April 30, 2025, Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

lor slide was O-7, but this ones definitely O-12.19 MR. AFRAN: We should make the ten set O-7A20 so we're clear.21 MR. PLOCKER: There is an item on the agenda22 Ms. McGovern, there is a slide show and I believe that's23 what Mr. Afran is referring to.24 MS. MCGOVERN: Okay. The entire slide show25

05/12/2025 02:23:28 PM Page 77 to 80 of 116 20 of 48 sheets 77 would be O-7 then.1 MR. AFRAN: Okay.2 MS. MCGOVERN: Because that one slide was3 part of that.4 MR. AFRAN: I think that's right.5 MS. MCGOVERN: So that was probably the6 first one and I called it that in my notes.7 MR. PLOCKER: Yeah. Right now exhibit O-78 it says, West Orange Core Map 2025 and right under that9 it's not marked as exhibit specific, but West Orange10 DeVito Slide Presentation.11 MR. AFRAN: It was meant to be one document,12 I believe.13 MS. MCGOVERN: All right. Okay. So O-12 is14 going to be Dr. Burke's --15 MR. AFRAN: Butler.16 MS. MCGOVERN: Butler, I'm sorry. Slide17 show and how many slides are there?18 THE WITNESS: 18.19 MR. AFRAN: They're not numbered, right?20 Okay.21 MS. MCGOVERN: Okay. So it would be Dr.22 Butler's side presentation, 18 slides. And then I don't23 know, what is O-8? Colorized slide by Walsh objector I24 have. Do you have something different? And then O-925 78 Colorized --1 MR. AFRAN: I don't have my list with me.2 MS. MCGOVERN: Just for purposes of the3 record, we'll do O-13 will be the slide show from Dr.4 DeVito, just to make sure we have it.5 MR. PLOCKER: And just for housekeeping6 record, I think the Boards doing an excellent job7 maintaining everything on the agenda, but doesn't appear8 all the O exhibits are actually marked as O exhibits on9 the agenda. So if it would be possible to.10 MR. AFRAN: I appreciate Mr. Plocker saying11 that, because we had some questions about making sure12 things were fully posted.13 MS. MCGOVERN: So the color diagram by14 Ecological Solutions, the one side slide is marked O-7,15 but the balance is how many slides?16 MR. AFRAN: Ten, I believe. Total is ten.17 MS. MCGOVERN: Ten slides will be O-13.18 Okay.19 I'm sorry for interrupting your testimony.20 So you're O-12.21 MR. AFRAN: Okay. Thank you.22 Thank you.23 A. So you can, you had plenty of time now to study24 how much time I spent at each site. You see a total25 79 around a little over two hours, two hours five minutes1 total time. And so I walked along Howell Drive and2 stood around the south side and these were good3 conditions to watch birds, nice mornings, nice middays4 and in that short sample I detected 20 species of birds.5 These 20 species, I'm sure a lot of these are backyard6 birds, a lot of you are familiar with them and almost7 none of these were a surprise

4 and in that short sample I detected 20 species of birds.5 These 20 species, I'm sure a lot of these are backyard6 birds, a lot of you are familiar with them and almost7 none of these were a surprise to me. If I hadn't seen8 them I would've been surprised. This is exactly what9 one would've expect at this time of year exactly where I10 was standing in a quality forest that contains typical11 bird life. Especially where I was standing in between12 the forest and the neighborhood. So as you can, like as13 I mentioned, a subset of all these birds are kind of14 like backyard birds actually not forest interior birds.15 So I am going to skip ahead to that first.16 So there were only seven of the species that I17 saw were really considered a forest bird species, the18 rest of them were backyard birds, it's exactly typical19 for where I was standing which is on the -- in the20 margin between the forest and open space, like the21 neighborhood around here. And so this a very expected22 result. I forgot to mention I probably should have told23 Mr. Afran to bring this into the record, I have been24 teaching courses on birds in New Jersey and species up25 80 here where I taught courses doing bird surveys for1 almost my entire time as a professor, also doing adult2 education. So I'm extremely confident in the ID's I3 zeroed down about these identifications or the grouping4 that I saw.5 MR. AFRAN: Could you just identify the6 seven species on the sides?7 Well, sure. The seven species highlighted right8 A. now are pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker,9 blue jay, black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, white10 breasted nuthatch and worm-eating warbler.11 So part of this could seem maybe not impressive12 or maybe impressive depending how you think about how13 much time I spent looking. So one of the things I did14 was I analyzed my, the detections of new species that I15 made the longer I surveyed. And so what this figure is16 showing you along the horizontal access is the amount of17 time that I spent observing, you can see goes from zero18 time up to 125 minutes. And on the Y access what you're19 seeing is the percent of all the species that I showed20 that I observed at that point in time. So of course by21 the end of my observation I saw 100 percent species I22 was going to see and before I started I had not seen any23 of them, but you see in the first 20 minutes

at that point in time. So of course by21 the end of my observation I saw 100 percent species I22 was going to see and before I started I had not seen any23 of them, but you see in the first 20 minutes I saw24 almost 75 percent I was going to see. And adding25

