (RMP). This is Mahwah’s first Highlands ERI. The ERI is one requirement for Plan Conformance. It provides critical support to the Conservation Plan Element of the municipal master plan related to implementation of resource protection requirements in the land use ordinance and health codes of the Township of Mahwah