The Turtle Back Zoo wants to get bigger. These teens are fighting it. – NJ.com

Jordan Muhammed wanted to be at home, working on homework and preparing for her high school’s musical in a couple of weeks.

Instead, she was standing outside the Turtle Back Zoo Sunday in frigid temperatures, screaming into a bullhorn.

“I’m here because we’re in a crisis. Our county, our country, our world is in a climate crisis and this government — our government — is not acting like it,” the high school senior said.

Dozens of students and adults gathered behind her Sunday to protest the proposed expansion of the county-owned zoo in West Orange to include an educational amphitheater, which they say will create unnecessary deforestation and displacement of local wildlife from the forest.

A week ago, the Essex County Board of Freeholders moved forward with a request for a $4 million state grant to begin construction on the “conservation pavilion,” complete with lights and video screens to put on educational programming for students, and the capacity to hold 500 people.

The expansion would cost the county more than $8 million total, and involve taking out an acre of trees in the neighboring South Mountain Reservation.

The remainder of the funding for the zoo’s expansion would come from the county’s capital budget, county spokesman Anthony Puglisi said. Now that freeholders have approved the request for the grant, the county now needs to put the project out for public bid, Puglisi said.

“We were mad, we were frustrated,” 17-year-old Andrea Rebimbas said after Sunday’s rally, which she helped organize in opposition to the project. “There are other communities that are directly impacted by climate change. This is taxpayers’ money.”

The rally was spearheaded by local middle and high school students, as well as the South Mountain Reservation Coalition, an environmental advocacy association comprised of 20 community groups which joined forces last month to amplify environmental concerns.

More than 12,000 people have signed a petition aiming to stop expansion at the zoo.

But the county says the amphitheater is a necessary addition to the popular zoo. Organizations and groups that visit the zoo expect adequate hands-on learning activities, Puglisi said. Now, programming is only held in the zoo’s educational center, and its old amphitheater isn’t used because it’s outdated, he said.

“Schools and organizations that are booking trips to Turtle Back expect a more interactive learning experience than just having children walk along the pathways and read signs about the animals,” Puglisi said. “The planned 500-seat addition will provide the opportunity to significantly increase the children we currently reach with our educational programming.”

Coalition members say they’ve repeatedly asked county officials to conduct an environmental impact study to discover the project’s environmental effects. When asked if an environmental study has been conducted, Puglisi said the county has been in compliance with all state regulations regarding the project.

In a letter to the community, a board of freeholders spokesman explained the county would replace the trees that’ll be cut down. But environmental advocates have stressed the benefits of conserving the trees, and said new ones — which could take decades to grow — won’t do anything to address current environmental issues.

“We don’t need more buildings, more parking lots, more cafes — we need our forests,” said coalition member Virginia Lamb, drawing cheers from the crowd Sunday.

Puglisi did not say how many trees will be cut down, but said that 540 semi-matured trees will be planted after the project’s completion.

“We have been listening to comments and suggestions from the community,” Puglisi said.

The Turtle Back Zoo opened in 1963 and originally featured only animals found in New Jersey. The zoo nearly closed in the 1990s when it became bogged down by aging animals, outdated equipment and aging rides. But by the end of the 2000s growth had exploded, with 15 major construction projects on the property over a 15-year span, according to a county master plan.

Some locals just want the county to leave the zoo alone.

“Every action we take, no matter how small, needs to be sustainable — and if this sounds dramatic, well good, because it is dramatic. The climate crisis is dramatic,” Muhammed said. “Please, please, please just listen to us, so I can go home and finish my homework.”

Jenna Wise may be reached at jwise@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennaRWise. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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