21 of 48 sheets Page 81 to 84 of 116 05/12/2025 02:23:28 PM 81 another hour almost 90 minutes of that I only added an1 additional six or seven species. So the reason for that2 is because the birds are abundant. Every time I went to3 another site I saw more of the same species I was4 counting but I was counting the same species again and5 again, seeing lots of different species and what this6 pattern suggests is given the fact that there's still an7 increase here whereas I continue to survey I detected8 more and more species it does suggest in an extensive9 study the line continued to go up and more and more10 species would be detected over time. That's what you11 would expect when you sample something out in space like12 that on a landscape, especially something that fly's13 around like birds. So I for sure didn't max out what14 could be there, if I stood at those points longer I15 surely would have been observing more species.16 This is just a summary table or summary slide to17 make sure all the components in my study are tracking18 one thing.19 I want to mention among the 20 species there's 1420 different families of birds. So in taxonomy or21 ornithology relatedness is nested so closely related22 species are either taxonomy or ornithology are next to23 each other distant from, further apart, in this case 1424 different families of birds. The whole family, like all25 82 the woodpeckers are in the same family. You have the1 sparrows that are in the same family. The corvidae, the2 crows, those are all in the same family. So seeing 143 different families really tells you there's very4 different kinds of birds and within some of those5 families there's multiple species. So within a parody6 woodchuck, chickadees, with the woodpeckers I saw or7 observed three species, flicker, hairy woodpecker and8 red-bellied woodpecker.9 The fourth woodpecker --10 MR. AFRAN: Could I just suggest Professor11 Butler talk a little slower.12 THE WITNESS: Oh, sure.13 MR. AFRAN: It'll help the court reporter.14 Okay.15 Let me think more slowly. This is like a16 A. lecture, right. Do you want me to go back to anything?17 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: No, you're good.18 THE WITNESS: Thank you.19 So I had prefaced I was going to make a20 A. prediction on what kinds of birds I think would probably21 be there, because I have only a small sample, I was only22 there for about two hours and I saw a few

had prefaced I was going to make a20 A. prediction on what kinds of birds I think would probably21 be there, because I have only a small sample, I was only22 there for about two hours and I saw a few things and as23 I said I was not able to go inside to sample. But one24 of the kinds of, I don't know rules or laws in this type25 83 of biology is species tend to occur in association. Or1 assemblance. So for example, when I got there, stepped2 out of the car I first saw a red-bellied woodpecker or3 flicker woodpecker or a hairy woodpecker, because if you4 find a red-bellied woodpecker and you're looking at a5 forest you're probably going to find these other species6 because they tend to co-occur. So that's sort of an7 example I have on the screen here where I did see the8 six species in the lower left. I didn't see the species9 on the right. I didn't hear them, I didn't see them but10 I know that, I have absolutely no doubt they're in the11 area, in the woods. I don't need to see them because12 I've already seen the six other species that are nearly13 always associated with those two other species. So14 based on what I saw, both in terms of the bird life and15 the habitat I saw and also I looked at the eBird16 reports, some of you birders you're probably familiar17 with eBird. EBird is actually a curated data base18 that's user generated where people report their bird19 sightings, but it's monitored by Cornell Lab and they're20 trying to make sure the data is clean and people don't21 report flamingos or something. I know this for a fact22 because I received a couple e-mails myself saying, are23 you sure you saw that. And I want to point to my24 signature, you see who I am. Just kidding, I would not25 84 do that, but I get them myself, they question me, did I1 really see that. So I looked at those four surrounding2 parcels of land that are there, I think the Highland3 Preserve or Reserve and there's Eagle Bluff, or Eagle4 Rock. So those two areas are somewhat comparable in5 terms of size and they have around 100, 170 species, but6 also water sources. So they're going to have a lot of7 ducks and water birds that aren't at this site. So just8 based on what I saw, what I saw in terms of habitat in9 terms of bird life what's likely to be at a sight this10 big in this location, I think at least 100 different11 species of birds that are found on this site that

aw, what I saw in terms of habitat in9 terms of bird life what's likely to be at a sight this10 big in this location, I think at least 100 different11 species of birds that are found on this site that also12 varies on an annual basis. So if you're going into June13 you'll get among the maximum number of species at the14 same time. If you go out when I went out, you know,15 you're somewhere in between the lows of the winter and16 the highs of the summer. But I think it's very likely17 that at least a hundred species of birds could be found18 on this parcel with enough study. And looking into the19 size of the parcel and the amount of interior forest20 that's there, I also think it's very likely that a21 handful at least of what I consider interior bird22 species, so they're species that are effected by the23 ecological factor processes Dr. DeVito described, I24 think, at least these species and probably several more25

