Editing Lacey Township, New Jersey (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the township had a total area of 99.81 square miles (258.49&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), including 83.25 square miles (215.62&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 16.55 square miles (42.87&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of water (16.58%).<ref name=CensusArea/><ref name=GR1 />

[[Forked River, New Jersey|Forked River]] (with a 2010 Census population of 5,244<ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US3424180 DP-1 - Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data for Forked River CDP, New Jersey] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200212140057/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US3424180 |date=2020-02-12 }}, [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed December 26, 2012.</ref>) is an [[Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities|unincorporated community]] and [[census-designated place]] (CDP) located within Lacey Township.<ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US34029 GCT-PH1 - Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place from the 2010 Census Summary File 1 for Ocean County, New Jersey] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200212204350/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US34029 |date=2020-02-12 }}, [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed December 26, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www2.census.gov/acs2010_5yr/summaryfile/UserTools/Geography/NJ.xls 2006-2010 American Community Survey Geography for New Jersey], [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed December 26, 2012.</ref><ref name=CPH232>[https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-32.pdf New Jersey: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts - 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH-2-32)], [[United States Census Bureau]], August 2012. Accessed December 26, 2012.</ref> Other [[Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities|unincorporated communities]], localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include [[Aserdaten, New Jersey|Aserdaten]], [[Bamber Lake, New Jersey|Bamber Lake]], Barnegat Pines, Batuber, Cedar Creek, Cedar Crest, Deer Head Lake, Good Luck, Lake Barnegat, [[Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey|Lanoka Harbor]], Osteam, Red Oak Grove, Union Clay Works and Webbs Mill.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/localnames.txt Locality Search], State of [[New Jersey]]. Accessed November 28, 2014.</ref> The township's fire stations are named after the various areas of Lacey Township.

The township borders the Ocean County municipalities of [[Barnegat Township, New Jersey|Barnegat Township]], [[Berkeley Township, New Jersey|Berkeley Township]], [[Manchester Township, New Jersey|Manchester Township]] and [[Ocean Township, Ocean County, New Jersey|Ocean Township]], as well as [[Woodland Township, New Jersey|Woodland Township]] in [[Burlington County, New Jersey|Burlington County]].<ref>[https://global.mapit.mysociety.org/area/883323/touches.html Areas touching Lacey Township], MapIt. Accessed February 25, 2020.</ref><ref>[https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/gis/maps/polnoroads.pdf New Jersey Municipal Boundaries], [[New Jersey Department of Transportation]]. Accessed November 15, 2019.</ref>

The north–south track of the [[Garden State Parkway]] serves as an informal use divider under the 1979 [[Pinelands Protection Act|Pinelands Act]] and the subsequent Comprehensive Management Plan. To the east of the Parkway are more than 95% of Lacey's residential dwellings, located in the unincorporated areas of Lanoka Harbor and Forked River. To the Parkway's west is a mostly undisturbed pine and cedar forest, part of New Jersey's vast [[Pine Barrens (New Jersey)|Pine Barrens]]. The forest is interspersed with a scattered few farms, houses and ranches, the tiny community of Bamber Lakes and open pit gravel quarries—all of which predate passage of the Pinelands Act or were developed under its tight zoning rules. The conditions of grandfathering vary—the mines' exceptions are to expire upon the deaths of their owners whereas the farms' exceptions are indefinite. Development west of the parkway, covering two-thirds of the township's area, is strictly controlled by the [[New Jersey Pinelands Commission]].<ref>[http://www.planning.co.ocean.nj.us/watershed/wqmp_mcd_2015/12_Lacey_WMP.pdf ''Ocean County Wastewater Management Plan: Lacey Township''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819131307/http://www.planning.co.ocean.nj.us/watershed/wqmp_mcd_2015/12_Lacey_WMP.pdf |date=2016-08-19 }}, [[Ocean County, New Jersey]] Department of Planning, January 2015. Accessed July 28, 2016. "All land west of the Garden State Parkway (about 66.93% of the municipality's total area) is located within the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan Area. The Balance of Lacey's land area is within the CAFRA region to the east."</ref>

Some Ocean County residents refer to all of Lacey Township as Forked River with the first word pronounced with two [[syllable]]s (FOR-kid or FORK-id). Pronouncing the first word with one syllable is a sign of a non-native.<ref>[http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:PACB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0FAA3215810CC50C&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=11ECDBF131F44C689BB0EDBA11D99EE0 Say What? : From 'Morris' River to 'R-Kansas' Avenue, Area Residents have own way of speaking.], ''[[The Press of Atlantic City]]'', April 24, 2003</ref><ref>Suhay, Lisa. [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/nyregion/jerseyana-where-they-don-t-speak-with-forked-tongue.html "Jerseyana; Where They Don't Speak With Forked Tongue"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 8, 2002. Accessed September 13, 2013. "'It's FORK-ed River,' Jennifer Sawicki, 25, who was born in the town, said with a laugh.... Donald M. Launer, a resident and author of ''A Cruising Guide to New Jersey Waters'' (Rutgers Press, 1997), had a long laugh at the idea of asking people how to pronounce the name and at the mere thought that anyone in Forked River would say Forkt. 'The name originated in the 1700s, and it is the typical archaic pronunciation that has just stuck,' he said."</ref>

In a 2015 [[NJ.com]] poll with 91,000 respondents, Lacey Township was voted as part of [[South Jersey]]. According to the poll results, Lacey Township is South Jersey's northernmost [[Jersey Shore]] community.<ref>Stirling, Stephen. [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/mapping_njs_unofficial_north_central_and_south_jer.html "Here are the North, Central and South Jersey borders as determined by you (Interactive)"], NJ Advance Media for [[NJ.com]], April 24, 2015. Accessed September 19, 2016.</ref>