As Arbor Day is observed Friday, Rutgers University researchers are making efforts to bring back a species of tree that used to be among the tallest along the Eastern Seaboard. American chestnuts made up about a quarter of Northeast forests until a fungus from trees imported from Asia in the late 19th century wiped them out, said Christina Kaunzinger, a senior ecologist at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences… Rutgers plant biology professor Brad Hillman hopes restoration attempts will succeed. “It would be terrific to see some of the same types of landscapes as in the 1800s and 1700s. It was an important part of the forestry system at the time for a good reason,” Hillman said.

A group of homeowners in coastal Ocean County is fighting back against the use of eminent domain by the state of New Jersey to build a series of protective sand dunes. Seventeen homeowners in Point Pleasant, Brick, and Mantoloking argue that the state is abusing its power by taking parts of their land in an unnecessary bid to build the dunes. “Superstorm Sandy certainly showed that dunes were a very good first defense for flooding and storm surge coming in on the ocean side,” said Lisa Auermuller, the watershed coordinator for the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve in Tuckerton, which is operated by Rutgers University.