05/12/2025 02:23:28 PM Page 85 to 88 of 116 22 of 48 sheets 85 so-called interior species probably nest on the site.1 Again, that's something that could be discovered or2 studied with on-site access. I did see a worm-eating3 warbler on-site, the other ones are just almost4 definitely going to be, based on the site and habitat5 and the species that I did see. So that's what I saw6 and Part 2 of what I think in general about the typical7 bird community there.8 And so the next thing I want to talk about is how9 I think the community of birds in that site will change10 based on what I understand about the proposed11 development. And the short version is that the interior12 species, Chairman Bagoff's astute, people live here, but13 it's a little more complicated than just less birds.14 Interior species as a component of biodiversity are15 likely to decline in numbers or disappear all together.16 Whereas edge or open habitat species are likely to17 increase in number or appear naturally in places that18 they don't appear on the parcel. So for example, going19 back to my Page 20. Some of these species are unlikely20 to occur in the core forest right now, if maybe ever, or21 you might find them rarely using that habitat coming22 from an open habitat or edge habitat into the core for23 some function, but with the development that's proposed24 opening up all that space in the middle will introduce25 86 almost all these species and what will have been an1 interior forest bird community turns into the typical2 backyard bird community. Not that there's anything3 wrong with that, I love the backyard birds, but as Dr.4 DeVito said we have a lot of backyards, we don't have a5 lot of actual forests, especially in this part of the6 world.7 And so I want to give you information about how8 -- what it looks like when birds exhibit insensitivity9 to the amount of forest -- the size of forest patch10 they're found in. So starting off with a species that's11 called peewee and what you see on the horizontal access,12 this is from, I probably should mention, this is from13 an, in my field kind of a legendary study which I don't14 know if any of you ever played like scientists in15 molecular biology, but in my field this, as a paper with16 over a thousand citations, this goes up on, like we have17 hung it up on the wall, printed it out in platinum. In18 other fields of science that's

ular biology, but in my field this, as a paper with16 over a thousand citations, this goes up on, like we have17 hung it up on the wall, printed it out in platinum. In18 other fields of science that's nothing, but in this type19 of science this paper is a classic. That's what this20 figure comes from and they generated the data by21 sampling almost 500 different points in lots of22 different habitats and bird communities where they23 worked in the mid-Atlantic almost identical to the bird24 communities here. The species that are found there are25 87 almost identical. So this first example is an example1 of a species that it's occurrence doesn't change now2 matter how big the size of the forest patch as we're3 dealing with in the study. So they went into very large4 forest patches at this end of the scale and they went5 into smaller forest patches and they went into really6 little tiny forest patches and they had an equal7 likelihood of finding eastern peewees across that entire8 range of forest. So this is a species that doesn't care9 about how big the forest is. It's not sensitive to the10 size of the forest.11 MR. AFRAN: For the record, this is the12 slide headed, Eastern Wood Pewee, P-E-W-E-E.13 This is one actually zoomed in. There's the14 A. slide. So this is non-sensitivity. This is what the15 same figure looks like for what is considered an area16 sensitive species or an interior species, the wood17 thrush. So it's the same study, same sampling size and18 same scale on the X axis forest area. You can see the19 forest gets smaller and smaller, the probability of a20 wood thrush occurring gets smaller and smaller. The21 maximum probability of finding a wood thrush anywhere,22 even in the biggest forest is about 80 percent. But if23 you, as you make the forest smaller along this scale24 that chance goes to about point 8 down to about point 3.25 88 I should say the dashed lines on either side are just an1 indication of a statistical confidence of the solid line2 in the middle. So this is the difference between a --3 the difference between an insensitive species and a4 sensitive species and seeing how this effects the number5 in terms of the size of a natural parcel. What I've6 done here is I marked about 58 acres on this X axis here7 which equates to or round 25 hectares and so in 258 hectare patch you have about 7 percent of likelihood of9 attracting a

l parcel. What I've6 done here is I marked about 58 acres on this X axis here7 which equates to or round 25 hectares and so in 258 hectare patch you have about 7 percent of likelihood of9 attracting a wood thrush, which is almost the maximum no10 matter how big it gets. So you've reached the plateau.11 Whereas if you shrink the size of this forest down to12 say five-acre patches your likelihood goes down to like13 50 percent. So you have about a 50/50 percent chance of14 attracting a wood thrush in that amount of size of patch15 loss. So it's a scale at a maximum 80 percent, that's16 about a 30 percent drop. And this is what I mentioned17 earlier where many of these basic concepts of -- basic18 concepts apply across species, these are what are --19 these are the same analysis for what are considered more20 sensitive bird species and in every case what you can21 see is that, that forest patches get smaller the22 likelihood of that bird occurring gets lower and lower.23 MR. AFRAN: For the record, this is the24 slide with four graphs lined up next to each other.25