Editing Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey (section)

===Parks and protected areas===
[[File:Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area.jpg|right|thumb|Sign for the Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area]]
There are three [[List of New Jersey wildlife management areas|wildlife management areas]] (WMAs) in Egg Harbor Township, two of them in the eastern discontinuous segment of the township. Malibu Beach WMA is located on marshlands between the Great Egg Harbor Bay and Broad Thorofare, covering {{convert|95.7|acre|ha|abbr=on}}, and bifurcated by [[Ocean Drive (New Jersey)|Ocean Drive]] and NJ 152.<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/pdf/wmamaps/malibu_beach.pdf Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area Atlantic County], [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]]. Accessed September 25, 2019.</ref><ref name="ehtmp"/> It serves as the habitat for several birds, including migratory species in the spring and fall. Known locally as "Dog Beach", the WMA consists of a back-bay pond, dunes, and one of the only beaches in New Jersey that permits dogs. From the 1930s to the early 2000s, Malibu Beach lost about {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=on}} of sand due to erosion. The [[Environmental Protection Agency]] designated the beach as a priority wetland in 1994. From 2002 to 2004, the [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection|state Department of Environmental Protection]] purchased Malibu Beach for $975,000 to make it available to the public, with funding from the [[Federal Highway Administration]] related to the [[New Jersey Route 52|NJ 52 causeway replacement project]]. About {{convert|40000|yd3|m3|abbr=on}} of clean sand was dredged from nearby waterways and placed on Malibu Beach. The state also restored the beach's wetlands, and removed rubble and invasive plant species. In 2012, [[Hurricane Sandy]] severely eroded the beach, as did [[Winter Storm Jonas]] in 2015.<ref name="ehtmp"/><ref name="dep">{{cite news|title=DEP Announces Addition to Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area|author=Erin Phalon|date=September 30, 2004|publisher=New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection|access-date=September 12, 2018|url=https://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2004/04_0113.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite conference|title=Strategic Public Partnering For Ecological Benefit|url=http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/ncer2009/PPTPDF_pres/Poster/session%201/NCER%20POSTER-comp-Bevilacqua.pdf|author=Robert A. Bevilacqua|author2=Michael Baker Jr.|conference=National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration|date=July 20–24, 2009|access-date=September 12, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area, Egg Harbor/ Longport, NJ|publisher=Rowbear Consulting|access-date=September 12, 2018|url=http://www.rowbearconsulting.com/malibu.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911043147/http://rowbearconsulting.com/malibu.html|archive-date=September 11, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017, the city of [[Ocean City, New Jersey|Ocean City]] began collecting trash from the site, after the [[Ocean Drive (New Jersey)|Cape May County Bridge Commission]] ended collection in Fall 2016, and the state considered shutting down the park.<ref>{{cite news|author=Bill Barlow|date=April 25, 2017|title=Ocean City saves dog beach from closing|publisher=WHYY.com|access-date=September 12, 2018|url=https://whyy.org/articles/ocean-city-steps-in-to-keep-popular-jersey-shore-dog-beach-open/}}</ref>

Adjacent to Malibu Beach WMA is Pork Island WMA, which covers {{convert|867.2|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of land on four marshy islands between NJ 152 and Margate Blvd, and between [[Absecon Island]] and the mainland. It is inaccessible by car.<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/pdf/wmamaps/pork_island.pdf Pork Island Wildlife Management Area Atlantic County], [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]]. Accessed March 30, 2020.</ref><ref name="ehtmp">{{cite report|pages=37–40|title=2017 Open Space and Recreation Plan Element|publisher=Township of Egg Harbor|date=August 2017|url=http://www.ehtgov.org/LandUse/2017%20Mater%20Plan%20Recreation%20and%20Open%20Space%20Amendment.pdf}}</ref> In the southern part of Egg Harbor Township are scattered plots of wetland near the [[Great Egg Harbor River]] that consist of about {{convert|1039|acre|ha|abbr=on}}, or 5.9%, of the Lester G. MacNamara WMA, previously known as Tuckahoe WMA. Established in 1933, the WMA is the oldest in the state, and spreads across four municipalities in Atlantic and Cape May counties.<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/pdf/wmamaps/tuckahoe.pdf Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area Atlantic County - Corbin City Egg Harbor Township, Estelle Manor City; Cape May County - Upper Township], [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]]. Accessed March 30, 2020.</ref><ref name="ehtmp"/><ref>[https://www.atlantic-county.org/parks/other-parks.asp Other Parks in Atlantic County], [[Atlantic County, New Jersey]]. Accessed March 30, 2020.</ref> 

The area is home to the [[Egg Harbor Township Nature Reserve]], a former mining site that was converted into a park in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hawk |first=Tim |date=2020-09-29 |title=Long-abandoned mining site is now a passive recreation paradise hidden in N.J. |url=https://www.nj.com/atlantic/2020/09/long-abandoned-mining-site-is-now-a-passive-recreation-paradise-hidden-in-nj.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621204617/https://www.nj.com/atlantic/2020/09/long-abandoned-mining-site-is-now-a-passive-recreation-paradise-hidden-in-nj.html |archive-date=2024-06-21 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=NJ.com |language=en}}</ref>