Bill Text: NJ A4363 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Designates Common Eastern Bumble Bee as New Jersey State Native Pollinator.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-02 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture Committee [A4363 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4363-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 4363

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JULY 2, 2020

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  RONALD S. DANCER

District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Designates Common Eastern Bumble Bee as New Jersey State Native Pollinator.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act designating the Common Eastern Bumble Bee as the New Jersey State Native Pollinator and supplementing chapter 9A of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

 

Whereas, Bumble bees, found across New Jersey in urban and rural areas, are native to our State; and

Whereas, The Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) is a species of bumble bee in North America and an essential pollinator because it has a long flight season and can fly at low light levels and at low temperatures; and

Whereas, The Common Eastern Bumble Bee is an important generalist pollinator, pollinating a wide range of plants including New Jersey's leading agricultural crops of blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes and peppers; and

Whereas, Pollinators are vital to the health of diverse ecosystems because the fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of all birds and mammals, including more than 30 percent of the foods and beverages that humans consume; and

Whereas, Pollinators also play a vital role in the health of our State and national forests and grasslands, which provide forage, fish and wildlife, timber, water, mineral resources, and recreational and economic development opportunities for communities; and

Whereas, The benefits that native pollinators provide to New Jersey have been documented through extensive research at Rutgers, the  State University, and other institutions of higher learning; and

Whereas, A focus on bumble bee pollination can be used to connect people to nature, while engaging all generations in the conservation of bumble bees; and

Whereas, The Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) should be designated as the New Jersey State Native Pollinator; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    The Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) is designated as the New Jersey State Native Pollinator. 

 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill designates the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) as the New Jersey State Native Pollinator.  The Common Eastern Bumble Bee, found across New Jersey in urban and rural areas, is native to the State.  As generalist pollinators, they are an essential part of the State's pollinator communities by gathering pollen and nectar from a wide variety of flowering plants.  Bumble bees are important to New Jersey's working farms as key pollinators of blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes and peppers.  Pollinators are also vital to the health of diverse ecosystems, because the fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of all birds and mammals, including over 30 percent of the foods and beverages that humans consume.  The benefits that native pollinators provide to New Jersey have been documented through extensive research at Rutgers, the State University, and other institutions of higher learning. 

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